Lesotho has begun compiling lists of Basotho nationals barred from South Africa for overstaying.
This is part of an amnesty process announced by Lesotho’s home affairs minister, Lebona Lephema, following a meeting with his South African counterpart, Leon Schreiber, in Cape Town earlier this month.
Puleng Mbangamthi, director of legal affairs at Lesotho’s home affairs department, said that the two countries had agreed on an amnesty process for Basotho who had overstayed in SA, provided they register with Lesotho’s immigration authorities.
“These are individuals who overstayed only, not those who committed crimes,” she said.
“Their details will be verified with SA before they are cleared. Those affected are urged to register immediately.”
On Tuesday, the home affairs ministry issued a public notice calling on Basotho who overstayed in SA but who have not committed criminal offences to report to the ministry’s immigration office in Maseru for registration.
“Those affected are urged to register immediately.” — Puleng Mbangamthi
“They are requested to bring their travel documents [passports]. Those in the districts are requested to report to their respective district administrator offices during working hours,” the notice reads.
Lesotho’s home affairs spokesperson Marelebohile Mothibeli told GroundUp that registration takes effect immediately.
The amnesty process is one of the recommendations of a joint task team aimed at simplifying movement between Lesotho and SA. The team also recommended that nationals from both countries be able to cross the border using only IDs.
After GroundUp reported on the agreement, SA’s home affairs department issued a statement denying that any final decision had been taken to allow cross-border travel using IDs.
SA’s home affairs spokesperson and deputy director-general for operations Thulani Mavuso said home affairs ministers from Lesotho and South Africa met in Cape Town on 17 April to receive a study report from a joint task team established to develop a new migration model between the two countries.
“This was the first time that the outcome of the study was presented to the ministers with various recommendations which are to be considered by the binational commission,” Mavuso said.
He said no agreement had been signed to immediately allow travel using national identity cards and insisted that all travellers must continue to present valid passports at shared ports of entry until the commission considers the proposals.
Lesotho’s home affairs ministry has cautioned that claims on social media suggesting that travel using national identity cards had already begun were false.
It said on 22 April that “no final decisions have been made” and the proposal would still be tabled before the upcoming binational commission meeting, to be co-chaired by prime minister Samuel Matekane and president Cyril Ramaphosa.
However, Mothibeli said the amnesty process for Basotho banned for overstaying can be implemented immediately. “The issue of overstayers being declared undesirable falls under the measures that take effect immediately. It is not one of those that require BNC [binational commission] approval.”
She said the registration process now underway is the first step in that clearance.
Once the lists are compiled, she said, Lesotho’s director of immigration will submit them to Pretoria, where South African authorities will verify the names and clear qualifying individuals. — GroundUp
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