Truck driver permit issue resolved

The recent change to home affairs’ policy on visitor permits with permission to work will not hit foreign truck drivers employed by SA truckers who are entering the country on delivery/ collection visits, according to Leon Isaacson, MD of Global Migration SA. These visitors’ permits fall under Section 11(2) of the Immigration Act, and are normally granted to shortterm staff specialists who work in SA for 30-90 days at a time. But, Isaacson added, the change proposed by the DHA is unlawful, and is causing chaos with many projects where these experts are genuinely needed. However, he told FTW, drivers are excluded from the new policy measures because of a court order that states that truck drivers can enter and leave the country “unhindered”. This followed a lengthy legal battle in which immigration companies fought the department of home affairs over its continued inability to process truck drivers’ work permit applications within its previously promised 30-day deadline. The issue started in May last year, when the DHA threatened to prevent foreign drivers employed by SA truckers from crossing the border unless they had SA work permits. A legal letter of demand was sent to DHA on August 6, 2011 from 12 immigration companies containing a list of 967 applications that had been with DHA for over 30 days. This was the basis of a legal tussle in the North Gauteng High Court, which eventually at yearend ordered the DHA not to hinder the movement of the truck drivers. This court order, said Isaacson, overrides the department’s change to Section 11(2) visitors’ permits.