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.