Truckers back to court over permit issue

With a deadline day yesterday (October 28), cross-border transport operators were preparing to resume their court battle with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) over a failure to obtain work permits for foreign drivers. On July 30, the North Gauteng High Court ordered the DHA to delay the implementation of its new work-permit regime for foreign truck drivers working for local companies until October 28, Marius van Huyssteen, senior partner at law firm MVH, which represents the companies, told FTW. “The 46 cross-border transport companies reported on Wednesday that they had decided to return to court before the deadline date,” he added, “as they have still not been able to obtain the required work permits.” Van Huyssteen added that the DHA’s permit system had not been working since April, as the department had centralised its processing of permits in Pretoria. The trucking companies’ permits were now in a backlogged queue estimated to be between 5 000 and 15 000 permits, he indicated. Leon Isaacson, chairman of the Forum of Immigration Practitioners (FIP), added that it had received reports from DHA director-general, Mkuseli Apleni, in the last three weeks. “He has indicated that the adjudication system is being overhauled with new staff and reporting systems,” Isaacson added. “We believe that the department is making a concerted effort to alleviate the problem, and we are watching keenly to see what progress is made within the next few weeks. We hope that a permanent solution to this problem can be found as the slow processing of waivers, permits and issuing of the stickers has caused a number of investors and skilled people to re-evaluate their plans to come to our country.” He expressed hope that the DHA could get back to the 30-day processing time “as a matter of urgency”.