PATRICK BULGER | Restaurant ‘inspections’ and other goose-steps of creeping Nazification
SA needs humane immigration policies. After all, foreigners contribute to its economy, which needs every cent it can get
Recently, talking to a barber from an Asian country I’d rather not name, I learned he had been in SA for the past 14 years, all of them illegally. Looking at him in the mirror as he busied himself with the ever-diminishing task my hair presents, he told me family members who had sought their fortunes in Italy and Saudi Arabia were able to regularise their stay in those countries within five years. But in SA, despite applying to home affairs every year for permanent residence, he is refused. And every year, without exception, he pays the required bribe to officials to somehow extend his stay by another year. If he wasn’t a criminal before he came here, he is one now, and more proof that instead of a forward-looking policy on immigration, we have spawned an illegal cottage industry in bribes and fake permits. ..
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.
From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.
For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.
Already subscribed? Sign in below.
Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.