Maseru, Feb. 11—Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Lebona Lephema has announced that the government of Lesotho and that of South Africa (SA) have reached an agreement of a 90-day visa free for immigrant Basotho.
Lebona said many Lesotho citizens have been declared undesirable by SA due to their over stay in the neighbouring country, and got their passports destroyed while some
were fined.
He said the government of Lesotho has tried and succeeded in taking the SA government into providing a 15-day waiver, but added that those who exceed the waiver will still be fined.
However, he indicated that there is still an opportunity for appeal if one feels the fine was unfair or if they have sound reasons for overstaying their stipulated period in SA.
He also touched on the issue of exemption permits which he said were given a grace period of two more years after expiry date, and the quota was 94 000 people but there were only 54 000 applicants.
Lebona indicated that with the recent change of SA government, the Lesotho government followed it up with other issues such as the one stop order that has been piloted for two weeks, and now awaiting the enactment of law between the two countries.
The Minister further announced that study permits are also in the agreement where Lesotho citizens will be allowed to attend school from primary to tertiary level without the need for study permits.
Ends
