With more than 230,000 people expected to apply and book appointments with the Visa Facilitation Centres (VFS) before December 31, the system has been jammed. Instead of spending less than two minutes on a single application, some have been forced to spend more than two hours because they kept being rejected.
Barely two weeks after the process began, more than 10 people had been swindled of their money in Hillbrow alone. Police, although confirming receiving reports, had not arrested anyone by Sunday.
The Home Affairs system is far from water-tight and the tricky fraudsters have exploited that loophole. “It is so unfortunate that some people have had to learn things the hard way, but it is always advisable not to trust strangers, especially where money is involved,” said Ncube, a volunteer for the non-governmental organization – Africa Relief Initiatives, which serves applicants from its office in Maphalala Square in Berea.
“We have assisted more than 1,000 people since we began last week and more and more are still coming. Applicants must also check the bank details in their form with those of their friends because the account number must be the same.” – For more info contact: +27 73 821 4341, +27 61 042 0900 and +27 73 721 1505.
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