THE Minister of Home Affairs Motlalentoa Letsosa has assured Basotho living as well as working in South Africa and who are currently in Lesotho for the holiday season that they will have a safe return to that country at the end of the holidays.
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Dec. 24, 2020
THANDIE MTHIMKHULU
2 min read
Basotho promised safe return to SA
The Minister of Home Affairs Motlalentoa Letsosa
The minister promised to ensure that they return to South Africa through proper channels to avoid unnecessary risks such as crossing through the porous borders between Lesotho and the neighbouring country.
Mr Letsosa said the ministry is ready to provide those people with passports to ease their safe return, adding that they already have over 60 000 copies of passports ready for those who ordered them.
Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, he said the ministry will focus only on three categories, including students, workers and patients for now.
“These are the groups that will urgently need to return to South Africa at the end of the holiday season,” the minister also said.
The services, he said will be provided from December until January 2021, when people in the three categories will be returning to SA.
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“Some of these people were fined at the borders because they had exceeded their staying limit in SA and we will therefore not be able to help them. But the ones who lost their passports will have to pay a fine of M300 over the original charge of M130 while patients will be charged M500 over the original charge to get their passports immediately,’’ he said.
He further promised that these services will be provided in all districts to avoid congestion, adding that there is no need for applicants to travel to other districts for the same services.
“Throughout the time, they should comply with the health protocols provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ministry of Health and the National COVID- 19 Secretariat (NACOSEC), by maintaining social distancing and wearing facial masks,” Mr Letsosa also said.
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