Department of home affairs

Resignation of Director General – Mkuseli Apleni

In the news today, it was announced that Mkuseli Apleni has resigned from his position as the Director General of Home Affairs. You can read more about his resignation here.

It is no surprise that Mr Apleni has tendered his resignation. Despite being with the Department of Home Affairs for nearly a decade, he has never been offered (and appears as though he will not be offered) the position of Minister. Moreso, he was made the ‘fall-guy’ when he was temporarily removed from office last year over the Gupta citizenship scandal.

What does this mean for the day-to-day administration of the Department of Home Affairs? From a practical perspective, not much. Applications will still be attended to as they have been since Apleni was in power.  Thus, from a visa and permitting perspective, ‘the show will go on’.  This is especially so as even if a decision is to come from the Director-General, his delegees have the authority to sign on his behalf (for example, with temporary residency applications).

It is likely that the new Director-General of Home Affairs will be someone that has already been within the department or even had the temporary role before – such as Mr Jackie McKay, a well known name in the Department and current Deputy Director General.