Marion Edmunds
The almost defunct Immigrants Selection Board is delivering some final blows before it finally rolls over and dies. The board, which is to due to be replaced at the end of November by a new legitimate structure, is considering defying a court judgment in which it was instructed to reconsider the permanent residence application of British-born David Foulds, which it had hitherto repeatedly rejected.
Foulds took court action against the board — and the Department of Home Affairs under which it falls —this year. The department lost its case in the Johannesburg Supreme Court and was obliged to pay the costs, and take the consequences, one of which meant reconsidering Foulds’ oft-rejected application to become a permanent resident.
Six weeks after the judgment was handed down, the board has still not reconsidered Foulds’s application, and in addition, has asked for legal opinion as to whether an appeal against the judgment is possible.
Under normal circumstances, an appeal has to be lodged within 15 working days of the judgment, that is by August 2. This deadline has long since passed, and yet a second senior counsel has been engaged by Home Affairs to look into possible appeal procedures. The board has refused to talk to the Mail & Guardian or say what information it has in its possession which might prompt an appeal.
The department said this week: “The judgment deals with important principles which have far-reaching implications. The board and the department therefore need to study the implications thereof in detail for purposes of obtaining legal certainty on the issues involved.”
It is possible that the board has belatedly realised that Foulds’ victory in court in July could open the floodgates for numerous other cases against it from people who feel their applications for permanent resident status have been unfairly rejected.
Both Foulds and his lawyer, Susan Nurick, are outraged. Nurick said this week: “The longer the matter drags out, the more prejudicial it is to Dave. Their ignoring of the judgment also amounts to contempt of court.”
Foulds said this week that the department was pushing his family to the limit. “My business is expanding, but the banks won’t give me letters of credit until I have proof of permanent resident. They say they want foreign companies to invest, but is it only the big ones they want, and don’t they want the small businessman like myself? This is very frustrating, but we won’t give in, we’ll fight them to the end.”