Johannesburg - Home Affairs Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has begun consultations over the drafting of a new migration policy for the country.
She met with trade union federation COSATU on Tuesday.
The meeting with COSATU's Central Executive Committee took place against the background of the approval granted by Cabinet for the minister to develop a new migration policy.
The new policy will address the critical need to allow government to distinguish between and separate economic migrants from asylum-seekers, which until now has created logjams in processing such applications by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Dlamini Zuma said COSATU will be one of the role players to contribute to developing the new policy.
"Home Affairs will only work when all of us are working together and we believe COSATU is one of the major players which can help us not only to develop an effective immigration policy, but also to move us to greater heights," she said.
COSATU General-Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said stakeholders needed to work with the Department of Home Affairs to develop a policy that addressed all challenges.
Dlamini Zuma will be consulting various stakeholders in the country with a view to arriving at a consensus about the basic tenets of such a new migration policy.
Once the process of consultation is completed, the minister will present the proposals to both Cabinet and Parliament for approval and implementation.
