Director-general of home affairs, Mkuseli Apleni, addresses the media to announce new tariffs for ID documents, passports and other documents. Photo: Johann Hattingh/ Citizen
Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba has confirmed that the department’s director general Mkuseli Apleni has resigned.
At a media briefing in Pretoria on Monday, Gigaba said “I would like to announce officially that the director-general of the Department of Home Affairs, Mr Mkuseli Apleni, has tendered his resignation, effective end of July 2018, to pursue other career opportunities in the private sector.”
Apleni spent a decade in the department. When then home affairs minister Hlengiwe Mkhize suspended him last year, he successfully challenged it in the High Court in Pretoria.
READ MORE: Home Affairs understaffed by 8000, says Gigaba
The court ruled Mkhize had had no authority to suspend the DG, ruling it unconstitutional. The minister had relied on a flawed delegation issued by then president Thabo Mbeki nearly a decade ago.
Apleni claimed she wanted him out of the way to reach questionable deals in disputes involving the department.
His counsel argued that only the president has the authority to suspend and discipline a director-general. Judge Hans Fabricius ruled in his favour and he returned to work in October.
The Citizen reported last year that insiders believed Apleni was set up to take the fall for the fast-tracking of citizenship for the Gupta family in 2015.
Apleni’s original decision on the naturalisation application was that the Guptas did not meet the minimum time requirements for permanent residence.
He claimed he was overruled by Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, who granted them citizenship after Apleni had rejected their first application.
Earlier this month the department revealed it is currently understaffed by about 8,000 people.
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