allAfrica.com: South Africa: Rethink on Special Visas for Zimbabwean Migrants
Wilson Johwa
9 June 2009
Johannesburg — Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is reviewing the dispensation that allows undocumented Zimbabwean migrants to live and work in SA
HOME Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has referred back to the drawing board the proposed special dispensation giving undocumented Zimbabwean migrants already in SA the right to live and work for up to a year.
Her department is also reviewing the recently introduced visa-free entry facility that allows Zimbabwean passport holders the right to work in SA for 90 days .
Home affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said yesterday Dlamini- Zuma was reviewing all processes in the department.
The proposed special dispensation for Zimbabweans was among the measures sent back for discussion on the "nature, scope and implication of the decision".
Government insiders said that in some quarters it was believed there had not been enough consultation before announcing the measures.
Other concerns were that neighbouring countries did not have renewable visa-free entry for Zimbabweans, and visitors to SA from countries such as Mozambique qualified only for a limited period during the year, and had no right to work.
Set to be rolled out from the department's new refugee reception centre in Pretoria, the facility was aimed at addressing the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, where many now live off foreign remittances.
Registration of border jumpers was also meant to improve the security situation. In addition, the special permit for undocumented Zimbabwean immigrants would have saved money spent on deporting people who almost always returned to SA.
Loren Landau, head of the Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand, suspects that any change of plans by home affairs was for the sake of short- term domestic interests.
During an "economic downturn and job losses, there will always be sentiments against immigration", he said yesterday.
Shortly before the elections, then Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula announced that the department would introduce a special permit meant for undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in SA.
Valid for 12 months, the proposed document would have given the holder access to services such as health and education.
In April, home affairs suspended deportations while granting Zimbabwean passport holders reciprocal visa- free entry into the country with the option to work. Such a provision was unusual in the region. While Mozambican, Lesotho and Swazi nationals enjoy visa-free access into SA, they do not have an automatic right to work.
The government was keen on implementing a uniform policy for all neighbouring countries but it was under pressure from local and international rights groups to accommodate Zimbabweans fleeing the crisis.
Last week Medecins Sans Frontieres called on the government and United Nations agencies to urgently address the humanitarian needs of Zimbabweans refugees.
"Every day, despite claims that Zimbabwe is 'normalising', thousands of Zimbabweans continue to cross the border into SA, fleeing economic meltdown, food insecurity, political turmoil and the total collapse of their health system," said the medical group's SA head, Rachel Cohen.
allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Defao Must Go - Immigration
Memory Hlanganiso
6 June 2009
Harare — THE Immigration Department was yesterday still looking for Congolese rhumba artiste, General Defao with the intention of deporting him.
Principal Immigration Officer, Evans Siziba, said they would not allow General Defao to perform any show - starting last night-as he did not have a work permit.
He added that members from the Immigration department were on the lookout in Mutare where Defao had been advertised to perform last night.
There were unconfirmed reports that Defao -- now a second rate rhumba artiste -was holed up at Rainbow Towers in the capital.
"He is not going to perform, he doesn't have authority to be in the country after his permit expired on Wednesday. If he performs it will be illegal and a serious violation on the country's immigration laws.
"He has to go and we are looking for him and once we find him he will have to leave. A decision has been made and he has to go. He will have to apply for a work permit from outside the country.
"When you apply for a work permit, it can be approved or declined and he has to wait for the outcome of the application while outside the country.
"We've already activated our systems and our guys are watching with keen interest what will happen tonight (last night)," said Siziba.
Meanwhile, prominent HIV activist -- Pastor Maxwell Kapachawo -- has come under heavy criticism from members of the Zimbabwe Network of Religious Leaders Living with or personally affected by HIV/Aids for fraudulently acquiring rights to organise fundraising shows on behalf of the organisation.
Kapachawo is one of the co-producers of the forth-coming shows featuring Le General Defao together with Karen Madeke of Venus Promotions.
He was also behind the aborted Alain Kounkou shows early last month and raising funds to help members of Zinerela was said to be the main cause.
It emerged this week that Kapachawo was no longer a member of Zinerela having officially handed over his resignation on December 5 last year.
According to Sheikh Mustafa Wasili, the national board chairman of Zinerela, Kapachawo was no longer involved in the affairs of the organisation having resigned last year while he was once suspended on disciplinary grounds in 2007.
"We are a concerned lot because the organisers are using our name for their benefits without our consent.
"We are also surprised that they say they represent us when in fact we have not agreed to partner them. We as pastors would not appreciate the idea (of staging Defao shows) because it interferes with our repute.
"If we had wanted to do a fundraise show, we could do other better things other than organising such a gig," he said.
Kapachawo asked to be contacted later but his phone was no longer available up to the time of going to print.
Medical News Today News Article
05 Jun 2009
According to a report released Tuesday by Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF), "Zimbabweans continue to cross the border [into South Africa] every day, legally and illegally, in massive numbers as a matter of survival," AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/2). An estimated "three million Zimbabweans - about a quarter of the entire population" have fled "the economic collapse and human rights abuses at home, as well as a cholera outbreak that has infected about 100,000 people," according to the BBC, and the "inauguration in February of a fractious power-sharing government in Zimbabwe has not stemmed the flight" (BBC, 6/2).
The AP/Washington Post says the report indicates, "South Africa's health system has been overwhelmed by an influx of Zimbabweans, and that South Africa was struggling to provide shelter and other services for Zimbabweans." The report also documented that some refugees had been "raped by criminals at the border, harassed by South African police once they cross and denied medical care at South African hospitals," the AP/Washington Post writes.
"It's a major humanitarian crisis ... here on this side of the border," said Eric Goemaere, medical coordinator for MSF in South Africa (Bryson, AP/Washington Post, 6/2). MSF performs thousands of consultations monthly for Zimbabwean refugees in its centers, many of whom have HIV or TB, according to Goemaere (Ncube, Zimbabwe Times, 6/2).
The MSF report calls for the government of South Africa and U.N. agencies "to do more to ensure desperate migrants were safe and had shelter and health care" (AP/Washington Post, 6/2). "This should be paid for by the international community," Goemaere said (SAPA/News24.com, 6/2).
The AP/Washington Post reports that South Africa has lifted visa restrictions for Zimbabwean refugees - which Nomvanela Kota, a spokeswoman for South Africa's international relations department - said has made it easier for Zimbabweans to come and stay in South Africa and shows that the government has "long been seized of this matter." Kota welcomed foreign help, "but as part of a 'coordinated effort' led by South Africa" (AP/Washington Post, 6/2).
This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.
allAfrica.com: South Africa: Our Time is Up - Zim Refugees
Niemah Davids and Francis Hweshe
22 May 2009
Around 300 Zimbabwean women, some with babies as young as five weeks, braved the cold, wet weather and spent Thursday night outside the city's Home Affairs offices in the hope of obtaining a document that would allow them to live and work in the country for 12 months.
But early on Friday the women were told they would not be getting any papers and were asked to go to the Nyanga Refugee Reception Centre.
Zimbawean national Puellah Dombo, who has been living in Eerste River, and her three-year-old daughter were among those sleeping in the cold on the pavement.
She said if the department communicated the situation more publicly and if they allowed bigger numbers of people inside they would not have people sleeping on the pavements outside their offices.
Like several other women, Dombo hoped to apply for a section 31,2b document enabling them to live and work in South Africa for 12 months. On Thursday night the group of women said they "did not have a choice" and needed to sleep outside the offices to get the papers.
"We can't afford to leave here. Because when we get back in the morning there will be a longer queue, we will never get helped then," said Mary Chiko. Chiko said that without the document she would be "lost" and preferred to sleep outside knowing she would be helped in a few hours.
Chiko explained that the department had allowed a two-week period for women to obtain the document, adding that this period expired on Friday. "Our time is up, so we have to stay here and hope they will help us," she said.
Meanwhile steps have been taken to increase efficiency at the Nyanga Refugee Reception Centre, the department said. Among the changes were that the staff complement had been beefed up, said department spokesperson Siobhan McCarthy.
Additional Reporting by Natasha Prince
allAfrica.com: South Africa: Call for More Resources As Zimbabweans Flood Home AffairsSiyabonga Kalipa
14 May 2009
Cape Town — Refugee rights organisation People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) has called for the Department of Home Affairs to beef up their capacity to deal with a special dispensation for Zimbabwean nationals.
This follows chaos at the Department of Home Affairs Barrack Street offices on Monday this week when hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals flooded the office seeking bridging documentation that would carry them over until the introduction of the special dispensation.
The dispensation, which was announced by the Department of Home Affairs last month but has yet to be enacted, would allow Zimbabweans to stay and work in the country for up to six months.
Gloria Muti from Zimbabwe, who was queueing at the Barrack Street offices on Wednesday, said she had been in the queue on Monday, but that the situation had been so chaotic that officials could not control the crowd.
Since then, she said officials had assigned different days for men and women to alleviate over-crowding.
But PASSOP's Braam Hanekom said the queues at the Barrack Street offices had also been seen at the Nyanga office.
Hanekom said the department should seek more resources as numbers would increase.
"The department has taken on an enormous task and they need to get help in terms of more resources and more staff."
Department of Home Affairs spokesperson Siobhan McCarthy said the department had not started issuing the special dispensation because they were still working on the implementation plan.
But she said the people queuing in Barrack street had been there to get a letter which stated they had been to the department to apply for a monthly permit. This was a temporary permit leading up to the special dispensation, she said.
allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: 'Consult Before Migrating'14 May 2009
Harare — ZIMBABWEAN youths have been urged to consult widely before deciding to relocate to other countries, given the dangers involved in irregular migration.
In a speech read on her behalf by her deputy, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Paurina Gwanyanya-Mpariwa, said migration had resulted in family dislocations and disintegration, coupled with distorted living standards in foreign countries.
Officiating at a schools debate programme on migration in Kuwadzana yesterday, the minister, in a speech read for her by her deputy, Mrs Tracy Mutinhiri, said young girls had been exposed to human traffickers and bogus agents who exploited their desperation with promises of better lives abroad.
"These syndicates obtain travel documents and visas for the girls. On arrival they take custody of the travel documents and link them up with sex industry operatives thus rendering them sex slaves," she said.
Children should never be taken as passive participants on issues that affected their well being.
She said there were countries that had benefited from migration with significant percentages of their budgets catered for by remittances of their nationals in the Diaspora.
"Zimbabwe cannot be left out in that discourse and I am glad to inform you that we are exploring the possibility of exploiting the benefits of the migration and development nexus through a migration and development unit in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion," she said.
The debate programme was designed to afford school children a platform to exchange ideas on migration.
allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Thousands Flock to Beitbridge As South Africa Removes Visa Restrictions
Tichaona Sibanda
12 May 2009
The border town of Beitbridge has been besieged by thousands of Zimbabweans taking advantage of the removal of visa restrictions by the South African government.
Last week the Home Affairs ministry signed an agreement with the Government of South Africa to drop visa restrictions for Zimbabwean passport holders traveling into that country.
The deal, signed in Pretoria, permits Zimbabweans entry into South Africa on a 90 day pass basis. This only applies to travelers with valid passports or emergency travel documents.
MDC activist, Solomon Chikohwero, who was visiting the border town of Musina in South Africa, told us there seemed to have been a communication breakdown over the visa issue, as those with just ID cards and birth certificates thought they would be allowed to use them to cross the border.
'The only thing that has changed is the removal of the visa. People will still need passports or ETD's to move across borders. There is congestion at the border as people rush to Messina to buy groceries and other necessities,' Chikohwero said.
Business people in Musina are reporting a flurry of activity as streets are thronged with shoppers from Zimbabwe. It's reported that waves of Zimbabweans are crossing the border on a daily basis, but it is not clear if most of them are temporary shoppers, or are hoping to find work in South Africa. There are concerns that such a mass influx could trigger another round of xenophobic attacks.
The mass cross border movement will inevitably put a strain on South Africa's housing, education and health sectors and South Africans are known to react violently to such pressures.
allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Country Mulls Human Trafficking Law
11 May 2009
Harare — ZIMBABWE is looking at ways to come up with a holistic law that deals with all crimes perpetrated under human trafficking, a legal expert with the International Organisation on Migration has said.
Speaking at a two-day workshop to sensitise the media on the challenges posed by illegal international migration, smuggling and human trafficking in Harare last week, IOM Zimbabwe legal assistant Ms Yvonne Masvora said consultations and research on what needs to be done to come up with a comprehensive act covering human trafficking and smuggling had already begun.
A draft policy document on labour and international migration is circulating in Government and could soon be brought before Parliament for debate.
"What we need to do is come up with a human trafficking Act to amend the existing laws that are scattered over a number of laws, that include the Criminal Law Reform (Codification) Act, Immigration Act, Labour Law 28:01 and Children's Act 5:06. At the moment it is difficult for legal officers to prosecute traffickers as different crimes are dealt with under different laws.
"Now that Zimbabwe has become both a transit and source, it is imperative that a legal policy be instituted so that all crimes under human trafficking are brought under one piece of legislation.
"To date we have held consultative and sensitisation meetings with civic organisations, ministries of Youth and Indigenisation, Health and Child Welfare, Home Affairs and the secretariat to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committees. We will soon be engaging senior Government officials and ministers to lobby on the need for a comprehensive law on trafficking.
"At the moment there is a draft policy on migration and development issues, at the second reading now, which seeks to regulate international migration and remittances to the country," she said.
Ms Masvora said it was unfortunate that only two countries in the region, namely Zambia and Mozambique, had laws on countering human trafficking and smuggling.
Zimbabwe is still to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime; the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress And Punish Trafficking In Persons, Especially Women and Children; and the UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.
IOM Zimbabwe counter-trafficking assistant Mr Nyararai Kwenda said a number of programmes had been put in place to combat the problem in Zimbabwe and its neighbours that included raising awareness among the populace in addition to research on the magnitude of smuggling and appropriate interventions.
"We have embarked on a programme to sensitise the people on the dangers of human trafficking and to capacitate the victims.
"The organisation is also raising awareness among key stakeholders such as the media and various Government departments on the problem, but the challenge remains the strengthening of the laws, increasing penalties and the lack of transnational co-operation as the crimes usually occur across borders," he said.
allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Visa-Free Regime Starts
6 May 2009
Harare — Zimbabweans started travelling to South Africa without visas yesterday following the scrapping of the requirement by the SA government.
However, bureaucratic hurdles slowed the implementation of the new visa-free regime.
Transporters in Harare refused to carry passengers without visas while at Beitbridge Border Post, immigration officials initially turned away such travellers before allowing them across after receiving communication to start implementing the new system.
SA Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula indicated when announcing the scrapping of the visa on Monday that although the regulations came into effect on May 1 bureaucratic hurdles could affect its implementation.
At Beitbridge Border Post, travellers started making inquiries as early as 6am.
Although they were cleared on the Zimbabwean side, scores were turned away on the South African side with officers from that country insisting they were yet to receive official communication from their head office in Pretoria.
They only started clearing travellers at around 1pm after receiving a directive from the Home Affairs director-general.
"Early in the morning an officer at the South African arrivals had indicated that they would not act on hearsay but were prepared to implement the system as soon as they were notified by their superiors," he said.
Zimbabwe's principal immigration officer at Beitbridge, Mr Dennis Chitsaka, said the new arrangement was a relief since they had been under immense pressure from people without proper travel documents who intended to travel to South Africa to seek medical treatment.
Mr Chitsaka said immigration officials started clearing Zimbabweans without visas as early as 7am but were disturbed by reports that they were being turned away on the SA side of the border.
Even when South African immigration officers started implementing the new system there were no drastic changes in South African-bound traffic from Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwean officers had been clearing between 2 500 and 3 000 people each day on average and expected the numbers to increase in the next few days.
"The majority of the people cleared today are those seeking employment."
The scrapping of the visa would go a long way in dealing with corruption that had become rampant at the border among officials who were facilitating illegal migration between the two countries.
According to the new South African Immigration Regulation Number 8 of 2009, ordinary passport holders from Zimbabwe are exempted from visa requirement for visits not exceeding 90 days.
Furthermore, a blanket endorsement can be made on a visitor's permit for permission to work in terms of the Immigration Act of 2002 in respect of Zimbabwe nationals who do not qualify for work permits contemplated in the main section of that Act dealing with work permits.
Prior to the new arrangement travellers to South Africa were only allowed a visit not exceeding 30 days. Overstaying attracted a fine of R1 000 a day followed by blacklisting if one failed to pay in three months.
Regulations have also been proscribed to make sure that Zimbabweans do not exceed the stipulated time limit.
Zimbabwe's Principal Chief Immigration Officer, Mr Clemence Masango, yesterday hailed the move by SA and urged Zimbabweans to be responsible.
Speaking in an interview, he said despite the scrapping of the visa, people still had a duty to comply with the laws of their host country.
"Any violation of their national laws will naturally attract prosecution and punishment. We should be responsible and law abiding.
"We don't expect any behaviour that may undermine the efforts that have gone into this exercise. This is a development that took more than a decade to come to where we are now, requiring the patience and endurance especially on the part of the officials," he said.
He added: "The South African authorities said this facility would be reviewed after 12 months and I hope it will not then be necessary to withdraw the facility. It would be taking us backwards."
Mr Masango said the development would promote easier and free movement of people between the two countries.
He was, however, quick to emphasise that immigration officials would continue to check and make the necessary assessment of any individual's suitability for admission into the two countries. The assessment would be rigorous.
"It is in line with the spirit and scope of the Sadc protocol on the facilitation of movement of persons within the Sadc region," he said.
He said the Zimbabwean delegation which was made up of Co-Home Affairs Ministers Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa and himself initially went to South Africa for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Co-operation and Assistance on Immigration Issues when the SA minister announced the new regulation.
"Then in the course of that ceremony, the minister (Mapisa-Nqakula) announced that she was also removing visa control in respect of Zimbabwean nationals," he said.
The MOU, which was signed was for co-operation in the fight against human trafficking, human smuggling and any other cross-border crimes, and to establish a framework for capacity building and training on immigration matters.
It is also to encourage co-operation and mutual assistance in the harmonisation of laws, including, but not limited to, information technology systems, technical advice and assistance consultancy and exchange of information.
"It is also to establish a one-stop border post and co-operation on any other area of mutual interest," said Mr Masango.
Copyright © 2009 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
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