via Migrants seek easier permit renewal… | The Zimbabwean 02.04.14 by Mxolisi Ncube
Migrants’ rights organisations are still trying to negotiate better renewal terms for Zimbabwean permits.
South Africa revealed recently that, while the permits would be renewed, holders would be required to make their applications back in their home country.
Zimbabwean migrants believe the latest shift of policy, partly in line with recent amendments to the SA migration laws, could be a ploy to reject their applications.
“It was very difficult to convince our employers to write us recommendation letters or to even give us days off to apply for the permits and this new requirement will see us lose our jobs,” said Sihle Ndlovu.
“Travelling to Zimbabwe and back for the renewal would require about a week, and employers would not allow that. I think South Africa is just fed up with us and wants us to lose our jobs in the process.”
Deputy home affairs minister Fatima Chohan told a press conference in Pretoria last week that all DZP permit holders were expected to leave the country at the expiry of their documents, whether they were work, study or business permits.
Migrants’ rights organisations are still trying to negotiate a better solution. “We are seeking dialogue with the South African government on this,” said Daniel Muzenda, spokesperson for Zimbabwe Migrants International.
Butholezwe Nyathi, national coordinator of Migrants Workers’ Association of South Africa, said his organisation thought the best option was in a collective effort.
…as Zimbabweans fall prey to fake document scam
A Zimbabwean man is still struggling to recover his money a year after being duped into applying for a permit that turned out to be fake.
Morelife Namara told The Zimbabwean this week that he lost R4,000 to a company called Executive Travel last year, in what now appears to be a permit scam.
“I paid R4,000 when I applied for the permit and the agent took my details, pay slip and proof of residence,” said Namara, who lives in Johannesburg.
But Namara became suspicious after he advised the agent that he wanted to travel home sometime this year.
“When I told him that I was going to the border, he said my permit was not ready to pass the border and asked me to pay an extra R1,200, but I refused and continued with my journey. At the border, I was told that my passport was fake.
“When I called the agent back to ask him what was happening, he only said he was sorry and did not propose any remedial action. Now he is no longer taking my calls. I want a valid permit or my money back from him.”
Countless efforts to get a comment from the agent were fruitless. Having initially claimed his permits were genuine and promised a meeting with our reporter, he stopped answering calls.
Police in Pretoria, from where the agent, who called himself ‘Ryan’, used to operate, said they would only start a search after a formal report was made.
Namara, who said he could recognise the suspected criminal if he met him again, said he delayed making the report hoping that Ryan would meet him halfway and either pay back his money or give him a valid permit.
COMMENTS
There it is Zimbos the honeymoon of stealing jobs from South Africans is over. South Africans can’t suffer because we have opened hearts to Foreigners. Goodwill can only go so far.
Once the permit expires remember that you are now an illegal that is awaiting deportations and also the company that hires you risks punishment for hiring an undocumented foreigner.
To Daniel Muzenda, there’s no solution you can negotiate that will result in Foreigners staying in our country and taking our jobs and us being happy with that. We sheltered you because there was a political crises in your country, so there’s no more crises so GO BACK HOME.
Do not fool yourself by thinking that there’ll be anyone able to renew his permit because the reason why you must apply in your country its because there’s no permit that is going to be renewed and once you are in South Africa there won’t be any story you are going to tell that is going to be tolerated. You will be deported for your own good to allow you to go back home and apply. That will be the last we hear of you.
At last we will be able to enjoy the fresh air and space that we used to enjoy in the 90’s.
The next step is to arrest all those with FAKE South African I.D’s that are without supporting documents like birth certificate. I.d. smart cards are here and have a signature of the issuer which will make it almost impossible to FAKE.
aaaahhhhhaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sad part of your opening statement, is that you have convinced yourself that you will get that position which will be vacated by the Zimbabwean. If you couldn’t get it in the first place, what the hell makes you think you will get it now? There will always be someone better than you!
You must be from Zimbabwe Mr Proudly South African. Your obsession gives you away.
Yes, he is from Zim originally, but he is NOW South African. He probably left Zim for South Africa because of the tribalism of Shona people and their gukurahundi ZANU PF of the 1980s.
This is why most of those people who left Zim around that time hate Zim and the Shona even to this day.
They will do anthing to make the Shona people feel the pain. Unfortunately the Mthwakazi people become collateral damage in the process – victims of circumstances, in other words!!
@Kayz
Mr Sir if you read the below lines you will immediately know where I”m from.
Ngiwu funge,mpilonde,Zikode umfazi omabelemade,insizwa emboz’imbokodo nesisekelo okheth’iphelemasini.
Angisona neze isifikanamthwalo lapha ekhaya. Ngizizonda ukusuka nokuhla ikakhulu kazi ezakulezwe lasenyakatho nengizimu Africa.
Hayi bo Mr Proudly South African!
isizulu asithi “ukusuka nokuhla” kuthiwa “ukusuka nokuhlala”
Futhi akuthiwa “nengizimu” kuthiwa “ningizimu”
Wafunda kusiphi isikolo, ngawuphi unyaka?
Bambanani Sizwesakithi
Mus’ukuzikhathaza wena. uProudly South African yi fake. Ku sobala lokhu!
typing error Sidididi ndini,sdwanyampuphu, sgodongo
He’s a jerk
sithi “isifikanemithwalo”; hayi “isifikanamthwalo”!!
Wensizwa yawo wonke amehlo akubukile ngoba ngiyabona ukuthi isiZulu uyasinkashela awusifunda njengolwimi lokuqala. Othingikublose ngefosholo ngikwededele. Isifikanamthwalo umuntu onjengawe. Buka lelikakhasi engikulungisele lona ngenzansi ukuze wazikabanzi ngenkulumo yesiZulu kuloludaba
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-172428096.html
Like it or not, not granting permit renewal or permanent residence status like in 1996, under the revered Mandela, will have dire consequencies to the SA economy. If all these people leave SA what happens to the loans and accounts they have? Who will occupy and pay the rentals of the businesses and residences they occupy? Who will automatically fill the jobs they have?The reason they are having those jobs is because the employer deemed them most suitable.I don’t buy into the naive notion of someone stealing another’s job. Some of these people are educators, engineers and professionals in various disciples, has government and cabinet applied its mind or is it just a spur of the moment? SA is free to do as it pleases but it’s wise to apply your minds before you act. Illegal immigrants only breed and benefit corruption in Home Affairs and Police departments.
Mvelase
Stop lying to yourself. Most Zim people, who South Africa really needs due to their skills already had proper documentation when this initiative was launched by the South African government.
If you are well educated, well qualified, skilled and experienced, e.g. an Engineer at Eskom, a Chartered Accountant; an Economist; a Statistician etc, etc – these permits certainly dont apply to you.
Many such skilled people already had valid documentation, as it is not difficult to get them, if you are a professional. Many are also either permanent residence or South African citizens.
Most people who are illegal in SA have nothing to offer by way of skills. They are simply economic refugees, and Mzansi will certainly NOT miss them if they returned. It is them who needed these permits.
This government decision does not apply to professional immigrants!!
The people you are taking about are probably far Less than 10 000 all in total. The majority which is over 2 million is the scum that we are trying to get rid of. One of the reasons why our economy is struggling its because we have too many foreign mouths to feed. If the reported 2 billion that is swindled out of the country by the Zimbos every year is spend in the country, taxed and re-taxed that will boost our economy.
It is only fair for us to want to keep our money among us. We don’t owe anyone any explaination.
Proudly South African
The 2 million are the very people I am saying SA is wasting time and resources on. You can deport and deport, all you want – they will keep coming back, all because South Africans are inherently corrupt.
This corruption is not new; it was always there in the 1980s; the years of gukurahundi – ask the Mthwakazi people who came to live in Mzansi around that time. The white police officers would ask you about a missing page.
Many of these Mthwakazi people had they stay regularised under Buthelezi as home affairs Minister and Mandela as president. Their SA passpirts clear state “Born in Zimbabwe”, so they are quite valid.
It does not matter where he comes from as long as he is saying the truth which hates to the border jumpers.The reasons you people gave for going to S Africa are no longer valid because SADC accepted the results of our elections which you people supported so that the situation remains unchanged so that you could stay there when your brothers are suffering here.Your ill-planned move has backfired terribly,so come back home before you are deported with nothing because if they catch you in the street they won’t give you chance to go and collect your few blankets to bring with you.We need you back home to resolve our problems as a united nation.
Mixed Race
I live in SA, originally from Mthwakazi, in Zim. Dont be so ambitious. I can tell you now – this SA government decision is going to back fire, not on the Zims but the South African government.
Most of these people will now go underground, they will not return to Zim to get their permits renewed and it will be back to square one for SA.
They will once again become illegal, and the government will not know their whereabouts. Remember, most of these people are not professionals, they are just domestic workers, farm labourers, small scale business people etc, etc – they can change their jobs very easily, you cant trace them.
The SA govt is creating a big problem for themselves, and I suspect its all about the coming elections.
Again, if you check, they managed to register about +200 000 illiegals only, when the initiative was launched. This number is just to low for the suspected number of illegal Zims who are in Mzansi. It means, many shunned the process because the SA government did not want to play open cards with them. They therefore suspected the process.
The South African police and their Home Affairs counterparts are very corrupt, they can never be trusted to deal with illegal immigration.
Deportations are a waste of money – the deported will keep coming back, come waht may.
The Gukurahundi Zimbabwe Republic is not worth fighting for, there is no rebuilding to be done there, with the gukurahundis still at the helm. It will never happen and it will never work!!
The ONLY solution to this problem is for SADC to stop accommodating gukurahundi Mugabe and his stupid policies. South Africa is the biggest loser in all this, they have to take the lead!!
OUr government will target business that are hiring foreigners. We will come down hard on them which will make it difficult for any business to employ foreigners. Borders are going to be tightened as we do expect an inflow of scum from upnorth. For your information all the corrupt Home Affairs officials have been fired last year and some are still on disciplinary hearing. All the documents issued by them were going to be up for re-application but the Director decided that since all I.D.’s will have to be renewed then all of them will sorted out then. If you have one of these documents prepare yourself for a free transport back to Zim
Proudly South African
That will never happen. Not as long as the smell of the Rand or the Dollar is what the South African is all about.
You can put all the laws and regulations they want; there will always be illegal immigration. I am ow a South African and I have lived in SA long enough tyo know that South Africans love the good life.
Even during the struggle; we lived at Broadest, at the Farm in Botswana as iziphepheli/refugees during the Rhodesian era – South Africans always crossed back to Johannesburg, Soweto to watch Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, yet they had declared themselves as refugees at the UN offices and were therefore not supposed to go back.
The ANC’s liberation efforts were thwarted by South Africans themselves who always collaborated with the Apartheid government or never reall wanted to face the hardships that suffering in the bush called for.
They love the double storied big houses; the big Range Rover Machines; golf; glittering parties and dressing nicely etc, etc.
Blacks dont even like farming, because its hard work – they prefer office jobs.
How many people in South Africa have vegetable gardens in their yards like you find in Zim? virtually none. They all buy tomatoes, cabbages and onions from Checkers, Shoprite and Pick n’ Pay.
The police are corrupt and this includes th white police officers as well. Nothing will change, they are wasting their time!!
We should keep the SA scum out of Zim. They have betrayed us again and again. When their war starts they’ll be knocking on our door again, wait and see.
Tawanda
Unfortunately for you, there will never be a war in South Africa. Even the armed struggle failed because South Africans love comfort and the good life. Had it not be international pressure, sanctions and internal mass action and a failing economy, freedom would have never been realised in Mzansi.
Chances of Zim coming right without western assistance are almost zero. And with the gukurahundis very much still around, expect no change and South Africans are not likely to knock at your door for anything, anytime soon!!
South Africans don’t go to Zim. Why the hell would I go to that hell hole called Zim because the stupid police will arrest me without trial. THe judge sentence me without evidence or charge.
The SA government already targets businesses who hire foreigners and no business are that stupid that they would hire undocumented foreigners. There is nothing new in the statements you are making. All this has already been in play for the past four years.
i agree with you kayz,mr proudly south african is a real zimbabwean,proudly zimbabwean.his obsession is the chief testimony on the balance of probabilities.the retorhic he spews is mainly from a certain province of zim and is in a self denial state.once the deportations starts,he will be caught in the process as well,nothing to boast about.,real south africans does not sound the way he does.
Some of the assertions are purely childish or uninformed. Professionals are daily entering South Africa from Zimbabwe.And many did go through this ZDP programme. Anyway as I stated the South African government has a right to do as it pleases not based on newspaper items but informed by the data in their possession.250000 people were documented where then are some of you getting your 2million figure? Sensationalism of course not supported by any facts.
Zimbabweans in South Africa or back in Zimbabwe what benefit does it make to my personal life or that of any of you guys? Hate speech or any such is purely what is festering in some guys’ comments.One time I listened to Deputy President of Botswana and he said “where are the local people when foreigners get jobs which the locals latter claim where stolen from them?” Why did the SA government give the permits in the first place? What is it that it will achieve by withdrawal of the same? Mozambicans have twice if not more been given permit residence status in South Africa when they are not professionals or trades-people, this xenophobic comments about Zimbabweans is interesting…
Mvelase you are very accurate on this because I am one professional electrical engineering technologist who went through that corrupt system. Fully registerd with the Engineering Council of South Africa as a PrTechEng for close to 5 years now and those relatives of ours wo’nt employ me because they need permanent residency the same applies to my young brother , a very intelligent pharmacist still languishing in Port Elizabeth…….jobless.
We lost everything of order and genuine objective thinking when uMaDlamini took that job at the OAU..Now this Apleni brother is just firing from the hip conspiring to expel zimbabweans from eMzansi. Most if not approximarely 99% so called zims in RSA are actually bona fide South Africans because our very great grandfather decided to run away and explore further north. Bayethe!! Mzilawegazi. Do we know if He intended to return to Natal after exhausting his curiosity up north? Well I am so priviledged to know that it was his intention. The thesis is he wanted to GO BACK to where he came from even if it meant conquring the Great Shaka himself. He was such a daVInci that he imagined unifying the whole sourthen Africa region under him . – I think all true leaders seek after that elusive but achievable ambition.Now that that ambition is being manifest… we dispatch his agent par excellence MaDlamini to OAU and look what is happening…Apleni and the honourable lady who took her ministry lack vision ambition and even a grand plan. please see Mcumbatha’s files for the details on King Mziligazi’s full ans noble ambition. Mcumbatha kaBaba was His Chief Advisor and confidante and aide se campe. Bayethe WeNdlovu.
Oh shame Africa is more divided than what its current leaders claim to be!!! I read between the lines I find myself feeling depressed with how brothers value each other on simple man-made boundaries.There are too many young people with useless degrees,they cannot change a simple house electrical plugs or sockets.Forget your so-called degrees and be practical to improve your regional economies.You need practical people to transform economies not theoretical degrees and so on.All the current social media networks were designed by simple innovative people without degrees.Degrees are now easy to acquire but they really make no difference to your personal performance.
While it is true that you will find a mixture of professional and unskilled work seekers on dispensation permits, the reality is that the situation in Zim is devastating. A loss of jobs has far less negative effects as compare to a business. A business represents many jobs, assets, seized opportunities (leaving less) and outflow of money . Why cry about loss of jobs when other nationalities own commercial opportunities that if total result more jobs taken by Zimbabweans?
I suggest the gorven must allow these hardworking people to renew the permits,and concentrate only on so called boader jumpers.i hve a strong feeling that evn if you get rid of 250,000 it neva be regarded as employment creation.im a crossboader long distance truck driver operating jhb-drc route,we work wth a few guys frm mzansi not because are no opotunities for the local guys but they want anythng so hectic like being away from home for amonth or more.
Africa is my Continet but some of Leaders desever to live the Wold
God help us Zimbabweans…….
The question ordinary south africans should ask their leaders who are they supporting the struggling ordinary people who are trying to earn a living or the toss pots holding positions in zim who do not give a damn about anyone except for themselves. AU is chaired by South Africa and when Bob SHOUTS THEY JUMP
And the Southern african Dictators Club (SADC) also need to be questioned by the Migrant Rights groups
Not only South Africa but also Countries like Botswana where Migrants are facing alot of xenephobia
The problem could be that the Southern African Dictators Club (SADC) and AU (All Useless) are not having a dialogue with Migrant Organisations
The All Useless Club (AU) is chaired by a former wife of Zuma what are they doing for the masses ZERO
If the Southern African Dictators Club (SADC) and the All Useless (AU) were really concerned about the ordinary struggling people they would do something including having a dialogue with the Migrant organisations they too do not give a damn about anyone except themselves – when you look at the AU they should be the first to go into a Crisis in a country on the continent but they take they own sweet time they are just totally useless and always blowing their trumpets of lack of funding
Trying to deport Zimbos is like trying to empty an ocean . Rather document them at a certain fee that will be channelled towards unemployment benefit for South Africans
That’s sad if they’re not going to renew our permits , but some of us have kids in South Africa with south African women , they need us to support them financial , so it’s going to be hard for us to go back to Zimbabwe , like myself I’ve been living illegal in South Africa for 23 yrs now, and you think I’ll go back to Zimbabwe because my permit was not renewed . try that and see if it will happen
I become so faithful and trustworthy and return my South African I.D to Home Affairs and got the Permit now the Minister is anouncing that I have to go and renew my Permit back to Zimbabwe !what does that mean , since I got it in 1994 ! I would like the minister to explain to our situattion as I am not alone on it , please let the Minister if not the Cabinate explain to us what will happen to us !
The solution is for Southafrica to buy Zimbabwe land and its people.
I’m not going back to Zimbabwe just because of permit l will stay in SA if com across with the police I will make plans.
How can l renew my permit
I want to renew my permit how can are do it..pliz help me l don’t know what to do..
I think professionals should get work permits and students study permits which are renewed after seven years .The companies employing Zimbabweans must understand the situation hence they should not exterminate Zimbabweans’ jobs
Where are the offices located want to renew Zimbabwe study permits