The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWEANS living in South Africa have been advised to come and apply for passports so that they are eligible to apply for permits in the remaining six months before the expiry of a Special Dispensation that allowed them to work and remain in that country.This follows revelations that most Zimbabweans were in South Africa illegally after their passports expired or they crossed the border without the documents through the assistance of omalayitsha.
They are being urged to come and apply for passports so that they benefit from permits that will be issued as of December 2014 when the Special Dispensation programme permits issued from 2010 expire.
According to a Home Affairs official in Zimbabwe, it is cheaper to have Zimbabweans apply for passports at a cost of $53 locally than having to cross illegally into South Africa.
“It is cheaper to apply for an ordinary passport in Zimbabwe at a cost of $53 than to go via omalayistha for R1 500 and not be able to apply for a permit at all,” said the official.
The South African government announced last week that it was not going back on its intention to deport Zimbabweans when their permits expire in December this year.
According to a source at the South African Embassy, when Zimbabweans and other foreigners were given an opportunity to regularise their stay there was a waiver on a lot of things as they were dealing with a crisis.
“When we said Zimbabweans should regularise their stay we were in a crisis and needed to register them and by so doing we waived a lot of requirements for them as people were coming en masse but now we are giving them a chance to do it the right way that is why they are being asked to come back home,” said the source.
According to the South African Home Affairs Ministry, their decision on the permits still stood.
“The permits will expire approximately December 2014 and also depending on when they were issued. In this context, Cabinet approved the approach on the expiry of permits issued under the Special Dispensation for Zimbabweans in terms of which permit-holders will be expected to re-apply for permits.
“The Minister of Home Affairs in South Africa will in due course provide more clarity on the process to be followed and the date of commencement. The special dispensation allowed Zimbabwean nationals to be regularised through South Africa’s permitting regime.”
The South African government said the opportunity enabled it to enhance national security and the management of migration and helped to mitigate widespread abuse of Zimbabweans by corrupt employers and officials.
The department would continue to combat illegal migration, crime, fraud and corruption. It was committed to providing a secure civic and immigration service ensuring all people in the country were safe.
Many Zimbabweans living in South Africa are worried that when their permits issued under the Special Dispensation expire it will take a much longer time to acquire one from Zimbabwe.
“A permit takes long to be processed and again we are afraid we may not even get the permits after all. We do not understand why we have to come back and apply at home and what will happen to our jobs,” said one Zimbabwean.
They argue that no employer would give then extended time off work to apply for a permit.
According to the new system Zimbabweans that benefited from the programme are now required to leave South Africa and apply for new permits at the South African embassy in Harare and wait for the outcome in Zimbabwe.
In a recent interview the South African Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Vusi Mavimbela said for one to be able to renew a permit, they should have a clean record and be able to provide proof of employment, study or business.
“The plan is to give an extra year to those who already had permits, while new applicants will be thoroughly screened this time and required to satisfy requirements that are still being set by government,” he said.
Mr Mavimbela said some of the requirements were that people should prove that they were employed under the category of “critical skills” or have their employers come forward to vouch for them.
He said new work and business permits would be valid for four years, in line with new government policy on migration, while study permits would be valid for the duration of the course. He said the Special Dispensation had created business opportunities for South Africans that Pretoria did not want to disrupt.
“Most South African business sectors, like insurance and banking, have, since the launch of the programme, designed programmes specifically targeting Zimbabweans and would not like to lose them,” he said.
He said Zimbabweans should again take advantage of this programme and get permits so that their stay was smooth in the foreign country.
An insider from the Ministry of Home Affairs in Zimbabwe said the move was actually convenient for the Zimbabweans if they came home in time.
“It is actually better to apply for the permit here in Zimbabwe unlike having to apply in South Africa where they process applications for many foreigners which makes the offices overwhelmed unlike back home where they deal with us alone,” he said. The insider said Zimbabweans had a misconception that passports took long to be processed so they opted to sneak into the neighbouring country.
The Special Dispensation allowed close to 250 000 Zimbabwean nationals to be regularised through South Africa’s permitting regime but many Zimbabweans did not take advantage of the calls.
