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R/£ Zimbabweans to be given special permit
April 03, 2009 Edition 1
Zimbabweans who have entered South Africa to seek political asylum and employment are to be granted a "special dispensation" permit, the Department of Home Affairs has said.
The permit conferred on them the right to stay in South Africa for six months, the right to schooling or education, and the right to work and access basic health care, the department's director-general of immigration services, Jackie MacKay, said.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba said the department had taken an important decision that acknowledged that migration patterns between South Africa and Zimbabwe had probably changed permanently.
Zimbabweans will need to apply for the permit at Home Affairs and provide proof of their nationality. If they do not have official identification, they will be given tests.
"They will go through… a country verification test with the assistance of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees," said MacKay.
The special dispensation may lessen the pressure the large number of Zimbabwean migrants has created.
MacKay said many Zimbabweans who applied for political asylum were simply looking for employment.
But once asylum was granted, they were barred from returning to Zimbabwe. This made them stay in South Africa when they might prefer to be here for only a short time.
"Most Zimbabweans are economic migrants. What they want is to come into the country to work and go home and take money back," said MacKay.
"We believe this dispensation will result in foreign currency going into Zimbabwe and assist in building (it) up."
Permit renewals would be determined not according to the applicant, but Zimbabwe's economic situation.
Gigaba said police could not arrest as illegal immigrants any Zimbabweans who had the permits. - Sapa
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