THOUSANDS of Zimbabweans living in South Africa are reportedly failing to get COVID-19 jabs due to lack of identity documents.
This is despite assurances by President Cyril Ramaphosa at
the start of the vaccination programme that everyone, including foreigners,
would be vaccinated.
However, it has been revealed that health workers at some
vaccination centres in South Africa were turning away foreigners without
identity documents (IDs), a situation that has also affected Zimbabwean
migrants.
South Africa is believed to be home to over three million
Zimbabweans, some of them undocumented.
Migrants Workers’ Association-SA (MWA-SA) chairperson
Butholezwe Nyathi expressed concern over the failure by undocumented migrants
to get inoculated.
“MWA-SA has observed that the South Africa Department of
Health requires proof of identity for its vaccination data system (VDS).
“We are grateful that those who managed to produce their
passports with permits have been vaccinated without any problems,” Nyathi said.
“However, we are concerned that those who fail to produce
any form of proof of their legal status in SA might be excluded.
“Our concern is that some employers might demand proof of
vaccination and that might lead to job losses.”
Nyathi urged Ramaphosa’s government to allow private
pharmacies to inoculate undocumented foreigners.
“The challenge is that every point should feed into the
electronic vaccination data system that requires a valid identity.
“The Department of Health wants to reach herd immunity and
that cannot be done without vaccinating migrants — whether legal or illegal as
they form a significant percentage of communities,” he said.
Zimbabwe Community in South Africa chairperson Ngqabutho
Mabhena said foreigners were being asked to produce IDs, yet Home Affairs
minister Aaron Motsoaledi said no one would be discriminated. Newsday
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