HARARE’S top diplomat in Pretoria, David Hamadziripi, said this week a court case filed by Zimbabwean migrants against President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration over special work permit renewals has complicated an already tense situation.
Hamadziripi, who spoke as anxieties over the renewals
deepened, said there had been diplomatic manoeuvres to end the uncertainties,
and a decision would be announced by the South African government.
The special permits were last renewed in 2017, and are due
to expire at the end of this year.
In drama-filled recent weeks, South African nationals
demonstrated against the extension of the special permits, while Zimbabwean
migrants on the special permits took Pretoria to court, pressing the government
to declare them permanent residents.
About 250 000 Zimbabwean nationals on the special permits
face an uncertain future.
But frustrations have increased because the South African
government is yet to indicate whether it would renew the permits or not,
Hamadziripi told the Zimbabwe Independent.
“In this case, the current permits expire at the end of
next month,” Hamadziripi said. “The process has always been that the South
African cabinet decides whether to renew or not. The last time they were
renewed was in 2017. Their term is five years. They are due to expire in 2021.
The point is that it is a decision that is actually taken by the South African
cabinet.
“What has infuriated some South Africans is that we have
some permit holders who have now gone to the courts asking them to direct the
South African government to grant them permanent residency.
“Some of these people have been holding them (special
permits) for a period long enough for them to qualify for permanent residency.
But because they have these special permits, they don’t qualify and cannot be
granted permanent residency.”
Pretoria has come under fierce criticism from its
nationals, who last week tried to force the Ramaphosa administration to change
tack.
#NoToZimWorkPermits campaign and #PutSouthAfricansFirst
activist and march convenor Tshidiso Rantsa has said the push is to make sure
opportunities taken by Zimbabweans are returned to South Africans.
Zimbabwean Exemption Permit Holders Association responded
by filing court applications to force the South African administration to
declare them permanent residents at the expiry of the document.
Other African nationals also hold the permits.
Hamadziripi said anxiety was building up because of delays
by the South African government on the processes for renewal of the permits.
“The focus now is coming because the South African
government should have, by now, like in the past, announced even the process
that should be followed by the permit holders to get them renewed, but up to
now, just over a month from their expiry, that announcement has not come,” he
said.
According to South African immigration laws, Hamadziripi
said, these Zimbabweans had stayed in the neighbouring country long enough to
acquire permanent residency.
He said Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade
minister Frederick Shava met South Africa’s International Relations and
Co-operation minister Dr Naledi Pandor in Cape Town in May this year to discuss
the matter.
“The information that was given by the South African
minister was that this matter was going to be discussed by the South African
cabinet and a decision would then be announced at the appropriate time and that
is what we are waiting for,” he said.
Hamadziripi said Zimbabweans who had taken the case to
court were justified.
“This is a decision which they have every right to make and
all I can say is that as the embassy, we are aware of the court action. We
cannot interfere in that matter; neither can we make any comments on that,” he
said.
Meanwhile, South Africans opposed to the renewal of the
permits were due to march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday
morning.
According to South African newspaper, The Citizen, on
Wednesday, Rantsa said their march was not a xenophobic act, but a cry to the
government to prioritise its own citizens.
“What kind of country issues work permits to thousands of
foreign nationals when more than 75% of its own youth are sitting at home
without jobs? When we try and say something we are labelled xenophobic for
putting ourselves first,” Rantsa said.
He reportedly told the media that the marchers had no
problem with Zimbabweans who are documented, but they wanted the government to
prioritise unemployed South Africans.
“We are not attacking anyone but, like Botswana, we would
really like our country to prioritise us. SA has a high unemployment rate, but
we are forced to give all these struggling countries a piggyback ride. It
doesn’t make sense.”
He referred to a statement issued by Botswana’s Ministry of
Investment, Trade and Industry on November 3 this year, which reserved certain
business activities for Botswana citizens.
However, human rights lawyer Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, at the
International Commission of Jurists Africa Programme, said the unemployment
statistics in SA were not relevant to the issue of renewal of the permits.
She told The Citizen that at the time the permit was
brought in, the asylum system could not process all of the Zimbabweans who were
in the country and “an alternative means” had to be found to “ensure that they
were documented and not subjected to arrests by police”.
Ramjathan-Keogh said the permit had been rolled out on
multiple occasions and on a short-term basis to make sure that they could not
apply for permanent residency. Zimbabwe Independent
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