Foreign students studying in areas of critical skills could
apply for permanent residence before attaining five years post-qualification
experience, or without submitting testimonials from employers.
But South African Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi in
a latest circular withdrew the blanket waiver which was granted on April 21,
2016.
In a January 31 Immigration Directive No 2 of 2022,
Motsoaledi said students who wished to apply for permanent residence permits,
had to comply with the country’s immigration laws.
“By virtue of the power vested in me by section 31(2) of
the Immigration Act, 2002, Act No 13 of 2002, I hereby withdraw the blanket
waiver which was granted on April 21, 2016,
which waiver allowed foreign graduates at South African tertiary institution
that studied towards degrees in the area of critical skills, to apply for a
permanent residence permit without the need of first acquiring five years
post-qualification experience or the need to submit testimonials from
employees,” the directive read.
This came after Pretoria stopped renewing the Zimbabwean
Special Permits (ZEPs) that expired in December last year, and opted to give
the permit holders a year to move to other visa regimes or face deportation.
ZEP was introduced in 2009 by then Home Affairs minister
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as a temporary solution to a growing refugee crisis
related to Zimbabwe. There are an estimated 180 000 ZEP holders in South
Africa.
In December, ZEP holders field urgent court applications to
overturn the decision taken by Motsoaledi not to renew their permits. The High
Court in Pretoria struck their applications off the roll of urgent matters.
Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa David Hamadziripi
yesterday said he would consult staff to assess the impact of Motsoaledi’s
latest directive targeting foreign students.
“I have just seen the minister’s directive and it is,
obviously, going to affect a lot of Zimbabweans based in South Africa.
“However, I haven’t had the opportunity to meet with my
staff to assess the impact of the said directive. We will be convening a
meeting with my colleagues so that we come up with an informed opinion on the
latest development,” Hamadziripi said.
South African nationals are lobbying for Zimbabwean
immigrants to leave that country as they accuse them of stealing their jobs.
South Africa has also tightened border control measures to stop illegal
immigrants from entering that country.
Analysts said the neighbouring country was putting in place
stringent immigration measures to deal with internal political problems ahead
of its 2024 elections.
A member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher
and Tertiary Education, Daniel Molokela (Citizens Coalition for Change) said: “We must not be surprised by
such measures that are being put in place to stop African immigrants into South
Africa. We must actually brace for more measures of the same nature.
“We have in the past years witnessed thousands of
Zimbabweans relocating to South Africa and that has created a political crisis
for the neighbouring country. The measures are being put in place by the ruling
African National Congress (ANC) to solve the crisis ahead of the country’s
upcoming polls.”
Some political parties such as ActionSA and the Patriotic
Alliance performed well in SA’s November 2021 municipal elections after riding
on the anti-immigrant sentiment.
In January, there were reports of xenophobic attacks
against Zimbabwean immigrants in areas such as Diepkloof, Rosebank and
Turfontein.
Molokela said the influx of immigrants, especially from
Zimbabwe “is a reminder to Sadc that the Zimbabwean crisis should be resolved
with urgency”.
Political analyst Eiffe Ncube said the new measures against
fellow countrymen in South Africa had serious negative effects on the local
economy as they contributed significantly through diaspora remittances.
“Every employment policy that is implemented in South
Africa, United Kingdom or any other country where Zimbabweans are based will
affect our economy because the country is benefiting much from diaspora
remittance,” Ncube said.
“The immigration crisis in South Africa is centred on the
elections that are due in the country. The ruling party is reacting to the
extreme political groupings that have become very sensitive to the continued
rise of immigrants in the country. ANC is adopting populist political policies
to deal with its rivals and secure victory in the upcoming elections.”
Zimbabweans in South Africa are estimated to be around
three million. Newsday
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