South Africa has been issuing special permits that allowed
skilled Zimbabweans to legally work and live in South Africa and has extended
them several times. Holders of the ZEP have until the end of June this year to
migrate to mainstream permits in South Africa.
The last special permits were issued in 2017 and in
November 2021. The South African Cabinet announced that no further concessions
would be allowed on ZEP holders.
The Department of Home Affairs granted a 12-month grace
period up to the end of last month, but later extended it to end of June this
year. Government has set plans in motion to assist Zimbabweans to have a
seamless return home at the expiry of the ZEP.
The returning residents have been given a special facility
by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) to ship in all their property before
the date of arrival in the country duty free.
Bulawayo and the two Matabeleland provinces will receive
the bulk of returnees when the ZEP expires on June 30.
Participants drawn from various Government arms in the
three provinces yesterday converged in Bulawayo for a three-day lay counselling
and psychosocial training workshop.
It emerged during the meeting that the anticipated number
of returnees could potentially increase to three million because of families
returning and other nationalities being deported.
According to ZimStats Population and Housing Census,
households with emigrants constituted 13,6 percent (520,240) of all households
enumerated.
Matabeleland South Province had the largest proportion; 33
percent, of households that experienced the loss of members through emigration
while Matabeleland North and Masvingo provinces experienced a loss of 24
percent and 23 percent, respectively.
Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution in
Matabeleland South, Mrs Latiso Dlamini-Maseko said her province would bear the
brunt of returning citizens.
“Matabeleland South will be having the highest number of
returnees. As Matabeleland South, we have Beitbridge and Plumtree border posts
and we will be overwhelmed and this is the reason we want to equip our
frontline staff with the counselling and psychosocial skills which will assist
in reintegrating the returning citizens,” she said.
Mrs Dlamini-Maseko said the province is engaging Chiefs and
also working on logistics to helps seamlessly reintegrate the returnees.
“We have come up with centres where we shall accommodate
the returnees and there will be transport for them. We are engaging our
community leaders such as chiefs to ensure that they also have these skills of
integrating the returnees into the societies,” she said.
Mrs Dlamini-Maseko said the returnees’ skills that they
acquired in South Africa will be utilised locally.
“We want to ensure that while we are bringing the returnees
in, we would like to capacitate them so that we harness their skills acquired
from South Africa. Remember some of them were working and therefore they will
contribute to the economic development of our country,” she said.
In a speech read on his behalf by the chief social
development officer Mrs Patience Chiputura during the opening of the workshop,
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Simon
Masanga said it is important to capacitate officials with counselling skills.
“We have committees as part of the preparations for the
returnees. Sharpening our counselling skills, is a way in which these
committees can be capacitated. This training will empower the frontline
officers to be equipped with skills to handle the returnees upon and
post-arrival,” he said.
Dr Debra Machando, a World Health Organisation (WHO) mental
expert said the relocation of people from one place to another is stressful and
has the potential to impact on the mental health of those affected following
the expiry of ZEP.
“When people are relocating, we consider that it’s a
humanitarian crisis because they aren’t relocating voluntarily, but they are
being deported. Just that knowledge of being deported brings about huge stress
to any person,” he said.
“Any huge change, whether it is positive or negative it
brings about significant stress levels.”
Dr Machando said the training will be extended to service
delivery personnel who will be receiving returnees.
“What we usually find is if you are working with such huge
size of groups as the service deliverer you are also likely to be distressed.
The training that we are running is also to support those who are going to be
assisting the returnees when they come back,” she said.
“We want to build their capacities so that can be helpful
in the services that they offer and treat the returnees with dignity. If people
are treated with dignity and they are supported, the trauma of being deported
is going to be less.” Chronicle
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