No work or school for new asylum seekers in South Africa

By Violet Gonda
14 July 2006

Asylum seekers in South Africa were dealt a hard blow last week when authorities announced new rules that block new applicants claiming refugee status from working or studying.

Rodgers Mudarikwa, the Deputy Organising Secretary for the MDC in South Africa, said this new rule which applies to all asylum seekers who are planning on getting refugee status in SA will make life very difficult for people and organisations that help refugees. He said before this latest development people were allowed to work since they received no assistance from the government.

Information was not readily available from SA immigration but an immigration official from Rosettenville Refugee Reception Office in Johannesburg confirmed the agreement was made through the Director of Immigration Affairs last week. The official was only able to say: “New ones (asylum applications) would no longer be granted to study in the Republic but it is not applicable to those who were given before.”

We were not able to find out from the official the reasons for the change of policy and whether the new applicants would get state assistance. She referred us to the Director General, Busisiwe Tshepe. When contacted for comment Ms Tshepe said investigations were still underway and she would respond to written questions.

It’s estimated there are at least 2million Zimbabwean refugees who have sought sanctuary in South Africa after fleeing economic and political hardships back home. Rodgers Mudarikwa said the latest policy by the SA authorities would adversely affect many Zimbabweans. He said about 100 people seek asylum everyday at Rosettenville Refuge Reception Office alone and 50% of these people are said to be Zimbabweans.