SA Home Affairs considers residence permits for Zimbabwe refugees

By Lance Guma
29 August 2007

In a tacit admission that the Zimbabwean crisis has gone out of hand, South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister broke new policy ground by saying they were considering issuing temporary residence permits for those who had fled the country. On Tuesday Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is reported to have said the government needed to adopt a new approach to deal with Zimbabwean citizens flocking into South Africa and that allowing them to work until the political problems had been resolved was a possibility.

She said a lot of people were coming to the country to get jobs and money so as to be able to go back home every month to look after their families. She told reporters it was a waste of money to keep deporting people since the majority of them return back within a few days. Mapisa-Nqakula was also keen to stress that no refugee camps would be built to absorb the influx of economic and political refugees. Just last week the Director General of the Home Affairs department also spoke out, saying no decision had been made to establish refugee camps. ‘I don't know that it would be taken in the future. If I had any say in that, I would argue strongly against the establishment of refugee camps on the border,’ he said.

The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum has meanwhile welcomed the development and expressed hope the suggestions will not end at mere rhetoric, without any form of implementation. Executive Director Gabriel Shumba says the introduction of such a measure would probably only benefit Zimbabweans in South Africa, who have travel documents. He urged those going through the asylum system to remain inside the process until it was clear what criteria or requirements the home affairs department will put in place, if they introduce the temporary residence permits. Shumba says it is clear the South African government is overwhelmed by the enormity of the crisis in Zimbabwe and that their softly-soft approach to Mugabe has not worked.