Schwartzerwitz: Special permit for Zimbabweans put on hold

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Special permit for Zimbabweans put on hold

The special permit for Zimbabwean migrants, announced by the South African government, is being put on hold pending a review of the decision by cabinet. (from IRIN)

The outgoing home affairs minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula announced in April 2009 that Zimbabwean migrants would be eligible for a special permit allowing them to stay legally in South Africa for six months.

Home Affairs Deputy Minister Malusi Gigaba said at the time, "We have taken an important decision, which acknowledges that migration patterns between South Africa and Zimbabwe have probably changed permanently."

Home Affairs director-general of Immigration Services, Jackie MacKay, told local media: "The permit confers on them [Zimbabwean migrants] the right to stay in South Africa for a period of six months, it confers on them the right to schooling or education, it confers on them the right to work and access to basic health care."

But after South Africa's general election on 22 April, the new president, Jacob Zuma, appointed former foreign affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to the home affairs portfolio and the much heralded special permit system for Zimbabweans came under review.

Home Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa told IRIN: "The [home affairs] minister wanted cabinet to be briefed about the matter, about the scope and implications of that decision [to grant special permits to Zimbabweans], and we'll take it from there."

I see it coming. Zimbabweans will get 6 month papers and if caught in the country after that they will be deported. How much education can a person get in 6 months? Everyone is elated that the refugees will be given a 6 month reprieve.... BUT THEN WHAT?

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Every Pogrom needs an Armband....

Welcome to Schwartzerwitz. The inevitable consequence of 4 million illegal immigrants arriving in South Africa. More desperate than our local folk they are willing to work longer harder faster for less. The immigrants are more reliable than South African unskilled labour and have outcompeted the local folk. No matter what anyone says it's not FAIR on our locals. Adding 4 million hungry mouths to the country has exacerbated the rocketing food prices felt across the globe. Adding 4 million potential electricity users to the mix has undoubtedly worsened the electricity situation. Having 4 million people send home money to their family drains the economy of money which should stay within the borders. Adding 4 million people and not registering them as taxpayers has cost the country billions. What chance does our government of ridding the country of shacks as per the Millennium Development Goal when 4 million immigrants build/rent shacks. Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe....? Just move to a shack in South Africa. On an individual basis this site condemns violent acts against individuals. However as a collective the illegal immigrants deserve no sympathy and should be deported back from whence they came. These people are economic refugees - "not real refugees" - and they are(generally speaking) in South Africa illegally.

kwerekwere.

The inside cover of my Oxford English dictionary features a word with which I have become all too familiar: the word is kwerekwere.

(It may be more familiar to you with one of its vernacular language–dependant prefixes prepended — the Sotho singular being le– and plural ma–, the Nguni singular being i– and plural ama–). This word is used to refer to black (in the morphological sense) Africans who are not South Africans — South African being defined as Sotho, Nguni, Venda and Tsonga ethnic groups (by that measure the Swazis, Batswana, etc. would be South African?). This word has a very negative sting to it and is often used with contempt. From what I gather it has undertones which speak of how black Africans are believed to be sub–human, too dark and have a pungent smell.