South Africa relaxes Zimbabwe deportation paperwork

South Africa has relaxed requirements for Zimbabweans to get permits to stay in the country, prompting thousands to queue at government offices.

They have to get correct paperwork before a new year deadline, otherwise they will face deportation.

Officials now say that passports are no longer required and those still in the queues by closing time will be seen.

Some two million Zimbabweans are estimated to be in South Africa, many of them illegally.

They have been fleeing recent instability and economic crisis in their own country.

Slow and bureaucratic
In September, Zimbabweans working illegally in South Africa were told they had an opportunity to be processed and, if successful, given work visas and residency to stay.

So far, nearly 150,000 people have taken advantage of the amnesty and applied across South Africa in what correspondents say has been a painfully slow bureaucratic process.

Applicants have had to present their Zimbabwean passports, their birth certificates and letters from their employers or affidavits from the police to prove self-employment.

But many of the migrants crossed into South Africa from Zimbabwe illegally - without passports.

On Friday morning, Mkhuseli Apleni, director general of the Home Affairs Department, said this requirement had been dropped to encourage more people to apply and speed up the registrations.

He also said all those in the queues would be seen even after the offices closed at 1700 local time.

The BBC's Nomsa Maseko in Johannesburg says that, given the length of the queues, the process could last well into the night.

- BBC

Mugabe won’t ask SA for extension of Makwerekwere permits deadline

Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party of deliberately derailing the documentation of Zimbabweans living in South Africa.

“We are actually dismayed by the lukewarm attitude of the (Zimbabwe) government towards its citizens, they should be assisting but they are throwing spanners in the project,” South Africa-based MDC spokesperson Sibanengi Dube said yesterday.

The comments came amid fears that thousands of Zimbabweans would not be able to meet today’s deadline that South African authorities set for them to regularise their stay in the country.

The process of regularisation requires Zimbabweans to be in possession of passports from their country. But the Zimbabwe embassy has only been able to issue about 500 passports a day.

Mugabe rejected outright the South African government’s efforts to assist Zimbabwe to produce more passports.

“We are of the view that the Zimbabwean government isn’t excited about this project, (because) it will enable citizens to go and vote,” Dube said.

Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said this week an offer to Zimbabwe of a printing press with a capacity of printing 100 000 passports daily was ignored by Harare.

Speaking from Harare, the Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo dismissed the MDC assertions as “nonsensical”.

“We cannot turn against our own people – MDC assumes everyone who is South Africa will vote for them,” he said. “We have supporters living and working there.”

The South African government has insisted that it would not extend the ­regularisation deadline, which ends today.

The director of Zimbabwe Exiles Forum Gabriel Shumba said the Zimbabwean government was not keen to assist with this project. “They have failed to attend most stakeholder meetings with Minister Dlamini-Zuma.

“They have indicated that they don’t care. It’s unlikely they will seek an extension.”

Human Rights groups in the country have been calling for an extension of the deadline to allow an easy process.

More than 150 000 applications have been lodged with Home Affairs, which is a small number compared with the three million Zimbabweans estimated to be living in South Africa illegally.

Makwerekwere Mob South African Immigration Offices on Documentation Deadline Eve

In a last-minute push for applications, officials told Zimbabweans to remember that the deadline only concerns applications and that they can complete applications after the deadline with full documentation

Zimbabweans queued by the thousands on Thursday at offices of the South African Department of Home Affairs in an eleventh-hour bid to file applications for four-year work, study and business residency permits before a Friday deadline expires.

Meanwhile, a senior official in the South African Department of Home Affairs confirmed to VOA that South Africa offered technical assistance to Harare to speed up production of passports to meet heavy demand by Zimbabweans in South Africa. But Zimbabwean officials only took up an offer of office space in Pretoria and Cape Town, he said.

South African Home Affairs Department Director General Mkuseli Apleni declined to say whether his office offered Harare use of advanced passport-making equipment.
But Zimbabwean Co-Minister of Home Affairs Theresa Makone said the government in Harare had declined the offer of access to state-of-the art passport-making equipment to speed up the documentation program. She said the government made the decision on security grounds - but added she had not been able to obtain a clear explanation.
The equipment was capable of turning out around 4,000 passports a day in comparison to the Zimbabwean government capacity of just 500 documents a day.

Makone said she personally regretted Harare's decision not to avail itself of the offer of access to technology, as this would affect many Zimbabweans in South Africa.
With just about 24 hours left for Zimbabweans in South Africa to regularize their resident status or at least get a start on that task by submitting information to authorities, many expatriates were flocking to immigration offices.

For last minute tips on meeting the deadline at midnight Friday, reporter Tatenda Gumbo spoke with Gabriel Shumba, Director of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, and Jacob Mamabolo of the permit regularization project.

Mamabolo says Zimbabweans must remember that the deadline only concerns permit applications, and that they can complete their application at a later date.

- VOA

Tear Gas Released as Zimakwerekwere Throng Seeking Passports at Johannesburg Consulate

A crowd estimated at 15,000 became restless after waiting for hours at the Zimbabwean Consulate in Johannesburg without being served, resulting in a surge that led security guards to fire teargas canisters

South African security guards fired teargas canisters Tuesday at a temporary passport application office of the Zimbabwean Consulate in Johannesburg to halt a disturbance among Zimbabweans seeking to file applications for the new passports they need to apply for a four-year residency permit issued by South African authorities.

Zimbabweans working, studying or running businesses in South Africa are trying to beat the clock with a deadline looming on December 31 by which time they must regularize their stay or at least file preliminary paperwork to avoid being subject to deportation.

An estimated 15,000 Zimbabweans had lined up at the Zimbabwean Consulate.
The crowd became restless after hours without visible progress, witnesses said. Tempers flared and people charged towards the gate to the passport offices, leading the security guards to panic and fire teargas cannisters to repel the crowd.

Chaos followed as people ran in all directions. Teargas victim Teresa Nzvombe accused security guards of frustrating those in line by demanding bribes to allow them entry. She said authorities added to the misery of those standing in line by putting those making an initial application and those in the final stages of application in the same line.

Austine Moyo, head of the South African branch of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai urged all Zimbabweans who have not applied for passports to use Zimbabwean identity and other documents to file residency permit applications before the deadline, seeking the passport later on.

Earlier this week Home Affairs Department spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa issued a plea urging Zimbabweans to use the time remaining to put in whatever paperwork they can manage. He again stated that the December 31 deadline will not be extended.

Father Mike Nyamarebvu of the Stakeholders Forum comprising officials of the South African Home Affairs Department and Zimbabwean civic groups and political parties told VOA Studio 7 reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that he is happy with the strong turnout by Zimbabweans trying to beat the deadline and legalize their status.

- VOA

Deadline looms for Zim refugees

As the clock ticked towards the deadline for Zimbabweans to apply for papers allowing them to remain in South Africa, hundreds of Zimbabweans jostled for position at the Home Affairs centre in Wynberg yesterday.

A special dispensation granted to Zimbabweans which allowed them to live, work, study and have access to basic health care in South Africa ends on Friday, after which those who do not have asylum papers, approved refugee status or permits face deportation.

With the December 31 deadline looming, Zimbabweans queued at the Wynberg centre from the early hours to submit their documents.

With many in the queue feeling their places were threatened by new arrivals, resourceful Zimbabweans created a list to maintain order.

Braam Hanekom, of refugee activist group Passop, said Home Affairs accepted the system and he had not heard of malpractice or corruption in the compiling of the list.

“It’s a pretty organised system for the time being.”

Hanekom said that it had been a tough day at the centre, with many people “frustrated and tired” after hours of queueing in the heat.

He urged Zimbabweans to keep their places in the queue instead of giving up and returning another day. Home Affairs staff were “doing their best” under trying conditions, Hanekom said.

Many in the queue cited the relaxation of Home Affairs rules as the reason for their late registration. Several weeks ago, Zimbabweans were required to present a passport to register successfully for the right to stay.

But a huge backlog led Home Affairs to accept the receipt of a passport application. Hanekom estimated that there were 5 000 people only three weeks ago who were unable to apply, but said their situation had changed.

Some Zimbabweans explained that work pressure had prevented them from applying earlier.

“Life here is expensive. Just being here (in the queue) I’m losing money,” said Trevor Mtuda, an artist from Harare.

Mtuda, who joined the queue at 4am, said that “political tensions and no development” had given him no choice but to live in South Africa.

Keniah Garanowado, a Harare mother who worked in South Africa and sent money to her children back home, insisted that she would not return to vote until the political situation in Zimbabwe improved.

“Normally I would vote for change as we are suffering. I want to vote if there’s change,” she said.

A salon worker, who gave her name only as Rose, 25, and who said she worked in Khayelitsha, arrived around 3am. She was number 282 on the list.

“I can’t say if I will be allowed to stay because they have not yet verified my receipts,” she said.

Some people in yesterday’s queue were confused about whether they had the correct papers.

Henry Rivbwe complained that he had not been able to get a work permit. “I’m not sure I’ll get it… don’t know exactly what is going on,” he said.

Hanekom said: “There is a lot of confusion, the process is under a lot of pressure.” - Cape Times

Youth beaten for insulting foreigners

A BOY was beaten by bystanders on Goodwill Day after he insulted two blind Zimbabwean "artists" on the train between Cape Town and Kraaifontein.

The beggars got on the train armed with a guitar and a cup, and introduced themselves as Joseph Sephine and Ngamla Mpinza from Zimbabwe.

They played well and people gave them money. One passenger spoiled the fun by insulting them.

He said: "You are doing a sketch (play acting). You can both see. You lazy bastards. Go back to Zim and tell Mugabe to give you work. You are not getting my geld," he shouted.

"People gave you money. How did you manage to see it if you claim to be blind. Hey, makwerekwere, leave us alone. I don't buy your story."

Both men appeared blind and wore heavy sunglasses.

A visibly furious Michael Dongo from the Congo, told the boy: "Can't you see that these people are disabled. What have these people done to you to deserve this."

Punches started to fly. Other passengers joined in. The boy was pinned down and beaten badly until a woman screamed and the beating stopped.

Nopinki Sekeni said the boy deserved the beating.

"These people are old enough to be his parents and they did not do anything wrong to him to deserve such treatment," she said.

"For God's sake, can't he see that these people are really blind? It proves that this boy has no manners. Thank God we taught him a lesson."

Fumanekile Makeleni said: "We won't allow any person to be insulted by thugs because he is a foreigner. All of us are one race, which is the human race. So we will not allow anyone to violate our human rights, irrespective of where one comes from.

"This trend of using bad language to foreigners is common in South Africa. The government must make it a crime to call someone a kwerekwere. It's like calling a black South African a k*****, a coloured, Malawi or an Indian a coolie. I do not think this boy will ever insult a foreigner again after what we did to him," he said.

- Sowetan

No rest for Home Affairs officials

Cape Town - Officials at Home Affairs offices are hard at work, with offices running 16-hour days, in a bid to process hundreds of Zimbabweans queuing for permits to meet the 31 December deadline.

Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said everything was going "relatively well."

"We are really trying to work hard (to resolve) the whole permitting issue, not just (for) the Zimbabweans," said Dlamini Zuma, who pointed out that Home Affairs officials were working a two-shift system which sees them only clock off at 10pm.

"Our senior managers are not going on holiday, but I think we should give them the long weekend for Christmas," she said.

Dlamini-Zuma paid a surprise visit to the Wynberg Home Affairs offices this morning to hear first-hand any complaints applicants had about the Zimbabwe Dispensation Project, which is aimed at granting Zimbabweans study, work or business permits in a bid to free up the overburdened asylum process.

Her visit is part of a series of visits by departmental officials to check up on bottlenecks at home affairs offices.

Braam Hannekom, from People against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (Passop), believed that if the department continued to process applications at its Wynberg office as it had done yesterday - where he said 550 applications were taken - that there would be no need for an extension to the deadline.

Hannekom, who has long been calling for an extension to the deadline, added that from reports, he had gathered that the application process had been "surprisingly" free of corruption.

Dlamini Zuma said the only reports of corruption related to the process dated back to the beginning of the process where Zimbabweans were sold applications by their fellow countrymen.

By yesterday, 127 564 applications had been processed since the Zimbabwe dispensation programme's April extension, said Jackson MacKay, the Deputy Director-General responsible for immigration.

MacKay said of these, 42 191 applications had been finalised and a further 10 844 turned down.

Dlamini Zuma hastened to add that those applicants that had their application for permits rejected are given the chance to appeal these applications through a review process.

She said many applications were rejected because applicants didn't bring along the necessary supporting documentation - such as a letter from their employer, in the case where they were applying for a work permit.

She said many that applied for permits were still waiting to receive Zimbabwean passports, but Zimbabweans could still apply, as long as they brought along their passport application and the corresponding receipt.

Fingerprinting and police checks were also adding to the bottlenecks, but Dlamini Zuma said Zimbabweans could still apply and that these would be carried out later.

She said charts with portraits of each of the senior managers, along with their cell phones, had been made available at each home affairs office in a bid to solve problems members of the public may encounter when they visit offices.

Members of the public should report any office which failed to put up the wall chart.

One Zimbabwean, a former machine operator who didn't want to be identified, said he had been standing in the queue outside Wynberg home affairs for hours on end. He came to South Africa a year ago and was now working as a gardener in the city.

"(The Zimbabwe Dispensation Project) is good, but some are being rejected," he said, adding that he had only gone to apply now, with just under 10 days to the deadline. He had to wait two months to get his Zimbabwean passport.

The minister reiterated that the 31 December deadline would not be extended.

Dlamini-Zuma pointed out that the application process had already been extended, after originally running from April 2009 to April this year.

- BuaNews

Deportation crunch for Zim workers

With just 12 days to go desperate Zimbabweans are battling to get their papers in order ahead of the December 31 deadline, or face deportation

Tensions are rising in queues at Home Affairs, and on Friday assault charges were laid against a security guard who allegedly manhandled refugee activist Braam Hanekom and Zimbabweans waiting in a chaotic queue outside the Bellville Home Affairs offices.

Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, head of the refugee and migrants rights programme at Lawyers for Human Rights, said they doubted that all the hundreds of thousands of applicants could be processed in time.

“We remain concerned that the extremely short timeframes for such a large project may be used as a smokescreen for starting up large-scale deportations again.”

She was also concerned that Home Affairs had been late in telling immigrants with pending applications not to leave the country. She said hundreds had already left to be in Zimbabwe for Christmas.

Hanekom, founder of People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty, was at the Bellville offices speaking to Zimbabweans in the queues on Friday when a security guard told him not to speak to them.

“I told him I was in a public space and that I had a right to talk to them. He grabbed me and pushed me.”

Others in the queue complained of guards wanting bribes.

Hanekom said: “It was absolute chaos and there were not enough officials to deal with the large number of people… it will lead to much frustration and confusion.”

One Zimbabwean, who did not want to be named because he feared being victimised, said he was carrying his seven-month-old son when the same security guard shouted and started pushing him.

“I nearly fell. But he stopped when people shouted at him to leave me alone. Now I’m too scared to apply for my permit.”

Hanekom and the Zimbabwean laid charges of assault at Bellville police station.

The security company’s line manager, James Ketelo, said disciplinary action could be taken.

Associated Press says there are as many as 3 million Zimbabweans living and working in South Africa after fleeing the crisis in their homeland. SA authorities, who had allowed many to stay without passports or papers, announced a crackdown in September, saying that those who did not apply for legal status before December 31 would have to go home.

This has led to huge crowds at immigration offices across South Africa, with some Zimbabweans lining up for several days to apply for work or study permits.

Human rights groups complained that four months was insufficient to process the applicants.

Zimbabweans with passports merely need to apply to Home Affairs for a work permit by December 31. But those without passports first need to obtain proof that they applied. The applications cost R750.

Zimbabwean consular officials have set up desks at the Bellville Home Affairs offices for people to apply for Zimbabwean passports. Once they have a receipt proving they have applied, they can apply to South Africa for a work permit.

The asylum seekers’ document that many have is no longer valid.

The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum recently met Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to raise concerns about the logjams in the Zimbabwe Documentation Project (ZDP).

The registration process started months ago but there have been numerous delays. The forum’s executive director, Gabriel Shumba, said Home Affairs had received 116 000 applications so far, of which 10,000 were rejected, while 27,000 were approved. At least 79,000 people were still waiting.

Shumba said: “This deadline is not realistic but Home Affairs remain adamant about the December 31 deadline. However, people have been having serious problems with both the Zimbabwean Consulate and Home Affairs. There is tension in Zimbabwe ahead of the elections next year, and it would be a human rights tragedy to send people home where they will be easy targets to Zanu-PF intelligence. There is a perception that those living here are MDC supporters. It’s really scary.”

- Sunday Argus

Dlamini-Zuma urges Zimbabweans to sacrifice Xmas

"Not going home for Christmas is a small price to pay." That's the message from Home Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Minister Dlamini-Zuma was addressing thousands of Zimbabweans registering for their permits at the Harrison street office in Johannesburg today. Minister Dlamini-Zuma urged all Zimbabweans to register before the 31 December deadline - even if they do not have the required documents.

Zimbabweans who fail to register for their permits on time could face deportation early next year. Dr Dlamini Zuma says: "The Zimbabweans must also be fair on us and realise that we are working and doing our best to sort out their issue and if they miss going home this Christmas it's a small scarifies."

The minister insists the deadline will not be extended. There is an estimated 1.5-million Zimbabweans in South Africa, and with less than two weeks before the deadline, many fear they are running out of time.

The worried Zimbabwean nationals say their concerns are not only whether their applications will be accepted or not, but with delays in getting necessary information from the Zimbabwean embassy, many fear they will not make it home for Christmas.

The Movement for Democratic Change’s Sibanengi Dube says: "The major challenge is actually coming from the Zimbabwean government, they fail to process the papers on time."

From September up to 17 December, more than a hundred and twenty thousand applications were received. Just over 40,000 applications had been adjudicated. Close to 84,000 applications are pending. Fraudulent documents were submitted by almost 300 people. And just under 11,000 applications were denied.

- SABC

SA rejects over 10 000 Zimbabwean dispensation applications

Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says more than 10,000 applications from Zimbabweans who are applying for dispensation have been rejected. She paid an un-announced visit to the Wynberg Home Affairs office.

Hundreds of Zimbabweans queued outside to complete their applications. The department says more than 127,000 applications have been received, while just over 42,000 have been processed.

Minister Dlamini-Zuma says there could be a variety of reasons for the rejections, which are also being reviewed. "One of the reasons used was somebody misunderstood and didn't only want a copy of the persons passport but also a copy of the person's employer."

She says the biggest challenge now is to increase staff at their offices, since the number of applications is increasing as the deadline is looming.

- SABC

The Chase of the Makwerekwere

Heavy police presence creates panic

JOHANNESBURG - A heavy presence of police in central Johannesburg has sent many Zimbabwean immigrants here panicking, fearing this could herald the beginning of a campaign to round up them for deportation back to Zimbabwe.

The police deployment appeared heaviest in the Hillbrow and Berea areas of Johannesburg, districts notorious for crime but also the home of the majority of Zimbabweans living in Johannesburg. “What is happening here is scary. There has been a heavy presence of police in the last few weeks. My stay here is becoming a nightmare as police openly declare they are ready to arrest undocumented Zimbabweans,” said Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu of Berea.

South Africa has given Zimbabwean immigrants up to December 31 to obtain permits to stay here or face deportation.

But the Pretoria authorities have said they will not resume deportations immediately after expiry of the deadline to give time for the home affairs department to process the tens of thousands of applications for permits submitted by immigrants.

Police authorities say increased patrols in Johannesburg and other parts of South Africa are normal to combat crime during the festive season.

But Monica Tagwireyi, a Zimbabwean living in Johannesburg, was not convinced especially because junior police officers – who have been accused of extorting money from illegal immigrants – have reportedly been publicly boasting that they will be rounding up all Zimbabweans with permits to stay in South Africa for deportation. Tagwireyi said: “I am scared as I applied for my passport but I have failed to obtain in the six we were told it would take to process them.”

- The Zimbabwean

South Africa Eases Deportation Threat Against Zimbabweans Seeking Work Permits

The South African government has announced it will not deport Zimbabwean migrants who can show they have applied to work legally in the country. But it says it will not extend the deadline for applying for the permits, causing concern among civic groups that work with the migrants.

Activists working with Zimbabwean migrants have welcomed South Africa's announcement that it would not begin deporting undocumented Zimbabweans until it has finished a three month-old registration process.

But Home Affairs Minister Nkosozana Dlamini-Zuma reiterated that the migrants still must apply by December 31 . "We will not extend the deadline. That is why we are saying, bring in your form. Even if you do not have fingerprints, bring it in. Even if you do not have a passport, bring it in. So that we know you are here. And then we we will extend the process in time," he said.

The government in September announced it was ending an 18-month moratorium on deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans. At the same time it launched a program to give legal status to those who could prove they were working or studying here.

There are an estimated 1.5-million Zimbabweans in South Africa. Officials say they have received about 100,000 applications and of these 40,000 still remained to be processed.

Civic groups while welcoming the announcement said the registration process had been slow and confusing to some migrants.

Some applicants stand in line for days before being able to apply. Others have been unable to obtain necessary passports or birth certificates from the Zimbabwean embassy.

Activists say many Zimbabwean workers in remote rural areas either do not know about the process or cannot afford to travel to the cities where the program is being conducted.

Attorney Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh of Johannesburg's Lawyers for Human Rights said it is not likely that all eligible Zimbabweans would be processed in time. "The process has been a failure and the only way to remedy the situation is if the deadline is extended to allow more Zimbabweans access to the process and to be able to regularize their situation," Ramjathan-Keogh said.

Dlamini-Zuma said a meeting Tuesday with the activists had raised legitimate concerns and led to the decision to postpone any expulsions. "That is why we are saying there'll be no deportation until we have finished processing everything that we would have received including waiting for those people who are waiting for their passports," he said.

Many of the Zimbabwean migrants apply for political asylum citing political oppression and human rights abuses in their country.

The South African government says 90 percent of these people are actually economic migrants looking for jobs because of Zimbabwe's economic crisis.

The government says the economic and political climate in Zimbabwe has improved since the installation of a unity government nearly two years ago.

But Ramjathan Keogh says the power sharing agreement between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is shaky and notes that Mr. Mugabe has called for elections next year. "The situation is not improving. The national unity government, the agreement will end in February of 2011 before the elections which are scheduled in Zimbabwe. And after the end of that agreement we do not know what will happen and it is likely that we will continue to see an influx of Zimbabweans coming over the border in need of protection," Keogh said.

In addition, activists say an average of 17,000 Zimbabweans are being deported each month despite the moratorium. And they say the thousands of unemployed Zimbabweans in South Africa do not qualify for the permits. As a result, they say the crisis is likely to continue.

- VOA

Zim permit process problematic

With the deadline for the Zimbabwean documentation process fast approaching, analysts believe many people will not be able to access those permits on time.

Researchers at Wits University say poor management and communication at Home Affairs have resulted in a slow process.

Thousands of Zimbabwe nationals across the country have until December 31 to apply for proper study, work and residency permits or face deportation.

While offices in KZN have experienced a few minor problems, branches in Gauteng have been so busy people have had to camp outside for days.

The university's Roni Amit says they have conducted research in that province and found the process is problematic. At least 100 000 people still have to apply.

"It's going to be a serious problem and we're very concerned about what's going to happen to these people in January and whether they'll be the start of mass deportations.

"The HA [Home Affairs] hasn't really given any reason for seizing to extend the deadline so if they're in fact serious about providing this documentation to all these people who are eligible, then there's not any reason not to extend the deadline," she said.

Congolese man stabbed in Cape Town tavern

In a xenophobic attack, a Congolese man was repeatedly stabbed in a Du Noon tavern on Sunday because he refused to buy beer for a trio of South Africans.Nyangoma Etasha, 27, was lucky to escape with his life after being stabbed four times: in his head, chest and arms after his attackers told him they would show him South Africa was their country.

Shaking with shock and trying to stem the blood from his wounds, Etasha said he had been having drinks with a friend at the tavern, and when his friend left him alone in order to go to the toilet, three men at a nearby table demanded he buy them beer.

When he refused, the trio started manhandling him and searching his pockets, he said.

They told him: “iMzansi wethu. Ndizakubonia ngoku (South Africa is ours. We will show you now).”

Etasha said two of the men pulled out knives and stabbed him while the third started throwing empty beer bottles around the tavern, causing a stampede as the approximately 200 patrons rushed to exit the single door.

After attacking Etasha the men calmly walked out of the tavern. As they sauntered down the street, their clothes spattered with blood, this reporter saw residents smiling at them as they walked by.

A pool of blood could be seen beneath the table Etasha and his friend Ted Ndayesenga were sitting at. The tavern closed for two hours while it was mopped up.

Ndayesenga, who drove Etasha to Somerset Hospital for treatment, said his friend was attacked simply because he was buying “plenty of beers”.

Tavern owner Alfred Jezile condemned the attack and said he was considering introducing a system of membership cards for patrons to avoid criminals drinking in his establishment.

Milnerton police station spokesperson Daphne Dell said no stabbing incident of that nature was reported to them, but encouraged Etasha to open a case against his attackers.

— West Cape News

Fury as police round up foreigners

Human rights groups have expressed their outrage at a massive crime blitz in Hillbrow this week that saw police officers round up foreign nationals, mainly Zimbabweans, while Home Affairs officials screened and fingerprinted them.

On Thursday, the 1 000-strong police squad launched dawn raids targeting hijacked buildings in Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville, embarking on stop-and-search drills for its festive anti-crime campaign, Operation Duty Calls.

They were led by National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele and Police Minister Nathi Mthetwa and accompanied by Home Affairs officials and the SA Revenue Service.

But Gina Snyman, the head of the immigration detention project at Lawyers for Human Rights, said the operation appeared to contradict the Department of Home Affairs’s amnesty for Zimbabweans living in South Africa illegally, in place until December 31.

“The SAPS should be well be aware of this (amnesty) process. It’s high time the police engaged in real crime-combating. They have much more serious obligations, protecting all people in South Africa.

“It will only end up in more people going underground.”

The Star reported that the police stormed hijacked flats and rounded up residents, who were assessed by officials and split into separate groups, with Zimbabweans forming the bulk of the group.

Home Affairs officials screened the residents and the police loaded them into vans if they were found to be in the country illegally, or with a criminal record.

“It smacks of bad faith and is cause for serious alarm,” said Snyman. “We’ve also had alarming reports that Zimbabweans going to police stations to get information about the amnesty have been summarily arrested and charged.”

Dr Jo Vearey, a researcher at the Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits, said such crackdowns were “entirely a media exercise feeding popular paranoia”.

“It further stigmatises groups trying to function in the city. There is positive work in Hillbrow – health interventions and social housing interventions, but those aren’t given the airtime.

“These raids aren’t useful in the long run. They’re nothing but a media circus. They create big tension in a small community… and that can trigger other problems.

“A lot of people are trying to reclaim the inner space so it can be somewhere we can all live and work.”

Mthetwa said he was disappointed at the state of Hillbrow. “We want to clean up Hillbrow and we want ordinary citizens to move into the area so they can be close to their place of employment.”

Veary said: “We’ve tried hard in our research on migration in Joburg to break down the stereotype that Hilllbrow is full of illegal activities.”

The perception remained that foreigners gathered there and engaged in drugs or sex work. “There are people who live in Hillbrow and function there like any other place in the city. It’s a residential suburb, home to families and individuals who work in the city.

“If they’re (the police are) targeting what they call hijacked buildings, then there’s quite serious issues. We know foreign migrants are discriminated against in terms of renting in the city … But they run the city, contribute to the city and live in the city.

“These inner city communities are fragile. In a space where building up trust with your community and neighbour isn’t always easy, the impact on these communities is incredibly traumatic.”

- IOL

Somalian shot dead in Khayelitsha – nothing stolen

Somalians in Khayelitsha say they are wondering which one of their countrymen in the township will be killed next after Somalian shopkeeper Cyrix Man was shot on Tuesday night.Man, 23, was shot twice in the head on the street outside his shop on Endlovini Street, in Khayelitsha C-Section at about 11pm last Tuesday, and died in hospital at about 3.30am on Wednesday morning.

Man’s friend Abduul Bush said Man was shot in the back of the head and it seems he was running away from his killers when the shots were fired.

Bush said nothing was stolen from Man’s shop, which was open at the time, and only his cellphone was taken.

“These people know us, they know our opening and closing time. We been reporting cases like this to the police but they are not doing anything.”

Another Somalian living in Khayelitsha, Feleke Abula Debore said: “We are living in fear now. We are wondering who’s going to be next. We came to South Africa to survive not to die.”

Nine Somalians interviewed in Khayelitsha after the incident said they don’t know what to do because the police are not doing anything to help them.

Khayelitsha’s Somalia Retailers Association chairperson Abbi Ahmed said more than 22 Somalian’s had been killed in the past three months.

But South African resident Sandiso Ntlanganiso said it was not only Somalians who were at risk from crime in the area.

“Every one is a target especially if you working night shift or early in the morning. People cry everyday here but the police are doing nothing.” said Ntlanganiso.

He said police patrols needed to be stepped up in Khayelitsha to reduce crime.

Harare police station spokesperson Constable Nosiphiwo Mntengwane said it was “risky” for Man to be trading from his shop late at night.

She said police were investigating a case of murder. – West Cape News

Refugee: I’m afraid

Barely two days after returning to Stofland from where she and about 3 000 other Zimbabweans were forced out by angry South Africans just over a year ago, 23-year-old farmworker Lister Gondo said she had been threatened.

A drunk man stopped her on her way from church on Sunday and told her she must go back to Zimbabwe.

“The municipality gave you R2 000 but you are coming here. Why don’t you go to Zimbabwe?” the man asked.

Added Gondo: “I was afraid of this drunk man.”

She returned to Stofland in her employer’s car and escorted by a police van on Friday night, watched by a crowd of local people.

Doing her laundry outside her rented house, watched by her landlord, her four-year-old daughter and a friend, Gondo appeared content.

“I don’t get afraid indoors, but when I have to walk around I’m afraid,” she said.

She planned to stay in the house until next year.

Several houses in the area were empty because owners were afraid to rent them out to Zimbabweans, said Gondo.

Since the return of a number of Zimbabweans to Stofland and Ekuphumleni in recent days, tension has again apparently risen in the informal settlements, prompting regular police patrols.

Residents said the Zimbabweans were taking a risk by coming back into their area.

“The community is not happy that (the Zimbabweans) are coming back. They are taking a big risk,” said a local who asked not to be named. She said the locals still had a “grudge” against the refugees.

However, De Doorns community leader Jerry Kolase said they were urging the locals to stay calm and not get violent. Emphasising that most residents were “totally against” reintegration of the Zimbabweans, Kolase cautioned his community, saying “fighting won’t help us resolve things”. He said community leaders would call a public meeting to discuss the developments and their pending service delivery grievances.

The Zimbabweans’ return came after the De Doorns refugee camp they had been sheltered in since the xenophobic attacks in November, 2009 was shut down yesterday.

The camp had been set up at the local rugby grounds by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Breede Valley municipality after Stofland and Ekuphumleni residents drove out 3 000 foreign nationals, mostly Zimbabweans, they accused of stealing their jobs in the farming town near Worcester.

Zimbabwean workers’ homes were demolished in the forced evictions, resulting in more than 20 local residents being arrested and charged with public violence.

However, charges against some were later dropped, leaving 12 facing charges.

Yesterday was the deadline for camp dwellers to vacate the camp and as the Cape Times arrived, all that was left was refuse and municipal workers doing the last bits of cleaning.

Government officials had battled for months to reach an agreement with the locals to allow the refugees back, but to no avail.

A breakthrough was finally made by a mediator, leading to most voluntarily vacating the camp and receiving a R1 200 settlement gratuity and free transport to Zimbabwe.

Braam Hanekom, leader of refugee rights’ organisation Passop, said he believed the communities could be united.

While many of the estimated 400 who were left in the camp at the time of the agreement were reported to have headed back home, some accepted job offers from farmers until the end of the grape farming season early next year

The rest took the risk of returning to the place they were driven out of.

- Cape Times

Mbeki calls for probe into attacks

Former president Thabo Mbeki remains convinced that the 2008 violent attacks against foreigners were not motivated by xenophobia.

'If hatred of others who are different were the reason, whites would have been the targets'

If they were, he said, the majority of the victims of the attacks would have been white.

In an interview with the Sunday Times following the launch of his Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute this week, the former president said South Africa still owed the world an explanation as to what had caused the 2008 violence.

"These things took place, people were killed and all sorts of terrible things happened. And the thing surely must be stopped because it is wrong and it is bad and we have to pursue it.

"But in order to stop these kinds of attacks, we have got to understand them properly ...

"And if people just make a declaration that South Africans are xenophobic, that will lead to particular kinds of action which, I am certain, would not produce the kind of results we are looking for. Xenophobia is fear and the hatred of others who are different," Mbeki said.

And if the hatred of "others who are different" were the reason for the attack, white people would have been the obvious targets.

"When I walk down the streets of Johannesburg and this other black person approaches me, there is no way (of) my telling that they are Zimbabwean or Mozambican. There is nothing there that says 'ah, this is the enemy I must hate.'

"But if a white person comes up, they are so different.

"So I am saying that if there was xenophobia, I would expect it to be expressed against people who might stand out as being different from me and also, given our history, these are the people that oppressed us. But you don't have any evidence of racism among our people," Mbeki said.

The "root cause" of the violence that left more than 60 people dead and scores of others homeless, still needs to be investigated and accurately reported, he said.

Mbeki said preventative measures should be put in place to avoid a flare-up of such attacks in the future. But to do so, a proper diagnosis was needed in order to establish what had happened in those communities to provoke the violence.

He said because Africans on the continent had been "shocked" by the killings of foreigners in the country, an objective account from the South African government would ease the concern of our counterparts elsewhere in the world.

"I am quite sure when the continent gets this report, which will be an objective report, they would breathe a sigh of relief because there is a close attachment," Mbeki said.

"But so long as the message to the rest of the continent that these attacks took place as a manifestation of xenophobia - that message came from us. It is us who said that. But why did we say it?"

He said South Africans had a "strong sense of solidarity" with other African countries as they supported the struggle against apartheid. And to continue on this path of solidarity, South Africa needs to prove that the attacks that took place were not motivated by hate for foreigners by the locals.

"Let us get to the root causes (of) this thing and communicate it to the rest of the continent, which I am certain ... would confirm the statement that our people are not in the grip of xenophobia," Mbeki said.

- Timeslive

Gigaba: Home affairs can handle Zim permits

The department of home affairs has the resources to process special amnesty permits for undocumented Zimbabwean migrants, deputy minister Malusi Gigaba said on Wednesday.

"We have more than the necessary resources to ensure that the project is completed by its deadline," Gigaba said in Pretoria.

The department had employed 354 employees nationally to administer the amnesty project and had put measures in place to increase capacity based on demand.

Due to the particularly high volume of applicants at the Johannesburg regional office, the department was re-opening an office in Market street to relieve congestion.

Gigaba said the department had weekly meetings with various Zimbabwean stakeholders to assess the status of the project, to unlock bottlenecks where necessary and to ensure that the December 31 deadline would be met.

Home affairs recently announced an amnesty for Zimbabweans who had been using fraudulent South African identity books, on condition that they hand these in at the department's regional offices before December 31.

Some human rights groups had said the deadline should be extended as the department was unable to cope with the large number of applications.

-- Sapa.

Deputy minister visits home affairs office

Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba visited the home affairs office in Johannesburg on Wednesday where police had to intervene in scuffles between Zimbabwean nationals earlier this week.

Spokesperson Bayanda Mzoneli said the minister "just came to make sure the implementation of the amnesty for Zimbabwean nationals with fraudulent documents was going well".

On Tuesday, a woman collapsed when Zimbabwean nationals lining up to claim amnesty at the regional office were sprayed with a substance by a police officer.

This happened around 3pm when disorder broke out among the several hundred Zimbabwean nationals queuing at the office in Harrison Street in the Johannesburg CBD.

Mzoneli said police were forced to intervene after there was a "misunderstanding" between amnesty seekers.

The misunderstanding arose after a group of Zimbabwean nationals decided to camp outside the office on Sunday to get a head start for applications on Monday.

But police asked them to leave after writing their names on a list.

The list was given to home affairs officials on Monday morning.

"Since Monday, we've had to process the list of people from Sunday and also the people who come every day... there was a misunderstanding yesterday [Tuesday] between the people who were listed on Sunday and the people who arrived at the office on Tuesday," said Mzoneli.

"It got sort of out of hand and we had to request assistance from the police."

The office can process 135 applications a day -- excluding enquiries -- and 359 people's names appeared on the Sunday list, he said.

Mzoneli said the applications of those from the Sunday list had been processed by Wednesday.

"The Sunday people are done."

He said the deputy minister also visited the Bloemfontein office on Wednesday morning.

"The deputy minister has observed that the Bloemfontein office receives fewer numbers... so perhaps the deployment of officials should match the demand of the office.

"So we might move officials from one office to the next."

A final decision would only be made after an audit had been done of all the busy and less busy home affairs offices, Mzoneli said.

On Wednesday morning, a group of people were waiting patiently outside the Harrison Street office, some saying they had been queuing since 4.30am. The situation was calm.

--Sapa

SA permit regime stands

South Africa's permit procedures will not change as a result of the special amnesty for Zimbabwean migrants, the home affairs department said on Thursday.

“We are not changing the permitting regime... This is a dispensation to assist Zimbabwean nationals. We don't want to sit in our country with this cloud on our heads,” director general Mkuseli Apleni told reporters in Pretoria.

Apleni said the process for applying for asylum and getting work and study permits would remain unchanged even with this new bilateral agreement with Zimbabwe.

Home affairs recently announced an amnesty for Zimbabweans, who had been using fraudulent South African identity books - to enable them to get the correct papers.

Zimbabweans who have held South African ID books would be issued with permits to their valid Zimbabwean passports, some for as long as years. The process started on Monday.

Apleni said a team of South African and Zimbabwean government officials would try and ensure that the documentation of that country's nationals ran smoothly.

The newly established SA-Zimbabwe task team would conduct daily visits at the department's regional offices. They would also encourage Zimbabweans to get documentation.

Acknowledging some problems since the start of the documentation process on Monday, Apleni said department officials also needed to understand what the project meant.

“We need to make sure that as a department we understand exactly what this project means. We still have some challenges with our people not understanding this and that.”

Despite the teething problems, he said they gave full support to the decision to document Zimbabweans living in South Africa.

The Movement for Democratic Change complained a few weeks ago that officials “knew nothing” about the project, as some people were apparently being turned away from regional offices.

Apleni said it was not up to officials at regional offices to turn applicants away, but the headquarters' responsibility to make that decision.

“We've instructed employees that the adjudication process is done at the headquarters. No one in any office had the right to say I will not grant you this because of this... their role is just to collect the documents and pass them on to headquarters.”

A track-and-trace system will be implemented in each office to assess how many applicants were received per day and how many were turned back.

Apleni indicated that the number of Zimbabweans making use of the opportunity was growing by the day. Figures would be released weekly, starting from next week.

Other nationals will in future benefit from this sort of amnesty.

Apleni urged Zimbabwean nationals living in South Africa illegally to heed the call to correct their documentation, adding that other nationals would in future benefit from this sort of amnesty.

MDC secretary Ngqabutho Dube said those who had already bought houses and obtained loans from banks with their South African IDs would be assisted through the stakeholders forum.

“The forum will engage with the business community to explain amnesty to them, and request them to co-operate so people can keep their property and not have them sold,” he said.

“It's critical for the MDC to ensure that no Zimbabwean national looses his/her property during this period.”

- Sapa

Joburg aims to integrate migrants

A PROGRESSIVE strategy that ensures the integration of migrants in the city was being adopted by Johannesburg.

So said Executive Mayor Amos Masondo, speaking at the third Hague International Migration Workshop, at Constitution Hill on 13 August. Hosted by the City of Johannesburg, it brings together City officials, NGOs and governmental representatives to discuss ways of providing for the health and housing needs of migrants. The workshop opened on Wednesday and ends today.

Masondo said that in just under 24 months, the City had developed a support strategy for migrants.

"Local government in South Africa, including the City of Johannesburg, is committed to ensuring that all those who live within its jurisdiction and abide by its laws have a decent quality of life."

It was important that local governments focused on the challenges of migration and urban governance. "This should be so in spite of limited financial resources and sometimes even a limited management capacity," he said.

Housing and health

The number of people living in Joburg was expected to grow by some 3,5 million people in the next 25 years. South Africa's policy of migrant and refugee settlement and urban integration, rather than confinement to camps, meant that migrants competed within the generally overburdened urban housing market.

Masondo assured the gathering that the City of Johannesburg was striving to deal with its housing shortage.

"The City has embarked on a mixed-income housing programme to ensure integrated and inclusive human settlements. By the year 2011, the City would have built 50,000 houses for mixed-income groups."

In terms of health care, no formal documents would be required at clinics, resulting in free primary health care and environmental health services being available to all, he said.

Jobs

Professor Lorren Landau, the director of forced migration studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, pointed out that foreign nationals contributed to Johannesburg's economy.

"In our research, we have found that those international migrants are typically better educated and [are] likely to generate jobs for South Africans."

The challenge for the city was to rout out xenophobia, ignorance and other forms of discrimination in the public bureaucracy, the police and the private sector.

"If we are to build an inclusive and prosperous city, we must rethink how we engage with populations," he said.

- Joburg - a world class African city

End of the line for illegal Zim nationals

It was announced at a Cabinet briefing yesterday that the decision was taken in order to legitimise the estimated 3 million Zimbabweans living in the country illegally, many with fake South Africa identity documents.

It will allow them time to obtain passports, work or study permits, as well as other documents that will permit them to be in the country legitimately. But if they don't get them by the end of the year, they will be sent packing.

Migration experts and NGOs have slammed the move, calling it an endorsement of "a policy of mass deportation".

Briefing journalists yesterday, government spokesman Themba Maseko said the Cabinet "had approved the proposal to end the special dispensation for Zimbabweans".

"The special dispensation that was put in place during the political crisis in Zimbabwe was to allow free movement of Zimbabweans into the country to come live, study and start businesses here without requiring a permit," he said.

"But we believe some form of stability has returned to Zimbabwe and therefore all Zimbabweans will now be treated like any other foreign nationals."

The special dispensation was introduced in April 2009, just as Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe was concluding his eight months as caretaker President.

It allowed Zimbabweans to obtain permits which granted them the right to stay in South Africa for six months, and the right to education, employment and healthcare in the country.

But the Cabinet's decision means that Zimbabweans living, working and studying in South Africa will have to apply for the necessary documentation from Zimbabwe and then apply to the South African Department of Home Affairs for work or study permits before the end of the year, or face deportation.

Maseko said there would be an amnesty for Zimbabweans who may have obtained South African identification documents fraudulently on condition that they return the fake IDs to home affairs and apply for legal documents.

Advocacy groups and immigration experts have slammed the Cabinet decision as short-sighted.

Duncan Breen, advocacy officer at the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa, said the organisation "would be extremely concerned about any policy of mass deportation".

He said a permit which allows Zimbabwean migrants more flexibility between the countries would be more ideal.

"Internationally, what would be best would be some form of permit to enable people to go backward and forward. What that does is enable a greater number of people to remain in Zimbabwe," said Breen. (Timeslive)

40 held in 3 months for xenophobia attacks

Fifty-five incidents of xenophobia were recorded in the Western Cape between May 1 and July 30, with 40 arrests, says Community Safety MEC Lennit Max.

He made the announcement in the provincial legislature yesterday during a debate on the provincial government's role in addressing xenophobic violence.

Max said charges laid included arson, intimidation, attempted murder, damage to property, assault, public violence and theft or looting.

He said the areas in which incidents occurred included Delft, Philippi, Lwandle, Kraaifontein, Paarl, Paarl East, Franschhoek, Grabouw, Wellington, Da Gammaskop, Mossel Bay, Gugulethu, Langa, Atlantis and Khayelitsha.

Max said police visibility in the areas where foreigners lived and had shops had been increased.

But he seemed to contradict the DA, which has consistently accused the ANC of denialism about xenophobia.

He said four distinct categories could be defined to separate acts and attitudes towards foreigners. These were:

# House shop robberies where foreigners were victims. This was ordinary crime and certain factors made foreigners more vulnerable targets.

# Opportunistic acts of looting by criminal youth. Youth offenders had been responsible for the majority of incidents in since the World Cup.

# The impact of the rumour that foreigners would be chased away after the World Cup. "This rumour has no defined source. Opportunistic acts were committed by youths and not the supposed communities as predicted by rumour-mongers or vulnerable foreigners."

# Local shopkeepers forming associations with the intent ion of intimidating foreign competition. "Instances have been recorded whereby foreigners have been warned verbally and by letter to vacate certain areas," said Max.

The ANC's Max Ozinsky, who had asked for the debate, said the response of the provincial government to xenophobia had prolonged the suffering of victims of violence.

He said under the leadership of Premier Helen Zille, the Premier's Coordinating Forum resolved in March that: "The premier raises with the national government the urgent need for a national plan to address the legal control and management of illegal migration to South Africa which is the underlying cause of xenophobia."

Ozinsky said this was contradicted by a report on xenophobia titled "Strategic and critical analysis of government interventions to the displacement of foreign nationals in De Doorns" written by an official in the premier's office which stated that: "In many instances, at the root of the social crisis are structural issues (poverty and general under-development) and institutional challenges (lack of co-ordination amongst various role players and political or leadership factions amongst implicated and affected parties).

"There is no evidence, nor any research findings, to suggest that illegal migration is the underlying cause, or indeed a significant cause, of xenophobia or xenophobic intimidation or violence.

"In fact, it is clear that perpetrators of xenophobic violence do not usually distinguish between those legally in the country and those not. As a result, it cannot be argued that 'illegal immigration' is the primary cause of the xenophobic violence."

Zille argued that the DA had done more than the national government, despite refugees being a national and international competency. - Cape Argus

'I watched in horror but could do nothing'

A Burundian refugee was beaten up in an apparent xenophobic attack on a train near Claremont station, and later died in hospital.

Police have opened a murder docket.

Albert Mugabe, 27, had boarded a train at Retreat after visiting friends. He was reportedly attacked when the train neared Claremont by a group of Xhosa-speaking people, but Metrorail was under the impression that Mugabe was attacked when he tried to rob someone.

Metrorail's Riana Scott confirmed that "an incident of attempted robbery aboard train No 0188 was reported on Thursday, July 22 at 5.40pm at Claremont Station and that the alleged assailant was taken to Groote Schuur hospital for treatment".

This version of events has been denied by Mugabe's friend, Fidel Nzayikorera, who said the claim was utter nonsense.

"He had money, he worked hard and had no family, why would he need to rob someone? It just does not make sense."

After his body lay in the Salt River Mortuary as an "unknown", Mugabe's friends found him there and identified his body.

Nzayikorera, Aimable Cyuma, Methuselah Mukenga, Alexis Nduwe and Pastor John Kadende, all friends of Mugabe, have been battling for more than a week to find answers about Mugabe's death.

They said they were informed about the attack by an acquaintance who witnessed it.

Mugabe's friends said they could see no visible signs of injury or disfigurement when they identified his body.

A car guard, Elie Nkundaniyigena from the Congo, is the only person who saw what happened in the final moments of Mugabe's life.

Speaking through an interpreter, he told Weekend Argus he had witnessed the entire incident, but fled from the carriage after the train stopped at Claremont.

Nkundaniyigena said he recognised Mugabe as he stood in the middle of the carriage chatting to other commuters, even though he did not know his name.

"There were South Africans, Zimbabweans and Malawians in the carriage. At first it appeared as if they were just talking, but then someone asked Mugabe if he could speak Xhosa, where he worked and how long he'd been in the country.

According to Nkundaniyigena Mugabe said he could speak Xhosa and that he worked as a safety officer on a boat and lived in Simon's Town.

"Close to Claremont station, the same people started grabbing Mugabe and three other foreigners who were on the same train.

"They kicked Mugabe while the other men managed to escape as soon as the train stopped. I watched in horror, but could do nothing. Everything happened so fast and because I was afraid I stayed low, hiding behind a uniformed man who was sitting next to me."

Nkundaniyigena said when he looked up Mugabe had been pushed down and someone was banging his head against the train floor.

He added that many people fled from the train at Claremont station in fear.

"The people were singing 'makwerekwere hamba, makwerekwere hamba' (get out foreigner)... I ran away without looking back and called a friend who knew the victim."

Nkundaniyigena said the incident left him traumatised and scared because he needs to catch a train to get to work.

"I now take a later train than usual to avoid full trains," he said.

Nzayikorera, a close friend of Mugabe, said after being informed about the incident he tried to retrace Mugabe's steps.

"I went to Groote Schuur hospital on Friday and the sister on duty confirmed that an unknown man was treated in Ward C14 and died the next morning. She referred me to the Salt River mortuary."

Nzayikorera said Mugabe was not a violent man and would not have been involved in crime.

Kadende said they were planning to give Mugabe a proper burial, as he had no relatives in the city.

"He will be buried at Maitland cemetery as soon as we can get the money to arrange the funeral. Nobody knows if Mugabe still has family in Burundi, but it is up to us to bring him peace."

A concerned Kadende said he could not believe that the authorities and the politicians were still in denial about xenophobia.

"Our friend is dead, he was killed for no other reason except the fact that he was a foreigner."

Claremont police spokeswoman Angie Latchman confirmed that police opened a murder docket this week.

She said: "The deceased was assaulted on July 22, at Claremont train station and taken by paramedics to Groote Schuur, where he passed away the next day."

Latchman urged anyone with information about the case to contact the investigating officer, Roger Mintoor, at Claremont police station on 072 869 9160.

Metrorail said on Friday that the matter was tabled at the Provincial Rail Crime Combating Forum this week and would remain the subject of a joint investigation between Metrorail's Protection Services Department and the Railway Police.

- Cape Argus

Shop-owner attacks: What's really going on?

Today the Daily Voice can reveal the truth behind the attacks on foreigner-owned businesses on the Cape Flats.

An in-depth investigation has revealed that a prominent shebeen queen is the ringleader of an evil syndicate behind numerous attacks that have unsettled the uneasy peace between locals and foreigners.

The Daily Voice is in possession of statements from three hitmen that directly link the woman to multiple attacks on foreigners.

A source close to the investigation says the woman has managed to mobilise a small army of angry businessmen and dangerous killers.

They have the money and the guns and their sole aim is to rid the Flats of all flourishing rivals so that their own businesses can fill the gap.

The attacks started on March 21 in Luzuko near Philippi-East and spiked after the 2010 World Cup.

Two of the hitmen?s statements say the woman gave direct orders for at least two Somalis to be shot and killed and their shops torched.

The statement reads: ?I shot the first Somali in the right shoulder and was too scared to carry out the second attack.

"I gave the gun to the second hitman who shot dead Farouk Hussain on the night of March 21 in Luzuko, near Philippi-East, and I threw the petrol bomb at the spaza."

The three suspects, who are currently in Pollsmoor prison, claim the shebeen owner paid them R4 000 for killing a Somali, injuring another and burning their stock.

The three Philippi-East suspects now face charges of murder, arson and attempted murder for the attack.

While police build their case against the dangerous woman, they say they are taking no chances with their investigation.

"There are fears that by revealing the name of the shebeen queen, she might hire other hitmen to eliminate the three who are presently behind bars," the source says.

"We are aware of at least one cop who was paid
R30 000 to make a docket disappear and because of this bribery element, investigations into attacks on foreigners are classified information.

"The modus operandi in most attacks is the same, and because of this we have asked the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to centralise all the cases so that it can be brought before one magistrate."

He adds that the three men are the first solid leads cops have to help solve the attacks on foreigners.

"Cops have information that this shebeen queen had regularly met with prominent township business people who are allegedly behind the brutal violence directed at foreigners," the source says.

"It is a well-organised plan with one common purpose and that is to drive foreign-owned shops out of the townships, kill them and burn their shops so that local-owned businesses in townships can survive."

A task team is now investigating attacks in Wellington, Mbekweni, Harare, Makhaza, Philippi, Macassar, Franschhoek and Klapmuts.

The dockets of at least 13 cases under investigation are not even kept at local police level in order to stop corrupt cops from being bribed into making dockets disappear.

Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Billy Jones confirmed that criminals are behind the wave of attacks on foreigners.

"Investigations into cases indicate that criminals are behind these attacks," he says.
"A lot of suspects are behind bars and I am aware of one attack where five were busted.

"A task team works around the clock to bring an end to these attacks and those orchestrating the violence."

In the most recent case, three Somali shopkeepers narrowly escaped being burnt to death inside their small shop when their winkel was petrol-bombed in Wallacedene last week.

Two people were arrested for the attack a few days later and prominent community leaders in the area say they have no doubt it is local business people behind the attacks.

Two South African Civic Association members from the area say hitmen were hired to kill them after they spoke out against the attacks earlier this month. - Daily Voice

Officers held after Somali shopowner robbed

Four police officers from the Crime Combating Unit were arrested in Cape Town on Monday night after having allegedly stolen R400 and R911 of airtime from a Somali-owned shop in Du Noon.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, shopkeeper Selman Cabdulqaadir said four men in police uniforms, driving an SAPS-marked 4x4 bakkie, robbed his elder brother's shop Maphinda's Spaza in Ingwe Street, Du Noon, at about 6pm on Monday.

He said he and his two brothers were in the shop when the men pulled up outside and, with guns on their hips, ordered them to open the security door, claiming they wanted to search for fake cigarettes.

Cabdulqaadir said when he opened the door the four men went inside the shop, closing the door behind them.

He says he and his brothers were then ordered to stand at the back of the room while they lit cigarettes of different brands, saying they were testing if they were fake.

He said "at some point" the men became aggressive and pushed them around, questioning them about their asylum-seeker or refugee documentation.

After "testing" the cigarettes they took R400 from the cash box and airtime worth R911, said Cabdulqaadir's half-brother Cabdi Hassan.

While leaving the shop, one of the men took an avocado pear, said Hassan.

"We were scared. They are supposed to protect us yet they are acting like criminals," said Cabdulqaadir.

"The thieves here do to us whatever they want, now police are doing the same."

He said as they left the shop, one of the men turned around and told them not to open the shop on Tuesday as they would return to check the validity of their Home Affairs documents, Hassan said.

Milnerton police spokesperson Warrant Officer Daphne Dell confirmed that four police officers from the CCU had been arrested on Monday night.

However, Dell was unable to say when the men would appear in court or what charges they faced. - Cape Times

Attacks on foreign shopkeepers continue

Four Somali shopkeepers have been injured in an evening of explosive xenophobic violence.

Jealous rival shopkeepers allegedly set fire to a shop belonging to three of the men and shot another after warning them to leave the area.

When Manad Ali Afrah, Abdi Omar Ali and Muse Ali Maxene ignored the threat, they almost ended up paying with their lives.

A petrol bomb was tossed at their Wallacedene shop shortly before 4am on Friday while the men were asleep.

Cops say the three men couldn't find the key to their house and nearly ended up burning to death.
By the time they escaped, their arms and faces had been scorched.

A neighbour says he initially thought the victims were thugs as they raced toward his home.

"I went out and saw two people coming towards me and thought they were skollies (criminals) and then realised it's the victims," he says.

In a separate incident, cops say a fourth Somali man was shot in the shoulder and leg by people who posed as customers when they visited his shop on Thursday evening.

Kraaifontein police spokesperson Captain Gerhard Niemand says police are investigating arson and attempted murder. - Daily Voice

Attackers 'pretended to be customers'

Yet another community leader has been shot at for taking a stand against xenophobic violence on the Cape Flats.

A day after South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) member, Pasika Tyawana, told the Daily Voice about the attempt on his life, another member has been shot at.

Thelma Duda, 31, says business owners in Wallacedene and Bloekombos want her dead because she publicly declared that refugees should be allowed to stay in the country.

Thelma says two men shot at her and her family on Tuesday night, narrowly missing her and her four-year-old son Linda while they sat in their home, which is also a spaza shop.

"They fired one bullet and it passed both of us and hit the wall," she says.

"They ran away and I couldn't get a good look at them because they had hooded tops on."

Thelma, Sanco's Secretary General, recently attended a meeting in Bloekombos where she told local business people they would have her to deal with if they hurt any foreigners.

"In the other meeting on Thursday, I said the same thing but I didn't think they would hire people to shoot me," says the Wallacedene woman.

"I don't feel safe, those men pretended to be customers and they saw I was with my family and they didn't care about the five children in the house."

She says one of the shooters walked past her house in a cap on Wednesday.

"He had a gun in his hand and hid it with his sleeve, he probably came to finish his job," she says.

Kraaifontein police spokesperson Gerhard Niemand says they have opened an attempted murder docket. - Daily Voice

"This is xenophobic water"

"This is xenophobic water," a woman among a group of residents quipped as Gauteng Community Safety MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu stepped over the murky waters gushing through the narrow alleys of the Kya Sand informal settlement, north-west of Joburg, which has been racked by violence.

But for a Mozambican, Fabian Ngobeni, this was not the time for jokes. Or to play.

As the MEC and his entourage moved deeper into the settlement, reassuring residents that the outbreak of violence that left many people wounded and several spaza shops looted would not recur, Ngobeni escorted his wife out of the area, heading back to Mozambique.

"My wife is scared, so she's going back home. She has only been here for four months and she insisted that she wanted to leave," said Ngobeni.

On Monday night, the young couple were forced to take cover underneath their bed as a rowdy mob tore down their neighbour's shack and hacked the occupants with weapons.

Unconfirmed reports that a woman had been gang-raped during Monday's attacks had also reached the couple. The presence of the police did not reassure them.

"I don't want this to happen to my wife. I was here in 2008 (during the previous xenophobic violence) and I don't want my wife to die," Ngobeni said.

Mosunkutu tried to calm the residents, still jittery from Monday night's violence. Most residents said the relative peace in the settlement was only temporary, with fears of more attacks mounting.

Most called on the government to deploy the army, claiming the police were "too soft and friendly".

Among them was Marcia Mocheku, from Marble Hall, Limpopo, who said she narrowly escaped death while a marauding mob broke into shacks belonging to her neighbours and attacked them.

To avoid the attacks, Mocheku said she had to pretend there was nobody inside her shack by removing the padlock outside the door and leaving the chain dangling.

"I just lay there quietly, holding my breath and making sure I didn't cough," she said.

The narrow path along her shack was splattered with blood - a stark reminder of Monday night's vicious attacks.

The police commander for Honeydew, Major-General Oswald Reddy, said that of the 11 attacks reported, five involved South Africans, four Zimbabweans and two Mozambicans.

As darkness fell on Tuesday, about 15 vehicles from the army drove into the area.

Mosunkutu and his Housing and Local Government counterpart, Kgaogelo Lekgoro, were quick to dismiss xenophobia as the reason behind the attacks.

"This is pure criminal activities. Our assessment of the situation is clear, and no such thing (as xenophobia) exists here. Not a trace," Mosunkutu said.

He added the government would consider the delivery of services such as electricity in the area as part of a plan to counter the outbreak of violence.

"What I've seen here is thugs robbing residents. They are doing it against the backdrop of xenophobia, but it's pure thuggery. It's totally coincidental that the victims happened to be foreigners," Lekgoro said.

At least 10 suspects were arrested on Tuesday after tip-offs from residents.

- The Star