ZIMBABWE: South Africa tries to close the back door


BEITBRIDGE, 11 January (IRIN) - Zimbabweans returning illegally to South
Africa in search of work after visiting family and friends for the
Christmas holidays are having a harder time than usual getting back into
the country, whereas previously a backhander to immigration officials
might have sufficed.

It is estimated that as many as three million Zimbabweans live legally
and illegally in South Africa to escape their country's economic
meltdown, which has seen inflation levels reach 1,280 percent and
unemployment levels touch 80 percent. The massive influx of Zimbabweans
has stoked xenophobia among South Africans, who blame Zimbabweans for
crime, and "stealing jobs" from locals, although there is no official
data to support these claims.

Khulekani Ndlovu, 24, breadwinner of a family of seven, who has worked
in South Africa for the past six years, said Beitbridge, the main border
crossing between South Africa and Zimbabwe, had always been "a
nightmare" because immigration officers on both the Zimbabwean and the
South African side accused him of faking his South African identity card
and passport, but a bribe always secured his passage.

This time Ndlovu has joined dozens of other Zimbabweans stranded in
Beitbridge after their travel documents were seized by South African
authorities when they attempted to cross back into South Africa.

"Immigration authorities would not take any bribe this time around. I
tried them with R500 (US$70) but they threatened to throw me in jail for
attempted bribery. They seized my passport and now I cannot enter South
Africa legally.

"Yet I have a job ... which has paid me enough to provide for my family
for the six years that I have worked in Jozi [Johannesburg]. I should
have started work on the third of this month [January] but here I am,
still stranded in Beitbridge. I now fear I may lose my job," said
Ndlovu, who works in a restaurant in the inner-city suburb of
Braamfontein.

Like many others denied re-entry into South Africa, the region's
economic powerhouse, Ndlovu is determined to return. The only
alternative is to cross the Limpopo River, a natural border between the
two countries, but recent rains have made the water level dangerously
high.

Another Zimbabwean looking for a way to get back into South Africa is
Langa Dube. "As soon as the river subsides we will cross over, because
staying in Zimbabwe is obviously not an option," he said. "Things are
not that rosy in South Africa but at least we manage to keep our
families going with our little earnings. Zimbabwe has no jobs; the
economy is poorly performing; goods are either not there in shops or
expensive and life in general is just difficult."

Bongani Maphosa told IRIN the prevailing economic conditions back home
would keep driving people out of Zimbabwe, especially the youth. "With
or without passports, these people will always find a way here [South
Africa]." He migrated to South Africa two decades ago and is now a
permanent resident.

"Zimbabwe is like a fire at the moment, and simple logic has it that
when you are in such a situation and you have the vigour, you just jump
out, and that is exactly what many Zimbabweans are doing. Not that they
love crossing flooded rivers and getting harassed by South African
police officers every day, but it's the poor economy and unemployment
back home that's pushing them," he commented.

"Otherwise, given a chance, some of them would love to stay and work in
their country. But their families depend largely on them for
remittances, which somehow enable them to cope in the face of food
shortages and high prices," said Maphosa.

To avoid arrest and deportation, illegal immigrants to South Africa have
bribed home affairs officials in order to obtain false identity
documents allowing them to pose as South African nationals. President
Thabo Mbeki has admitted that there was "widespread corruption" in the
home affairs department, and said a new management system with
additional staff would be put in place to try to normalise the
department's operations.

South African Immigration officials told the local media that since late
December 2006 they had seized more than 200 South African passports held
by Zimbabweans.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), South
Africa deported 80,000 illegal Zimbabwean immigrants between May and
December of 2006, 950 of who were unaccompanied minors. The statistics
were recorded at the Beitbridge IOM Reception and Support Centre,
established last year to assist deportees.

nn/go/he/oa


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