Migration News - 1997

December 1997

• The Argus (27/12) reports about 20 African immigrants have been killed in Cape Town this year as a result of xenophobia. One immigrant had been shot dead after being robbed in Guguletu. Another had had his legs amputated by a train after attackers threw onto a railway line because he was a foreigner. One immigrant from Burundi died after police arrested him earlier this year. The Inkatha Freedom Party has taken a position against illegal immigrants, saying they take jobs and resources intended for South Africans, while some influential African National Congress members on the parliamentary Home Affairs committee have also taken a strong anti-immigrant stance.

• SAPA (Blantyre 24/12) reports that combined army and police units arrested 30 suspected criminals and "illegal immigrants" on the first day of an anti-crime drive, the army said Tuesday. The "illegal immigrants" were from Mozambique, Somalia and Zimbabwe.

• Business Day (22/12) reports that assumptions that "illegal foreigners" in South Africa act as a drain on the country's limited resources and exacerbate high unemployment levels have been challenged in a report released by the Centre for Policy Studies. Forty-four foreigners, mainly from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Jamaica, Mozambique and Rwanda were interviewed. The report said many foreigners described as "illegal immigrants" were migrants working in South Africa legally but with no intentions of settling here permanently or bringing their families to join them. The dependants of many migrants remained in their countries and made no demands on SA's education, health and other social services. Instead of portraying migrants merely as security threats, immigration policies should undertake a "paradigm shift" so that they are perceived rather as a potential development resource.

• The Cape Argus (19/12) reports that thousands of refugees are "giving the government a headache" in their attempt to stay in the country or to obtain South African passports to travel abroad. South African Airways says that so far it has paid fines in excess of R1,2 million to foreign immigration departments for transporting people with false documents. This fine includes fines paid for those travelers who did not have visa requirements. Many refugees are political asylum seekers who also hope to better their lives through job opportunities in South Africa, but they said that when these opportunities failed to materialize and when xenophobia put paid to their business on the streets, they wanted to leave.

• Business Day (19/12) reports that Home Affairs director general Albert Mokoena apologized publicly to 40 Chinese nuclear technicians – who had been working secretly in SA – for being "inconvenienced" by a December 3 police and immigration raid on the Atomic Energy Corporation's (AEC's) premises. These Chinese have been working in secret since October to dismantle a crucial part of SA's nuclear-fuel production capacity to ship back to China. The workers had a South African business permits but the Home Affairs department insisted that they needed work permits instead. Mokoana apologized to the workers, the AEC "and anybody who might have been inconvenienced as a result of this raid" and acknowledged his department was responsible for the administration of the Aliens Control Act under which the raid was carried out.

• The Mail & Guardian (12-18/12) reports that guards at the private deportation camp Lindela had to use batons and dogs to quell a near-riot after hundreds of inmates massed to storm the gate. The stand-off came the day before an influential American human rights group, Human Rights Watch, visited Lindela for a report on South Africa's treatment of illegal aliens. Inmates told them Lindela staff often beat them and take bribes. "I am scared to report them because they beat you," one inmate claimed. Lindela currently holds 1 100 inmates, enclosed behind 5 000V electrified fences. Many have been there for month, partly because their countries are slow to take them back. The train service to Mozambique has also been suspended for holiday seasons, so the centre is using busses to ferry deportees home.

• SAPA (Nairobi 16/12) reports that the number of refugees in Kenya has been shrinking as more and more people return to their home countries. "Five years ago, the refugee population in this country was approaching half a million, mainly from Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan. Those numbers have dropped tremendously over the past years as the situation in the region stabilised, with more than 260000 refugees leaving the country," said Yvette Stevens of the UN refugee agency. Stevens said the situation in the rest of Africa was still far from satisfactory. "Africa is particularly burdened, with the world's largest number of refugees - 4.3 million - and the world's greatest number of people displaced within their own countries, some 16 million - making a total of more than 20 million Africans homeless," she said. Those figures, compiled in a new book 'State of the World's Refugees: A Humanitarian Agenda', include people from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea and Congo-Brazzaville. "’State of the World's Refugees: A Humanitarian Agenda,’ launched by the UNHCR last week, is a book that I hope will help us all find a way to solve the tragedy of war and conflict that has forced 20 million Africans from their homes," said Stevens.

• SAPA (Cape Town15/12) reports that an average of 6490 soldiers had been deployed each month since the beginning of the year to help combat crime, Defence Minister Joe Modise said on Monday. In written reply to a parliamentary question from Colonel Nyambeni Ramaremisa (NP), he said 5170 of these were full-time and 1320 part-time force members. The operational results of this deployment, to date, included:

  - 38902 ‘illegal immigrants’ and 5075 criminals arrested;
  - 42980kg of dagga, 5484 Mandrax tablets and eight kilograms of cocaine confiscated; and
  - 2107 illegal weapons and 510 vehicles recovered.

Operations had been concentrated in KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape,Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

• SAPA (Bulawayo 15/12) reports that police in the southern half of Matabeleland will deploy more personnel in the Plumtree and Beit Bridge areas to combat incidences of border jumping and smuggling during the festive season, Ziana reported on Monday. In an interview, police spokesman Alson Dube said both foot and vehicle patrols would be intensified during the holiday season when most Zimbabweans living in South Africa and Botswana return home. "The police are also going to mount more roadblocks in these border areas, and all those who do not have legal documents will be apprehended," he warned. Dube said there were many illegal crossing places, especially along the Plumtree border area.

• The Sowetan (11/12) reports that Southern Africa was cited by UNHCR director for Southern Africa Nicolas Bwakira as the area where the organization was closest to achieving its goals of stabilizing refugees, repatriating them home and helping them regain their independence through economic projects. While South Africa has not closed its borders to refugees, senior UNHCR officials have criticized the lack of clear migration policy, which creates an environment in which foreigners have become easy targets for attacks. The UNHCR is hoping that the government will endorse a public awareness campaign that could run in conjunction with the UNHCR to ensure that the ignorance that feeds xenophobic behaviour can be dealt with.

• Business Day (10/12) reports that the construction of a R2m fence to protect South Africa from animal diseases like tuberculosis and foot-and-mouth disease north of the country is expected to begin early next year. The deputy director of animal health Dr Johan Krige, the 55km electrified fence would extend westwards across the Madimbo corridor from the Kruger Park's northern boundary. Krige said the defense force would also fix alarms to the fence to detect the entry of "illegal immigrants" into South Africa.

• The Argus (10/12) reports that we may not want young graduates, but others do. Most of the 71 newly qualified occupational therapists in the Western Cape will leave South Africa next year, not because they want to, but because there are no jobs for them here. The situation is the same for physiotherapists. In June, all frozen posts were abolished, leaving many hospitals with greatly diminished support staff. With further cuts looming, the situation is not likely to improve. Graduates looking for jobs say there is nothing available. The loss of therapists represents a significant brain-drain loss as each student is subsidized by the government. "It is disappointing that students are trained to work in South Africa and fit in with the new health plan. Yet the only way for them to get employment is to leave the country" said Professor Watson.

• Business Day (09/12) reports that South Africa is a new destination for asylum seekers and refugees from strife-torn countries in Africa and the former Yugoslavia. According to Nicholas Bakira, South Africa should not turn its back on refugees and should adopt immigration and refugee policies that were humane and reflected African realities. He warned against following the examples of Europe and the US, which had created more restrictive policies and legislative barriers to deter the arrival of people seeking refuge on their territory. According to Dullar Omar, Justice Minister, South Africa had a special responsibility towards refugees, especially since many of its people had been refugees during the apartheid years and had benefited from the hospitality of its neighbours and the international community. He further added, it was unfortunate that, despite all South Africans had been through during these years, xenophobia was again 'rearing its ugly head' .

• SAPA (Pretoria 08/12) reports that August saw a decrease in the number of visitors to the country from Africa and an increase in the number of overseas visitors, the Central Statistical Services said in a statement on Monday. The number of foreign travelers from mainland Africa visiting the country in August decreased by 6 percent compared to the same period last year. The 318529 visitors from the continent accounted for 71,5 percent of all foreign travelers. The number of South Africans who emigrated between January and August was 6435, a decline of 11 percent on last year. Of the self-declared emigrants during this period, 1388 were professionals, semi-professionals and technicians. The leading destination countries for self-declared emigrants are the United Kingdom (26,6 percent), followed by the United States (14, Australia (11), New Zealand (11), Canada (7), and Namibia (5). Between January and August the number of approved immigrants was 2860, a 13,5 percent decline compared to the same period last year. Most immigrants came from the United Kingdom (13 percent), followed by India (8), Zimbabwe (6), Germany and the United States (5 each), Lesotho and Taiwan (2 each).

• The Cape Times (08/12) reports that two entrepreneurial Hong Kong families who moved to South Africa have fallen foul of an ambiguous clause in immigration law – and have been told to go back to the territory which is now controlled by China. Home Affairs officials said these families might have "misinterpreted" the Aliens Control Act of 1991, while the families argued they acted bona fide in accordance with the Act. Home Affairs say their permits have been canceled because they had not settled here within six month of being granted residency. Sixty others who interpreted the clause in the same way are terrified that they too will have their permits revoked. However, if they re-applied, they would be considered as new applicants, meaning that their previous applications would be taken into consideration, but would not guarantee approval.

• Business Day (08/12) reports that thousands of illegal Mozambican workers employed on South African farms were living under prison-like conditions and were earning about R5 a day. These workers were often hired on three to six-month contracts, but were paid only at the end. According to Pedro Manjaze, general secretary of Mozambican trade unions, farmers tried to get out of paying workers, calling in the SA Police Service on the pretext that these workers were squatting on the farmers' land. Manjaze further said workers would continue crossing the border because of the extremely high levels of unemployment in Mozambique. Institute for Democracy in SA migration project manager Vincent Williams said farmers were "clearly exploiting" such workers and continued to do so, despite the fact that under current legislation farmers faced fines for employing illegal aliens.

• SAPA (Luanda 05/12) reports that some 1,500 refugees have gone home from Zambia to neighbouring Angola as part of a repatriation operation launched in mid-October, official sources said here on Friday. Between January 1995 and September 1996, 35,650 Angolan refugees were repatriated from Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Zambia. The Angolan Minister for Social Reinsertion, Albino Malungo, said the return of refugees to their regions of origin had been slowed down by a lack of financial resources, the bad state of roads and other lack of infrastructure. About 200,000 people fled to Zaire and half that number to Zambia.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 02/12) reports that South Africans are generally not concerned with macro-global problems such as peace-keeping, "illegal immigrants" and trade opportunities and tend to concentrate on domestic issues like jobs, crime, education and housing, a study on South African foreign policy revealed. Presenting the report on Tuesday, FGD director for Research, Anthoni van Nieuwkerk said 40 percent of the 3500 respondents scientifically drawn from around the country, were more interested in the shortage of jobs. International issues such as the banning of landmines, peace initiatives, "illegal immigrants" and trade with other countries fell way behind in terms of priority.

November 1997

• The Cape Times (27/11) reports that President Mandela said it is important to spread investment over the region to encourage people not to leave their countries. Speaking at his official residence, Mandela said South Africa had a duty to see that the economies of its neighbours flourished because they had assisted South Africa in its liberation struggle. According to the President, it has become important to ensure investment was spread over the entire region, so that jobs could be created in the neighboring countries, and this would prevent "people from moving across the border into other countries". "Now that we are victorious, neighboring countries regard our victory as theirs as well, they say now that our brothers and sisters are free in South Africa, we can go there and look for jobs" says Mandela.

• The Mail and Guardian (21-27/11) reports that hawkers in Johannesburg have added Pakistanis, Indians and Chinese people to their list of foreigners whose business should be boycotted and who should be expelled from South Africa. A pamphlet distributed on the streets of Johannesburg says: do not buy from foreigners as they take our money to their countries. Mac Mia--a South African Indian shop owner-said, "The [foreign] Indians and Pakistanis are the worst. They are taking the money out of the country". The call to rid South Africa of Indians and Pakistanis raises memories of the campaigns in Uganda and Malawi.

• SAPA (Cape Town 26/11) reports that South Africa's concerns about the large number of "illegal immigrants" from neighbouring states was one of the issues raised by President Nelson Mandela in 90-minute talks with his Namibian counterpart Sam Nujoma in Cape Town on Thursday. Mandela, who has previously voiced concern on this subject, told reporters afterwards that South Africa was obliged to ensure that the economies of its neighbours flourished. "One of the problems that concerns us, especially in South Africa, is the large number of immigrants who are coming in, without full compliance of the law," Mandela said. It had become important to ensure investment was spread over the entire region, so that countries where people could not earn a living were able to provide employment, "which can therefore prevent people from moving across the border into other country". The problem was being addressed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC). "But it is also fruitful to discuss this on a bilateral level to ensure we assist SADC in search of a solution."

• The Cape Times (23/11) reports that trustees of the controversial Lindele detention centre on the West Rand, run by a consortium of the leading members of the ANC Women's League, plan to turn the centre into a transit camp for thousands of people seeking refugee status in the country. The issue of the status of refugees in the country is said to have come under the spotlight two weeks ago during the ANC special policy conference in Midrand. The Dyambu Trust, which owns the centre hope to open negotiations with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Red Cross for funds. However, there is a growing concern that the closure of the Centre could once again lead to prison over-crowding as Home Affairs officials and the police would have no option but to send "illegal immigrants" to prison before their deportation.

• Business Day (20/11) reports that since July this year, the number of self declared emigrants shows a 24% drop compared with July last year according to the Central Statistical Services. The number of professionals, semi professionals and technicians who reported in July that they were emigrating was 144. On the other hand, immigrants to South Africa on the same category numbered 60. The leading destination countries for self declared emigrants were the UK, Australia, Canada and US. Attention needs to be focused to the number of skilled people leaving South Africa.

• SAPA (Nelspruit 19/11) reports that unless the economies of southern African countries were strengthened, undocumented immigration would continue to be a problem, Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa said after a meeting with members of the Southern African Development Community in Nelspruit on Wednesday. "People vote with their feet. For example, if there are no jobs in South Africa, there will be a movement to Zimbabwe," Phosa told African Eye News Service. Mozambique's High Commissioner to South Africa, Mr AA Panguene, who led the SADC delegation, said it was not only Mozambicans moving across South Africa's borders, but South Africans were beginning to cross into Mozambique. "We have an influx into Mozambique because of the attraction of the sea, scuba diving and other tourist activities," he said. "All you have to do is look at our borders at Christmas," he said. Phosa said he met the SADC members to discuss strengthening relations in terms of economies, culture, sports and co-operation at local government level. Phosa said although the SADC wanted economic laws to "soften" political boundaries in Africa, it certainly did not aim to form a federation of African states. "We are looking at countries operating at a political and economic level without undermining the sovereignty of these states," he said.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 19/11) reports that during July 1997, the number of self-declared emigrants was 636, which represented a 24,0% decline compared with July 1996, the Central Statistical Service said on Wednesday. In July 1997, the number of professionals, semi-professionals and technicians who reported they were emigrating was 144 while the corresponding number who immigrated into SA was 60. The number of documented immigrants during July 1997 was 412, an increase of 10,0% over the number of these immigrants during July 1996. The historical trends in the number of immigrants and self-declared emigrants showed that ever since the cross-over in 1993, when the number of self-declared emigrants exceeded the number of documented immigrants, the number of these immigrants has never again exceeded the number of self-declared emigrants. For the purpose of clarification, in the migration statistics published here, the emigration status reported refers to self-declared status. South Africans who leave permanently under the pretext of temporary visits will not appear as emigrants in the emigration statistics collected. As per definition, "undocumented migrants" will not appear in the statistics collected. It is against this background that the CSS report the migration statistics for July 1997.

• The Sunday Times (16/11) reports that a Moroccan has taken the Minister of Home Affairs, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, to the High Court for refusing to allow him to stay in the country permanently. The plaintiff (24), who married a 62-year Old Cape Town woman more than a year ago, has asked the court to set aside the minister's decision. The Moroccan was told by the Department of Home Affairs to leave the country because his marriage was contracted "to evade the terms of the Aliens Control Act". He will be allowed to remain in Cape Town until the high Court decide his fate next year. There has been numerous instances where marriages of convenience are used in a thinly disguised ploy to base a plea or claim for either citizenship or non-deportation.

• The Sowetan (14/11) reports that the National Party leader, Marthinus van Schalkwyk says the problem of "illegal immigrants" is no longer just a theoretical debate, but a problem that more and more South Africans are becoming aware of. He made said that "illegal immigrants" are costing taxpayers a lot and are not only taking away job opportunities from South Africans, but they are also using basic government services such as welfare and education to which they do not contribute. They are costing the South Africa taxpayer about 1 billion a year for basic services and welfare, van Schalkwyk said.

• The Argus (13/11) reports that an "illegal immigrant" from Mozambique told the Cape Town Magistrate Court he had not told his South African employer where he was from because he wanted to keep his job. The Mozambican was testifying in the trial of his employer Gerhardus Zeelie who is facing 180 charges under the Aliens Control Act for allegedly employing 45 Mozambicans. He pleaded not guilty. The Mozambican said he came to South Africa in April of this year because of hostile situation in his country where he was not employed. He said he was employed as a laborer and paid R35 a day. He also said the person who looked for workers in Johannesburg did not ask specifically for South Africans.

• SAPA (Nairobi 13/11) reports that Kenya has expelled two expatriates - a Briton and a South African - after President Daniel Arap Moi accused them of treating their African employees with contempt, immigration officials said Thursday. Wesley Winter, 53, a director in the local subsidiary of the British security firm Securicor, who had been in Kenya for three years, and Alan Reynolds, 46, a former manager in a pharmaceuticals company who had been here for 21 years, left the country earlier this week. Moi claimed last weekend that the two men had called Africans "stupid" and that Reynolds had said that South Africans were "more civilized" than Kenyans. The Presidential Press Service quoted Moi as saying that "Kenyans were not ready to sell their dignity and self-esteem for foreign investment". And in a commentary titled "Moi's lone crusade against racism in all forms," the ruling party mouthpiece, the Kenya Times, wrote Thursday: "They (white expatriates) are here to eat well, enjoy the sunshine, take a lot of money back home, and eventually leave for the next African country that is ready to countenance their racial egocentrism."

• The Star (11/11) reports that African refugees now have the opportunity to voice their problems in South Africa since the recent formation of the Gauteng Refugee Forum by local non-governmental organizations. According to the Forum chairperson, the formation of the forum was important as police do not distinguish between refugees and aliens and the former were often targeted as "illegal aliens". The Forum also assists charity organizations which distribute food and clothing to refugees to have correct identification of people who qualified for such assistance. According to the Department of Home Affairs, about 7 200 asylum seekers enter South Africa each year from war-stricken countries such as Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia, and the number is increasing.

• SAPA (10/11) reports that soldiers last month helped police to arrest 383 criminal suspects, the SA National Defence Force said in a statement in Pretoria on Monday. In border patrol operations, soldiers arrested more than 3900 people for entering the country illegally. The SANDF said it had deployed 4973 full-time and 693 part-time soldiers in crime prevention operations throughout the country last month. The SA Air Force logged more than 157 flying hours in such operations, and another 254 hours in patrolling the country's borders. The total cost amounted to more that R496000. Flights totaling 49 hours were undertaken to assist the SA Navy in coastal patrols, which added another R65317 to the bill.

• SAPA (Pretoria 04/11) reports that joint police and air force crime fighting operations in October resulted in the recovery of 28 stolen vehicles and 368 arrests, the SA Air Force said on Tuesday. In a statement in Pretoria it said 276 of those arrested were "illegal immigrants".

• SAPA (Komatipoort 04/11) reports that Mpumalanga's Lebombo border police arrested 110 people entering South Africa illegally. A Mozambican immigrant was also arrested last week after he was found in possession of R9000 worth of counterfeit notes. The "poorly printed" fakes were all R50 notes. Captain Hansie Wessels said his border post was also preparing for the post-Christmas rush of undocumented migrants, who flooded into South Africa every year after spending the festive season with their families in Maputo. The "illegals", many of whom already work in South Africa, allegedly hand themselves in to police or Home Affairs officials just before Christmas so as to be deported to Maputo free of charge. "We suspect that the number of immigrants crossing the border to South Africa will decrease again this year during the December holidays but will jump dramatically early next year when everyone returns to their jobs in Gauteng," he said.

• SAPA (Pretoria 04/11) reports there has been a sharp increase in the number of travelers to South Africa, from both mainland Africa and overseas countries, the Central Statistical Service said on Tuesday. In a statistical release, CSS head Dr FM Orkin said 394,161 travelers visited South Africa in June, 50 percent more than in June last year. Seventy-five percent of the arrivals were from mainland Africa, and the rest came from countries overseas. The statistics only show documented arrivals, and did not include "illegal" visitors. The total number of travelers arriving from mainland Africa during June was 297,516 - 52% more than in the same month last year. Lesotho maintained its position as the leading source country for travelers from Africa (33 percent). Arrivals in June from other African countries came from Swaziland (19 percent), Zimbabwe (16 percent), Botswana (11 percent), Mozambique (10 percent) and Namibia (5 percent). The main stated purpose of these visits was holiday, followed by business.

A total of 563 South Africans declared they were emigrating in June, 70 percent fewer than in June last year. In June, the number of professionals, semi-professionals and technicians who reported they were emigrating was 96, and the number who immigrated was 50. The number of documented immigrants during June was 417 - 83 % fewer than in June 1996. The immigrants came from Britain (11 percent), India (9 percent), the US (7 percent), Zimbabwe (6 percent), Taiwan (6 percent) and Germany (4 percent). Historical trends in tourism, immigration and emigration show an upward trend in the level of tourism since 1993.

October 1997

• Business Day (30/10) reports that an investigation by the South African Human Rights Commission has discovered a number of SA citizens being held in repatriation centres in Randfontein on the West Rand, waiting to be deported to Mozambique and Swaziland. One of the detainees had a valid identity document when he was arrested. He was to be deported to Mozambique even though he claimed he had never been to that country and did not know anyone there. However, according to Commissioner Jody Kollapen, the majority of them were "illegal immigrants". According to some observers, inmates are subjected to all sorts of inhumane treatment, and juveniles and adults are held in the same facility and shared the same cells, which is in violation of the constitution which required children to be detained separately from those over 18 years of age.

• The Cape Times (29/10) reports that brain drain migration is one of the issues with high political overtones in South Africa. Emigration of skilled personnel is having a serious effect on higher management levels within the retail industry, with 16 percent of managers resigning to work overseas according to a report by the FSA. The report said this figure was higher than the national averages of 13 percent for executives and 6 percent for middle managers, reported by the consultancy earlier in the year.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 16/10) reports that security force personnel arrested 931 people, including 464 ‘illegal immigrants’, during high density crime operations in the Johannesburg area during the past week ending Wednesday, police said on Thursday. The operations were carried out by a task team made up of both army and police personnel, police spokesman Inspector Mark Reynolds said in a statement. Thirty-seven road blocks were held and 1841 vehicles and 375 premises were searched.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 16/10) reports that Gauteng safety and security MEC Jessie Duarte on Thursday expressed support for stiffer sentences and fines for people employing "illegal immigrants" as cheap labour. Duarte in a statement said initiatives such as the "restoring the souls of the nation" programme by the Department of Home Affairs was a step in the right direction.

"We cannot allow people engaging in such illegal practices to go unchallenged." Growing community initiatives would reduce crime in the province. It would deal more effectively with the perpetrators of such crimes as well as ensuring that the criminal justice was re-engineered to be an effective deterrent against all forms of criminality. "Interaction between government and civil society is critical to ensure that these measures are sustained," said Duarte.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 15/10) reports that the launch of a two-week operation to clean up grimy Hillbrow on Wednesday was marked by the arrest of 80 people, most of them suspected "illegal aliens". Police carried out the arrests and Johannesburg city council officials fined a number of hawkers for contravening street trading bylaws. While police were arresting and chasing down suspects, the city council's hawker unit issued fines to hawkers for having their stalls too close to the street and blocking pedestrian traffic, among other contraventions. Regarding the arrest of suspected "illegal immigrants", police said they would be transferred to the Lindella transit centre where their papers would be processed. They would be deported if found to be in the country without proper documentation. Hillbrow police station commissioner Director Pieter de Witt walked through the area and listened to complaints, mainly from shopkeepers. "If you can clean this area up, you will get rid of the crime in other areas in Johannesburg," he was told by one shop owner who wanted to be identified only as "Mad Max". Other shop owners, however, said the operation was a waste of time, and suggested the arrested suspects would simply bribe their way out of prison. "The hawkers are just a nuisance - I'm dead against them because they are taking away our business, but I have no problems with the illegals," said a Kotze Street shop owner who refused to give her name. Shortly afterwards, her brother-in-law was arrested and taken to the police station for not having identification papers.

• The Centre for Development and Enterprise (15/10) reports that a South African migration policy should allow the importation of skills in the short term - on work permit - while ensuring that an intensive human resource development programme guarantees a South African being trained for every expatriate job. This was said by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Lindiwe Sisulu, at yesterday’s Centre for Development and Enterprise debate held in Braamfontein: "Should South Africa open its doors to skilled foreigners?". Dr Sisulu said South Africa had a long way to go before it could adopt and sustain the liberal policies adopted by countries such as Canada and Australia. "What we are looking for ideally is an immigration policy that will develop in tandem with all other sectors of society," said Dr Sisulu as she put the issue of immigration within the context of government’s broader policies: "It is important that our immigration policies will not be premised on economic factors alone. Immigration is but a small fraction of the factors that account for total economic growth. It is absolutely necessary to separate the legal stream of migration and immigration from the illegal. South Africans must understand that not every black foreigner in this country is an illegal immigrant".

  Talking specifically on CDE’s own two-part migration study launched in June, Dr Sisulu said the "liberal policy" put forward by CDE of free movement into South Africa of skilled labour raised the question of South Africa’s own policies with respect to skills development. "Our immediate responsibility should be to develop skills among our own people. Importing skills does not solve the problem of human resource development - not now, not in the future. "One thing I learned very quickly after coming into office was that you can never be right about immigration. But to liberalize our immigration policy to the extent advocated by CDE would be a complete disaster for South Africa right now."

• SAPA (14/10) reports that seventy-one illegal Mozambican immigrants were arrested in two raids on the construction site of a multimillion hotel complex on Cape Town's foreshore, the Department of Home Affairs said on Tuesday. In the first raid on Friday 51 people were arrested, and another 20 were held on Monday. They were taken to Pollsmoor Prison, about 30km from Cape Town, for deportation. Home Affairs officials held talks with the group on Tuesday and legal action could follow once their employer(s) have been identified. According to the Aliens Control Act employers of ‘illegal immigrants’ could face a maximum fine of R40,000 or two years' imprisonment, and up to R100,000 or five years for helping them stay in the country illegally. The employers could also be held responsible for the repatriation fees.

• SAPA (Geneva 13/10) reports that the UN refugee agency Chief Sadako Ogata on Monday lambasted governments for placing self interest above humanitarian principles, saying the flouting of human rights ideals had serious consequences. The UNHCR's request for a multinational force to speed the safe return of hundreds of thousands of refugees from the former Zaire to Rwanda was also rejected. The Democratic Republic of Congo, as Zaire is now called, has an estimated 250,000 Rwandan refugees lost in its hinterland. Tanzania hosts over 70,000 refugees from DRC and roughly 230,000 Burundians. The UNHCR was faced with an "excruciating dilemma" in DRC of repatriating Rwandans to unsafe areas in western Rwanda or leaving them to die of hunger and violence in the forests, Ogata said. Integrating the two million Rwandans who had returned from exile since last year was key to restoring peace in the region, Ogata said, adding that the 53-member executive committee had adopted "the challenge of refugee repatriation" as its central theme this year. "I am concerned that if we do not attempt to resolve the apparent contradictions between humanitarian principles and state interest, countless more innocent persons will suffer." Fundamental refugee rights like asylum were "non-negotiable," she affirmed.

• SAPA (Lusaka 10/10) reports that the Zambian government is concerned with the sporadic influx of refugees that is straining the already inadequate economic and social infrastructure in the country, a government spokesman said Friday. The lack of democracy and gross violation of human rights in some African countries were the root cause of bloody conflicts, often triggering a refugee exodus, the minister for Lusaka Province, Sonny Mulenga said. "African governments must embrace democratic tenets to keep citizens in their territories to avert the ever escalating refugee problem afflicting the continent," Mulenga said. Addressing a self-sustaining refugee project in Lusaka, Mulenga said Zambia has about 60,000 refugees, the majority of them from Angola.

• A press release (09/10) by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town on a panel discussion at a World Bank conference on ethics and values states that an intolerant attitude towards migrants arriving in metropolitan areas from rural areas or foreign countries was not conducive to building stable, peaceful societies in the future. This was the case whether the intolerance came from host governments or from the country own citizens. It is critical, the Archbishop argued, that relationships between foreigners and people from rural areas moving into cities, and existing citizens of the cities, be held in a creative tension. He added that the possibilities for a peaceful transition in urban areas would depend on the speed and creativity with which authorities responded. This was particularly the case as bigger populations placed additional burdens on domestic infrastructure. It would also depend on them involving grassroots communities in local communities.

• SAPA (Pretoria 09/10) reports that the joint air force and police anti-crime operations resulted in 278 arrests during September, the SA Air Force said in a statement in Pretoria on Thursday. These included 228 "illegal aliens". The SAAF said it had helped the police recover 27 stolen vehicles, 22 stolen cattle, copper wire worth R21000, one car engine and a police radio. Four weapons were confiscated. Aircraft involved in the anti-crime operations included a Cessna 185, and Oryx, Allouette and BK117 helicopters. The SAAF said it had over the same period transported 13 patients to hospitals during search and rescue operations. Two people were airlifted to safety and fire fighting was done in the Pretoria area.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 09/10) reports that more than 1200 arrests were made in high density crime prevention operations in the Johannesburg policing area in the week ending on Wednesday, police said on Thursday. The bulk of the 1212 people arrested were "illegal immigrants", of whom 788 were detained, police spokesman Inspector Mark Reynolds said in a statement. Elements of the police, the army and traffic forces were deployed in the operations.

• SAPA (Lusaka 07/10) reports that Namibia and Zambia are working on a legal framework to curb cross-border crime and facilitate the extradition of criminals from both countries, a Namibian government spokesman said Tuesday. A memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed on October 10 by the two countries after the current five-day visit to Zambia by the Namibian minister of justice, Ngarikutuke Tjriange. The legal ministers of SADC had been mandated to effect practical decisions to harmonize legal relationships in the region, Tjriange said in Lusaka. Zambia and Namibia will tackle the extradition of criminals and the fight against the cross-border crimes.

• David McDonald in the Mail & Guardian (07/10) reports in an article entitled Africa's not crashing SA's gates, that despite South African beliefs that residents of neighbouring countries are pouring across our borders, a survey indicates that most would rather stay away from crime-ridden South African cities.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 04/10) reports that the Unemployed People of South Africa on Saturday threatened to take the law into their own hands and physically throw "illegal immigrants" out of the country if the government failed to respond to its demands. The organization issued the threats after a gathering at the Johannesburg Library gardens, where they claimed to have had an appointment with President Nelson Mandela and Home Affairs Minister Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi. UPSA chairman Michael Libyane told Sapa that Mandela and Buthelezi were given seven days in which to act or they would see members of the organization taking action against "illegal immigrants". The organization said black South Africans voted for democracy in 1994, but it seemed democracy was for foreigners because the country had become ungovernable with the increase of crime involving foreigners. One of the placards, carried by the about 50 toyi-toying UPSA members, suggested that if the situation was not addressed the 1999 election would be disrupted. The organization claimed most South African citizens were unemployed because jobs were taken by foreigners. They also claimed that ‘illegal immigrants’ were responsible for :

  1. the increase of AK47 rifles - which are being used in bank robberies or political violence
  2. the increase of drugs
  3. crowded pavements in major cities, selling vegetables, fruit or clothes, instead of South African citizens doing business there.

September 1997

• SAPA (Lusaka 29/09) reports that more than 300 refugees were on Monday reported to be stranded at Mpulungu port on Lake Tanganyika, facing starvation unless ships from the Democratic Republic of Congo ferry them back home. The 334 men, women and children reportedly have volunteered to return to their country at their own expense but have been stranded for days without food and accommodation at the southern port town on Lake Tanganyika.

Radio Zambia reported that Congolese cargo ships which called at Mpulungu last Wednesday refused to give the refugees passage across the lake without prior arrangements. government spokesman, Albert Kayamba, denied that the Zambian government was under obligation to assist the refugees. A spokeswoman for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Claire Hamlisch, confirmed the situation, but said because the refugees opted to use their own means, the repatriation exercise was outside the UN agency's responsibility except to provide logistics.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 27/09) reports that police made 1276 arrests in high-density areas of Johannesburg in the week from September 25 to October 1, Inspector Mark Reynolds reported on Thursday. The most arrests were of 'illegal immigrants' (574). There were arrests also for pointing firearms (six), illegal possession of firearms (16), drug offences (16), driving under the influence (16), theft from vehicles (36), vehicle theft (33), other thefts including shoplifting (130), fraud and forging-and-uttering (54), bribery (11), and malicious damage to property (22).

• SAPA (Johannesburg 25/09) reports that 792 people were arrested for various offences in ongoing anti-crime operations in the greater Johannesburg area in the week ended on Wednesday, police said on Thursday. A statement from Johannesburg police spokesman Inspector Mark Reynolds said the majority of those arrested were "illegal migrants" of whom 466 had been held. In similar operations in the North Rand policing area in the fortnight ended September24, 17 people were arrested for serious crimes along with 16 "illegal migrants". The areas covered include Benoni, Kempton Park, Midrand, and Tembisa.

• SAPA (Pietersburg 24/09) reports that the large influx of undocumented migrants into the Northern Province was increasing lawlessness and creating tension within local communities, Transvaal Agricultural Union chairman Gert Ehlers said on Wednesday. He was commenting on figures, confirmed by police, that an average of 600 undocumented migrants were being arrested daily crossing South Africa's northern borders. He said although many were being arrested others were slipping in undetected as the security forces could not effectively patrol every inch of the border. He appealed to farming communities to report the presence of undocumented migrants so that they could be repatriated. This had to be done before they were assimilated locally and put pressure on jobs in the Northern Province and elsewhere, Ehlers said. Pietersburg protection services chief Frans Jacobs said 1200 undocumented migrants had been caught aboard trains in a single recent operation in the city. Large numbers were however slipping through the net. Some migrants caught had made up to five attempts to enter South Africa illegally, he said.

• SAPA (Nelspruit 19/09) reports that continuing to deport undocumented migrants from neighbouring countries would be difficult and costly for South Africa, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Mbeki was referring to migrants who continued to illegally cross the border into South Africa from impoverished neighbouring Mozambique and Swaziland in search of jobs and better prospects. Mbeki said rather than deporting undocumented migrants, South Africa should create projects to ensure these countries were economically viable to provide job opportunities to their own people. He cited the Maputo Development Corridor which has been developed jointly by Mpumalanga and Mozambique to provide job opportunities to people in these areas.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 18/09) reports that police in the Johannesburg area arrested about 1400 people for various crimes between last Tuesday and Wednesday during a crime-prevention operation, spokesman Inspector Mark Reynolds said. A task team made up of 316 policemen, 36 police reservists and 56 SA National Defence Force members concentrated in Alexandra, Kew, Marlboro and Wynberg, Reynolds said in a statement on Thursday. Of those arrested, 13 were murder suspects, 41 were arrested for robbery, 24 for car theft, nine for burglary, eight for rape, three for vehicle hijacking and 736 for being suspected "illegal immigrants".

• SAPA (Johannesburg 17/09) reports that police in the Johannesburg policing area on Wednesday released crime prevention statistics, including the arrest of 32052 people and the recovery of 856 stolen or hijacked vehicles worth more than R25 million between April 14 and September 15. Inspector Mark Reynolds in a statement said confiscated stolen property other than stolen vehicles was worth more than R12 million. Reynolds said arrests during the five-month period were 16451 for "illegal immigration", 983 for robbery (excluding vehicle hijackings), 183 for hijacking (robbery of vehicles), 344 for murder, 438 for illegal possession of firearms, 619 for drug-related offences, 799 for vehicle theft, 911 for burglary, 355 for rape, 730 for assault and 489 for driving under the influence of alcohol.

• SAPA (Messina 16/09) reports the influx of undocumented migrants from African countries was continuing despite efforts to tighten border security, police said on Tuesday. Commenting on the arrest of 103 "illegals" in the Messina area at the weekend, Northern Province police spokesman Senior Superintendent Phuti Setati said there was no instant solution to the problem. All the arrested people were from Zimbabwe. Their repatriation, in co-operation with the Department of Home Affairs, had been a simple procedure lasting only a few hours, he said. The Army, which often makes such arrests along the Limpopo River, said many of the "illegals" returned to South Africa shortly after being repatriated, saying they were unemployed and hungry.

• SAPA (Bloemfontein 12/09) reports the Free State crime prevention operation unit, in collaboration with the defence force, has made a total of 5672 arrests in a high density crime operation between April and September, Free State police reported on Friday. Spokesman Captain Solly Lesia said of the arrests, 1164 were in connection with crimes against women and 791 were "illegal immigrants". About 137 stolen weapons were recovered, as was over 2000 rounds of ammunition.

• The Star (11/09) reports that more than 174 000 'illegal aliens' from various southern African states have been granted exemptions legalizing their stay in South Africa. Home Affairs Minister, Mangosuthu Buthelezi said previously exemptions to migrant workers were granted after discussion between himself, President Mandela and the National Union of Mineworkers. As a result, exemptions were also extended to SADC nationals who complied with certain requirements, 124 073 people were granted exemption.

• SAPA (Pretoria 09/09) reports that a total of 6322 SA National Defence Force members were assisting police in efforts to curb crime countrywide, the SANDF said in a statement on Tuesday. From January to August SANDF troops assisted police in arresting 29441 people who allegedly crossed the borders illegally and confiscating 1340 illegal weapons.

• The Star (09/09) reports that one, and possibly two, more undocumented Mozambican immigrants have fallen prey to Kruger National Park lions. It is believed the attack took place over the weekend. This is the same area were five lions were put down last month after they attacked and killed four border-jumpers. Human remains were found in the lions' stomachs. There were also unconfirmed reports that a second border jumper had also been killed by lion. Rangers are still searching for clues as to whether this is true.

• The Star (06/09) reports that lions are posing a growing risk to the lives of game rangers, researchers and other field staff in the Kruger National Park. While visitors who stay in their cars or rest camps are not at risk, staff who work in the field are worried that the regular presence of "illegal immigrants" mainly from Mozambique is causing lions to lose their fear of man. Earlier this month rangers had to kill five lions believed to have killed and eaten four Mozambicans in the Pafuri area of the park. Statistics in the National Parks Board's Custos magazine show that nearly 13 500 immigrants were arrested in the Kruger Park between 1993 and January this year.

• SAPA (Bloemfontein 02/09) reports great success had been achieved by 23 Field Squadron of 2 Field Engineers regimenting border protection and crime prevention along the Lesotho border, Major DJ Reinecke, of Group 36 headquarters in Bethlehem, said on Tuesday. In the period July 28 to August 12, 1997 various units of the squadron had been involved in the apprehension of 31 "illegal" border crossers and the seizure of 146 bags which contained about 6000kg of dagga. Reinecke said an open media day was to be held at the Fouriesburg military base on September 10 to inform the public of the success the squadron was achieving to prevent crime on the Lesotho border.

• SAPA (Cape Town 01/09) reports that Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi seems to believe current myths about "illegal" aliens in South Africa and continues to use unsubstantiated statistics, says the Black Sash. "It is doubtful whether the minister's leadership can move us away from xenophobia to a new rights-based and rational policy for immigration and migration management,"said former Black Sash national president Sheena Duncan, in the organization's latest newsletter. She said the myths claimed foreigners were by definition "illegal aliens" and therefore criminal, and there were between 2,5 and eight million of them in South Africa stealing jobs, houses and pensions. Recent suggestions indicate there could be as few as 400000 unauthorized migrants in South Africa and could be nearer the mark than many of the other suppositions, she said. Duncan said the key question was whether South Africa was going to have a new policy and new immigration legislation that could be enforced within a culture of human rights.

August 1997

• SAPA (Maputo 26/08) reports that refugees trying to enter Mozambique through the country's northwestern Tete Province are being closely scrutinized by immigration authorities to screen those who already have refugee status elsewhere, the Maputo office of the UN refugee agency said Tuesday. This measure by the Mozambican authorities comes in the wake of frequent cases of asylum seekers who already have a refugee status in another country. "Given a rise of such cases, refugees are thoroughly checked at arrival before they can be sent into camps," United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)representative Dario Carminani told AFP. Carminani agreed with the government's belief that some of the refugees who enter the country are not political refugees, but economic ones who use Mozambique as a transit route to South Africa in search of better living conditions. He said that Mozambique was the most convenient spring board for them to border jump into South African territory. Carminani said there were about 500 refugees in the country, most of whom are from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire.

• The Sowetan (25/08) reports that most of the foreign traders contribute to the South African economy, as well as provide employment. Sally Peberdy and Toure Talibe explain the situation in an article entitled SA Traders up in Arms. The article states that although African traders are called "illegals", most of the people who sell on the streets are here legally. The studies show that immigrants are more likely to be providing jobs than taking jobs.

• SAPA (Luanda 25/08) reports that at least 500 Angolan refugees are stranded in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) awaiting repatriation to Luanda, a government minister said Monday. Assistance Minister Albino Malungo, quoted by state radio, gave no reason for the snag in the repatriation campaign launched this year by Luanda. He said another 500 Angolans have already returned home, including some who fled the conflict in Brazzaville by crossing the Congo River to Kinshasa.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 25/08) reports that the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and NGOs would soon undertake an awareness programme on the rights of refugees, the commission said on Monday. The programme aims to deal with the prevailing xenophobia in the country. It follows an outbreak of violence recently in central Johannesburg in which the South Africans apparently accused foreign hawkers of trading in their areas and thereby threatening their business interests. The SAHRC programme is one of the recommendations provided for in the proposed National Action Plan on Human Rights which came out of the SAHRC's first human rights conference in May in Midrand in northern Johannesburg. The SAHRC and other stakeholders have called for a humane, humanitarian and just approach to immigration and asylum. They have welcomed the government's Green Paper on Immigration which was published by the Home Affairs Department. The government says there are three streams of people crossing into South Africa. The first group consists of immigrants and individuals who would like to settle in the country permanently, while the second group is made up of refugees who fled persecution in their own country to seek asylum in South Africa. The third and most controversial stream of people are undocumented migrants. The SAHRC recommended that the immigration and refugee policies be separated, and a comprehensive legislation to regulate refugees be enacted as a matter of priority. It also recommended that a national council on refugees be established in which the government, relevant NGOs, state institutions and the representative office of the UN High Commission for Refugees participate.

• SAPA (Pretoria 19/08) reports that Home Affairs Deputy Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the government had a responsibility to protect the jobs of South African hawkers. Sisulu met Gauteng safety and security MEC Jessie Duarte to discuss the issue of foreign hawkers. Sisulu said Duarte had wanted to know why there were large numbers of foreigners in the hawking sector, bearing in mind that South Africa's immigration policy was based on the notion that "no immigrant should be employed at the detriment of a South African citizen". Sisulu said foreign workers in the hawking sector were usually asylum-seekers awaiting their status determination by the Department of Home Affairs. Sisulu said her department did not issue immigration or work permits to foreigners which would allow them to become informal traders. Sisulu said the Department of Home Affairs would work closely with licensing departments to ensure the validity of work permits issued to immigrants and their eligibility to take up hawking.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 18/08) reports that foreign hawkers packed their belongings in Johannesburg's Kerk Street mall on Monday afternoon when they were attacked by a group of about 30 men. A foreign hawker, who asked not to be named, said they would pack up for the day, but would be back to trade. He did not say when this would happen. "We cannot go back to Senegal since we are refugees here. We are more afraid of getting killed at home than here," the hawker said.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 18/08) reports the xenophobia displayed by local hawkers against their foreign counterparts in Johannesburg streets must have dented the image of human rights-based South African society internationally, especially in the rest of Africa, the SAHRC said on Monday. "The problem of aliens in the country must be left to the Department of Home Affairs to settle. It is not for ordinary citizens to enforce street law, as was the case last week against the aliens."The commission said the actions by local hawkers were incidents of abuse of the fundamental human rights of aliens. It agreed South Africa was a sovereign state with territorial integrity and had the right to maintain its borders and control access. However, the rights of immigrants and refugees under international human rights treaties, and instruments the country was party to, must continue to be upheld.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 17/08) reports the attitude of most South Africans to refugees from other parts of Africa was a source of grave concern and the recent action of hawkers in Johannesburg inner city must be condemned, Southern Africa Methodist Church Bishop Mvume Dandale said on Sunday. "While unemployment is a crisis for South Africa, that is no reason for the callous ill-treatment of economic refugees who come to South Africa," said Dandale, adding it must constantly be remembered that South Africa played a key role in the economic destabilization of neighbouring countries.

• Lungile Madywabe reports in The Sunday Independent (17/08) how Hawkers' Street Logic Defies the Proven Worth of Immigrants. It reports that South African who want to see the border gates shut to African immigrants may be doing a huge disservice to the country's economy. A landmark research report counters the prevailing xenophobic perception that immigrants come to this end of the continent to compete unfairly and cheaply with South Africans for the limited jobs available. The comprehensive report by the Southern African Migration Project reveals that immigrants, far from taking South African's jobs, are creating big job opportunities.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 15/08) reports that Gauteng safety and security MEC Jessie Duarte and the leadership of hawkers in the province on Friday condemned the looting and destruction of property committed during the protest action in Johannesburg on Wednesday and Thursday. She said her department and the recognized hawkers organizations had worked together over the last few months to unite the hawkers in the province, improve the sector through training, participate actively in crime prevention, accelerate the registration process and ensure the removal of illegal traders, including "illegal immigrants", through lawful means. "Indeed we note that this hawker sector is also negatively affected from growing by criminality in which illegal immigrants play a role, and we vow to make sure that this situation is redressed through lawful means," she said.

• SAPA (14/08) reports that foreign street traders in Johannesburg were attacked again on Thursday when their South African competitors descended on them with sjamboks and sticks. About 300 Johannesburg vendors were planning to march to John Vorster Square police headquarters to demand the release of vendors arrested on Wednesday on public violence charges. Sebulelo said the vendors were unable to evict foreign hawkers on Thursday morning because of the arrests. Gauteng safety and security MEC Jessie Duarte on Thursday condemned the violence which accompanied Wednesday's protest and called for an urgent meeting with hawker representatives. More than 100 vendors were arrested on Thursday afternoon for taking part in illegal marches in the area, police spokesman Superintendent Chris Wilken said.

• The Cape Times (14/08) reports that it disproves the argument that undocumented migrants are responsible for the level of crime rate and deadly diseases. Pretoria, organized crime and undocumented migrants are not the main culprits in South Africa’ escalating crime rate. Dr Chris de Kock, director in charge of crime research at the police’s National Crime Information Centre, said that although the estimated four million undocumented migrants had long been blamed for the escalating violence, it was not true. A few immigrants are involved in taxi wars, but most were illegally employed as cheap labour in legitimate industries. However, he agreed that ‘illegals’ contribute by selling drugs and bringing weapons into the country but it is the moral position of the citizens of South Africa that does the damage.

• SAPA (Pretoria 13/08) reports that the significant role played by the SA National Defence Force in combating crime was spelt out in a Defence Department statement on Wednesday. In July alone members of the SANDF nabbed 3578 people for making illegal border crossings, the highest figure in five months.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 13/08) reports that hawkers were absent in their stalls on Wednesday as they all attended a meeting in Johannesburg's Library Gardens to discuss the invasion of their trade by foreigners. They also demanded that all South African hawkers in Johannesburg be registered. The hawkers protesting against foreign vendors trading in Johannesburg's city centre smashed windows and looted shops in a rampage on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Police monitoring the protest called for reinforcements from Johannesburg's public order policing unit.

• SAPA (Chimoio 13/08) The Zimbabwean ambassador to Mozambique on Wednesday criticized Zimbabwean business people for not taking advantage of the vast business opportunities which existed in neighbouring Mozambique. John Mayowe said Zimbabweans were failing to operate businesses in Mozambique because they were not aggressive like their South African counterparts. "They have to be aggressive enough. It's not a question of favouring one brand of investors. It depends on how good and aggressive they are." He also dismissed Zimbabweans' accusations that Mozambique made it difficult for Zimbabwean investors to enter the country.

• The Cape Times (12/08) publishes an article Challenge to Green Paper on Migration in which Jonathan Crush states that the Green Paper on International Migration has aroused surprisingly little public interest to date, despite the importance of the issue to South Africa. One exception is the Johannesburg-based Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) which launched a vigorous attack on the green paper in the Cape Times (July 16) and published two reports containing its own recommendations. However, they seriously misrepresent some of the paper's proposals and their alternative are, themselves, highly problematic.

• SAPA (12/08) reports that a total of 180713 undocumented migrants were repatriated and 517 people were deported last year, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Tuesday. A further 41466 "illegal immigrants" were repatriated in the first three months of 1997, he said in written reply to Gerhard Koornhof (NP). 29 people were deported between January 1 1997 and May 31 for crimes ranging from possession of cocaine, dealing in dagga, robbery, theft, forgery and rape.

• SAPA (Messina 09/08) reports that the South African National Defence Force on Friday said more than 500 undocumented migrants from various African states were crossing into South Africa's Northern Province every month. Addressing a media briefing near Messina, Soutpansberg military area chief Colonel Dries van Jaarsveld said a large percentage of the migrants came from Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire. "Whereas it is a relatively simple process to repatriate Zimbabweans and Mozambicans, the others present various problems, as police and Home Affairs officials have to contact foreign embassies or consulates in Johannesburg and Pretoria," van Jaarsveld explained. He said this was a costly and time-consuming exercise. Since the more recent removal of border security fencing, it had become relatively easy for "illegals" to cross the often dry Limpopo River at this point, van Jaarsveld argued. He said Defence Force patrols usually handed the migrants over immediately to police or immigration officials, as repatriation was not part of the soldiers' duties.

• The Star (09/08) reports how determined illegal immigrants are to cross the South African border clandestinely. The mighty Limpopo might pose a logistic headache, but ‘illegal immigrants’, driven by instincts of survival swim across with the abandon of immortals. Pafuri- an increasing number of undocumented migrants are falling prey to South Africa’s loins, hyenas and crocodiles. Kruger National Park police says "more than 10" illegal Mozambicans have been eaten by lions or trampled by elephants over the past year, while Messina police claims that hundreds of Zimbabweans have been eaten by crocodiles. Three weeks ago, lions ate two ‘illegal immigrants’. In the past two eight months, two men have died in Malamulele Hospital after being trampled by elephants. According to Messina police, hundreds of ‘illegal immigrants’ from Zimbabwe had been eaten by crocodiles while trying to swim across the Limpopo River into South Africa.

• SAPA (Maputo 07/08) reports that thousands of undocumented migrants have been forcibly repatriated from South Africa to Mozambique in what has become a weekly operation by the South African authorities. On Thursday last, a South African train delivered about 3,000 young people who had been illegal residents in the former apartheid state. Some of the repatriated Mozambicans complained that when their employers felt like it, they simply sent for the police and told the latter that their workers' documents were not in order. While deportees interviewed by IPS said the South African authorities had the right to send them home, they deplored the fact that large landowners in South Africa used their situation as a pretext for not paying them. The youths felt that the Mozambique government should get together with its South African counterpart to find a mutually beneficial solution to the problem of "illegal" migration. Roughly every week, between 400 and 3,000 are expelled. This, they felt, was responsible for an increase in crime in his area since the deportees were from various parts of Mozambique and without money, they could not get back to their home areas, so they often turned to crime to survive.

• SAPA (Beit Bridge 06/08) reports that about 1000 "illegal immigrants" were deported from South Africa to Zimbabwe through the Beit Bridge border post between January and May this year, Ziana news agency reported on Wednesday. Officer-in-charge Helmand Shoko said undocumented migrants were fined ZD50 for contravening the Immigration Act. "These people are picked up in the streets or at their work places and deported before they have collected their belongings," he said.

• SAPA-DPA (Nairobi 04/08) reports that the Republic of Congo's Interior Minister, Philip Bik-Nkiti, said plans are underway to expel refugees from the country, state radio reported Monday. Bik-Nkiti did not give any reason for the expulsions, nor did he disclose the number of refugees affected or which countries they come from.

But a commentary run on state radio Friday night indicated that there were some 4,000 refugees, among them Hutu militiamen from Rwanda, soldiers from the former Zaire, and Angolans from the oil-producing Cabinda enclave.

• SAPA-IPS (Johannesburg 04/08) reports that Zimbabweans living in South Africa have been urged to build up their home country's economy while living abroad by putting money into a unique new investment fund. The Africa Resources Investment Fund, set up here at the weekend, seeks to attract an initial 28 million dollars from non-resident Zimbabweans, to be invested in construction, banking, information technology, mining, health and other sectors of the Zimbabwean economy.

  Although the exact figure is unknown, South Africa is home to hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans who have crossed the border in search of brighter economic prospects. South Africa and Zimbabwe share more than just a border. The two are each other's largest trading partners in Africa with Zimbabwe taking in about 30 percent of South Africa's exports to the continent and selling nearly 50 percent of its Africa exports to its southern neighbour. "If Africans want to be taken seriously they must also be serious in their own conduct. We are very quick to blame foreigners for our inadequacies," says Mawere who worked for seven years for the International Finance Corporation.

• A report issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (Maputo 02/08) says that the Moamba border district has been hit hard by an influx of Mozambican "illegal immigrants" being forcibly repatriated by South Africa. An estimated 4,000 Mozambicans are sent back home each month from South Africa, where many have gone to seek better jobs and lives. After they are arrested, South Africa dumps them at the Ressano Garcia border post, often without money to get to their home districts or buy food, local officials say.

  "These illegal immigrants ... worsen problems that affect the Moamba district, such as unemployment and prostitution, delinquency and robbery," district administrator Romao Muthisse told the Mozambique News Agency on Friday. Some of those who have been repatriated claim they either were robbed or forced to leave behind their possessions. "I was robbed of my money by the people who arrested me ... and put me on a vehicle back to Mozambique," said 23-year-old Joao Bucuane. "I'm hungry and I have no food."

• SAPA (Punda Maria 01/08) reports that another Mozambican attempting to enter South Africa illegally has been killed by lions in the Kruger National Park. Kruger Park authorities believe Chauke was killed by lions on Wednesday night. He was one of 11 people who crossed into South Africa by jumping the park's boundary fence with Mozambique, Northern Province police spokeswoman Ronel Otto said. Otto said the other 10 "illegals" were picked up by a defense force patrol and were being held at the Pafuri police station. She said they would be repatriated to Mozambique at the weekend. Four Mozambicans were killed by lions in the Kruger Park last week.

• SAPA (Pietersburg 01/08) reports that the government has transferred R257 million to Northern Province for housing subsidies in this financial year, housing MEC Edgar Mushwana said on Friday. The International Organisation for Migration continues to play a role in the on-going demobilization programme of former Angolan soldiers in Angola. From 1 July to 20 July 1997, the IOM provided return and resettlement assistance and reintegration kits to 3 417 demobilized soldiers and to 8 553 accompanying dependants. To date, the IOM has assisted a total of 60 564 beneficiaries.

  In the 1996/1997 financial year, South Africa contributed an amount of R600 000 to the UNHCR which assisted the organization in the repatriation of more than 300 000 Angolan refugees in 1997.

July 1997

• SAPA (Bloemfontein 30/07) reports that police in the Free State arrested 4187 people, including 989 in connection with crimes against women and children, in a high-density crime-prevention operation from April 14 to July 22, police said on Wednesday. Those arrested included 359 suspected "illegal immigrants". SAPA (Bloemfontein 30/07) reports that police in the Free State arrested 4187 people, including 989 in connection with crimes against women and children, in a high-density crime-prevention operation from April 14 to July 22, police said on Wednesday. Those arrested included 359 suspected "illegal immigrants".

• SAPA (28/07) reports that holding conditions at the Alexandra police station in northeastern Johannesburg - used to detain "illegal immigrants" before their transfer - were appalling, the South African Human Rights Commission said on Monday. Prisoners were held overnight in cells with no beds or bunks, very few blankets, a shortage of hot water and often a shortage of food," said the police. Immigrants were not allowed out of the cells into the yards attached, because there were only one person to supervise the entire complex.

  "This is an old facility, quite inadequate, and should receive basic renovations and extensions. It should be added that the police cells hold not only ‘illegal aliens’, but also house the prisoners arrested for criminal offences, who are awaiting trial," commission members said. The SAHRC is to submit a report to the Department of Home Affairs and the National Police Commissioner's office on the conditions of the cells and the treatment of "illegal immigrants".

• SAPA (Pretoria 27/07) reports that a unique national crime database which would contribute significantly to dealing with the problem of crime was being developed by the Human Sciences Research Council, the HSRC said on Sunday. The database would enable the police to test popular theories about the relationship between crime and other socio-economic factors, such as unemployment, informal settlements or "illegal immigration".

• SAPA (Nelspruit 22/07) reports that Mozambicans and other foreign farm labourers should not be barred from earning a livelihood in South Africa as "illegal immigrants", but rather be allowed into the country as seasonal contract workers, the Transvaal Agricultural Union said on Tuesday. "We are still very against illegal immigration and still believe that stronger controls should be put in place to control it," he said. "But at the same time we also believe that foreigners who want to work on South African farms during harvest or other high pressure periods should be allowed to through a well controlled permit system."

  Recommitting the union to its promise to crack down on illegal evictions and the under-payment of farm labourers, Bosman said that after discussions with Phosa the TAU had decided to attempt to address the problem internally. "Agriculture contributes significantly both to the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and in terms of jobs, so we can't allow it to be hurt by either crime, infrastructural problems or other factors," said Phosa.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 18/07) reports that if South Africa hopes to achieve the six percent annual growth rate it is aiming for, it would do well to open its doors to skilled African migrants, a new study here shows. According to the study, recently completed by the non-governmental Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), the brain drain and perennial shortage of skills in the country mean South Africa can only gain from lifting all restrictions on skilled migration. The level of formal immigration into the country is declining, from 9824 in 1993 to 5407 last year.

  "There are immense benefits to be derived by all regional parties from the current trend toward the liberalization of capital, commodity and labour markets," it says. "These trends should be reinforced rather than restrained or curtailed." The number of economically active immigrants from Zimbabwe for instance peaked at 1144 in 1988 but has declined almost steadily to 221 in 1994. The picture is similar for other neighbouring countries.

• SAPA (Pretoria 17/07) reports that Cuban doctor Julio Cesar Simono would be deported on Thursday evening (today) after an appeal against the rejection of his asylum application failed, the Department of Home Affairs said. Simono, a gynaecologist and obstetrician, was arrested twice this year for being in the country illegally. He came to South Africa in February last year as part of a Health Department scheme to employ Cuban doctors. His contract was suspended after one year due to "irreconcilable differences and mutual unmet expectations".

• SAPA (Johannesburg 17/07) reports that Census 96 has brought to the fore the premise that South Africa is not faced with such a huge illegal-migration problem as has been made out by the press, research bodies and the police. Estimates of illegal immigrants living in South Africa vary widely. Some put the number at five million while others go as high as eight million. And policy has been guided by these estimates, lack of jobs and social services being blamed on illegal migration.

If the five-million or eight-million estimate were correct, it would mean about one-eighth or one-fifth of the people living in South Africa are illegal immigrants and that at least one-third of the estimated 15 million economically active people in the country are 'illegals'. Lehohla said he estimated the number of undocumented migrants in urban areas at a couple of hundred thousands. "Even to put the figure of illegal immigrants at one million would be too big a number." Yet many policy proposals have been hinged on the migration issue. The question being asked is: is policy being made in a context of ignorance?

• SAPA (17/07) reports that while a total of 517 people were deported from South Africa during 1996, only 29 suffered the same fate during the first five months of 1997, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Thursday in Cape Town. Replying to a question by Dr Gerhardus Koornhof (NP), he said the reasons for the deportations ranged from crimes such as theft, rape and murder, to sodomy, drug dealing, falsified documents and dealing in abelone.

• SAPA (17/07) reports a total of 41466 "illegal immigrants" were repatriated to their own countries during the first three months of this year, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi told the National Council of Provinces in Cape Town on Thursday. Altogether 180713 "illegals" were repatriated during the whole of 1996, he said in reply to a question by Dr Gerhardus Koornhof (NP). The highest monthly figure occurred in December 1996, when 45305 people were repatriated.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 16/07) reports that Johannesburg police have arrested 16988 people in an ongoing high-density crime prevention campaign which started on April 14. During the period until Tuesday, police recovered 594 stolen or hijacked vehicles, seized 656 illegal firearms, including four AK47 assault rifles, and seized 4123 rounds of ammunition. About 8500 of those arrested were suspected "illegal immigrants", followed by 1316 theft suspects. About 600 were arrested for robbery, 548 for vehicle theft, 531 for burglary and 179 for murder. Reynolds said the value of stolen property which police confiscated was estimated to be more than R25 million.

• SAPA (Pretoria 16/07) reports that the Junior Doctors Association of SA (Judasa) and the Freedom Front on Wednesday rejected the announced compulsory one-year community service for interns from January next year. In a statement in Pretoria Judasa said the matter had been dealt with in a haphazard and destructive manner. "The Minister of Health cannot legally implement compulsory community service until negotiations with the Medical Association of SA have been finalized in the chamber." The FF in a statement said Zuma's announcement was nothing other than a transparent plan to forcefully eradicate the shortage of doctors in rural areas. "Resistance against the plan will build and will contribute to discouraging young doctors to stay in South Africa," FF health spokesman Ben van der Walt said. Both parties welcomed the announcement that the proposed two years of vocational training would be suspended.

• SAPA (Pretoria 15/07) reports that Bushbuckridge would remain part of Northern Province but some governmental functions would in future be administered by Mpumalanga, Provincial Affairs Minister Valli Moosa said on Tuesday. He told media in Pretoria that he and the premiers of the two provinces had accepted a recommendation to this end by a joint government and Bushbuckridge Border Committee task team set up a few weeks ago. This would mean Northern Province would transfer the necessary funds to the Mpumalanga government for the delivery of services. Moosa could not say which services would be affected, adding this had yet to be determined by the task team.

• SAPA (Pretoria 14/07) reports that the special task team appointed by Constitutional Affairs Minister Valli Moosa to investigate the Bushbuckridge border dispute will present its findings to the minister and the premiers of Mpumalanga and Northern Province in Pretoria on Tuesday. The task team refused to publicly release its preliminary findings and recommendations last week, insisting they would only release their final recommendations at the meeting on Tuesday. He said the task team could not make decisions, but that it would be up to Moosa and premiers Mathews Phosa and Ngoako Ramathlodi to decide whether to accept the recommendations.

Bushbuckridge was crippled by wide-spread rioting over the past two months which resulted in the torching of nine schools, three government office complexes, and at least 13 commercial vehicles.

• BISHO (11/07) reports that the advertisement of over a thousand jobs in government health services does not indicate a staff crisis, say health service officials. In MEC Dr Trudy Thomas' 1996/97 annual report, presented in April, said of the52 100 posts in the sector, only 38 640 were filled. Thomas said some backlogs were "critical" and in some cases there was "not a single doctor in an isolated rural hospital, no pharmacist in quite big ones, no social worker to visit an abused child". He said one short term solution was "importing" Cuban doctors. Medium-term solutions were to have South African doctors serve sessions where they were needed. The long term solution was for the province to produce its own doctors and nurses and a limited number of bursaries were available for this, Bata said.

• SAPA (Maseru 10/07) reports that the Employment Bureau of Africa on Thursday announced that there had been a decrease in the number of mineworkers from Lesotho being forwarded to the South African gold mining industry in the last two years. Statistics released by TEBA showed that 43486 mineworkers were sent to work on South African mines last year, compared to the 41841 sent this year.

• SAPA-AP (Maputo 10/07) reports that a group of white South African farmers is getting ready to plant in neighboring Mozambique for the first time as part of a program aimed at helping both countries. Although rains have eased a protracted drought throughout the region, the long dry spell has left large tracts of South African farmland dusty and unusable. So in a program backed by President Nelson Mandela, dozens of white farmers have been scouting out countries they once saw as all that was wrong with black-ruled Africa. Mandela hopes the emigres can enrich South Africa's poor neighbors and stem a tide of undocumented immigrants seeking jobs. He signed an agreement with Mozambique in 1995 that envisaged the settlement of 1,000 South African farmers there.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 09/07) reports a crime blitz at the Johannesburg International Airport on Wednesday morning resulted in the recovery of over R21000 in lost revenue, the Airports Company said. Although nobody was arrested, police stepped up their visible presence at the airport. The purpose of Wednesday's operations are to ensure, among others, that the laws concerning border control were being enforced; to deal with people who have entered the country without proper documentation, and to deal with the estimated R17 billion per annum in lost revenue concerning illegal transactions at border posts. Wednesday's "collective approach" blitz forms part of the National Crime Prevention Strategy and is supported by Business Against Crime.

• SAPA (Johannesburg 09/07) reports a government interdepartmental national crime prevention operation turned into confusion on Wednesday because various departments were unaware of what their counterparts were doing. The Department of Home Affairs, the SA Revenue Service and the SA Police Service were supposed to combine forces to address the problem of enforcing stricter border control in the crime prevention operation dubbed "SARPSHA". Although some degree of success was reported at the Johannesburg International Airport, it later turned out police were unaware of the operation in their area.

• SAPA (Cape Town 09/07) reports that abuse of undocumented migrants by South African employers is rife, a research report Rampant Exploitation of Illegal Immigrants by the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) claimed on Wednesday. The report, released through the offices of the Institute for Democracy, claimed that many South African employers hired non-South African workers in preference to locals. Employers' duplicity in "illegal migration" posed a serious problem for the regulation and management of migration, but employers were rarely penalized for hiring illegal staff. The report said wages in the agricultural sector were as low as R80 to R100 a month on some farms in Mpumalanga and Northern Province with working conditions dire and child labour common. "A common ploy is to hire workers on monthly contracts and then to report them to the police or Home Affairs the day before pay day. The workers are then arrested and deported while the employers get a month's work for free," the report said.

• SAPA (08/07) reports that 90% of civil servants in Bushbuckridge returned to work on Tuesday after a two-month stayaway over a border dispute, the Bushbuckridge Border Committee said. This followed a decision by residents at a mass rally on Sunday to interrupt their mass action pending the outcome of several initiatives aimed at solving the dispute around residents' demand that Bushbuckridge be transferred to Mpumalanga province. Residents embarked on a mass stayaway eight weeks ago and staged violent protests in an effort to force the government to transfer the Bushbuckridge region to Mpumalanga.

• SAPA (Pretoria 08/07) reports that soldiers helping the police to fight crime had arrested more than 23000 undocumented immigrants and seized about 23000kg of dagga since January, SA National Defence Force chief General Georg Meiring said on Tuesday. Meiring said the SA Air Force had logged 588 operational flying hours to prevent crime, and another 1341 hours to patrol the country's borders. The total cost was more than R3 million.

• The Sunday Independent (Johannesburg 06/07) reports that South African police have warned foreign prostitutes to leave the world's oldest profession, which is illegal here, to "South African girls." Captain Giacomo Bondesio, commander of the police unit responsible for undocumented migrants issued a terse warning to the hundreds of foreign prostitutes who have slipped undetected into the country in recent years. "If anyone's going to benefit from working in our brothels, it's going to be South African girls," Bondesio said. "Stay at home. If you do try to work here ... you'll be deported or repatriated." Since last November, the police unit has repatriated more than 50 Thai women and 20 women from Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and Moldova, the Sunday Independent said.

• Business Day (04/07) and the Sowetan (04/07) both give reports on the published reports by the Centre for Development & Enterprise: Lessons from international policy experience; and A new approach to cross-border migration in SA. Both articles carry the authors’ (Bernstein, Schlemmer and Simkins) argument that the proposals in the Government’s draft Green Paper on international migration will result in policies and actions that will be "counter-productive, impossible to implement, perpetuate costs for the economy and negate some of the principles on which the draft is based". The authors’ concerns also include the proposals’ feasibility of implementation by the proposed Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services; the establishment of a new immigration ‘police’ at a time when the South African Police Service is starved of resources and manpower. These authors propose a two-tiered approach to migration: free movement of skilled labour from anywhere in the world to South Africa, and the probationary entry of unskilled SADC people who, once they have satisfied a series of basic requirements, may in time qualify for permanent residence and work rights.

• Nicola Jenvey in Business Day (04/07) reports that Tongaat-Hulett group maintains that the serious loss of skills in the professional category through emigration will not be halted unless the negative perceptions of SA and the economy among this sector are changed. According to Chris Saunders’ (group’s chairman) annual report, the perception was that the previously advantaged class was becoming disadvantaged as a result of the redistribution of wealth and rising health care and costs. Although calling for the emigration trend to be reversed, he pointed out that the spiraling incidence of serious crime, coupled with the growing culture of non-payment, generated negative perceptions among residents, visitors and potential investors.

• Wilmot James, Executive Director of Idasa, in the Star (04/07) reports there is a need to make a distinction between migrants and illegal immigrants. Migrants only wish to be here temporarily, such as most mineworkers, farm labourers and traders. If properly regulated by law, they pose little threat and, therefore, the green paper recommends we should ease up on bona fide migrants while, in a way that must meet the critical test of effectiveness, must toughen up on unauthorized immigrants.

June 1997

• The SA Labour Bulletin (Vol 21, No 3, June 1997) reports that the issue of migrants in South Africa is a contentious one. The media, members of the public and even government officials have whipped up a wave of xenophobia and ill-feeling against migrants. They are accused of 'stealing our jobs', 'taking our wives'. 'causing crime' and others. It seems as if many if not all of the problems we are facing are attributed to illegals. Migrants are referred to by derogatory names like 'aliens' and ‘amakwerekwere’. They are hounded by police and Department of Home Affairs. In a number of townships local communities have launched campaigns to 'hunt' them out.

The article argues that the wave of immigrant workers seeking fortune in South Africa is the result of a variety of factors: the migrant labour system on which South Africa has long relied to support its mines and other industries; the destabilization of neighbouring countries by the apartheid regime and others. It is not only people from this continent that have moved to the south; migrants from Europe and the far east, many of whom enjoyed preferential treatment in the past, are major players in a number of sectors of our economy.

• The Star (Pretoria 30/6) reports that refugees the world over usually end up camping on the outskirts of communities. This applies, too, to refugees who have been living outside GaRankuwa, north of Pretoria, since early this year. Some are re-cycled refugees, from Hillbrow. The department gave them temporary permits to stay in the country, but they have not yet been recognized as refugees and it is hard for them to study or find work, they say. "I tried to register at Unisa but was told I hadn't got a study permit," said Madini, a former Bsc student from the University of Senegal. Their stories are much the same: they came here to flee from civil war in their countries, or some, like Thomas Ayeh from Cameroon, left because of dissident views. "I miss my family so much and wish I could go back but, so long as the regime is still undemocratic, I'd rather die here," said Ayeh, a journalist and columnist with a US paper, African Weekly. One local man, who identified himself as Bricks, said: "I don't want to see a grigamba (derogatory term referring to aliens). To me they are just like illegal immigrants."

• "A Fresh Focus on Immigration Needed" (27/06) reports that during the apartheid years, an assisted immigration scheme paved the way for many immigrants actively recruited on foreign countries, and NGOs, subsidized by earlier incarnation of Home Affairs, were created to help whites settle in. As the idea was to boost the white population, no such courtesy was extended to black Africans. The policy of welcoming assimilable whites and keeping out blacks was abandoned in the late 1980s. Between then and today, there was a hiatus in policy. The Green paper on International Migration recommends a wholesale restructuring of immigrant selection. It begins with a premise that South Africa needs, once again, to recruit immigrants actively, but this time on a skill and not a racial basis. The argument is that there needs to be a refocusing on migration as an issue of growth and development, that our immigration rates are, comparatively speaking, low and that we need to counteract an under enumerated brain drain. In the short term the recommendations are to grant greater legal access to specific categories of people who add value to our economy and society, such as traders and small businessmen and women, and to modernize the contract labour system. Finally the Green Paper recommends that parliament be given an enhanced role in giving direction to and overseeing an immigration and migration plan.

• Adele Baleta in the Argus (21/06) reports that Groote Schuur Hospital has been singled out at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) two-day health sector hearings for compromising its professional ethics in its treatment of ‘illegal immigrants’. According to the report, the Health and Human Rights project’s Leslie London submitted to the TRC that the hospital was abusing its role by insisting that ‘illegal immigrants’ only be treated in emergencies and that its administration reception staff immediately report patients to the nearest police station or immigration office. In response the Groote Schuur’s Chief Medical Superintendent, Peter Mitchell, referred to Provincial government instructions governing hospitals to provide emergency treatment to refugees and ‘illegal immigrants’, "but to ensure that they were reported to the police or immigration department.

• The Argus (21/06) reports that Noel van Breda, Amnesty International’s African chapter chairman, in a refugee report submitted to the minister of Home Affairs, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, alluded to a rising tide of xenophobia in Cape Town which is cause for concern. The report entitled "Refugees – Human Rights Have no Borders" pointed out that refugees are often treated with hostility by South Africans and the authorities making reference to reports that three refugees had been killed by police in Cape Town. It demanded investigation into such allegations by the authorities and that appropriate measures be taken. It also pointed to the tendency by many countries signatory to international treaties to ignore such agreements for the sake of political and economic expediency.

• The Star (21/06) reports that the minister of Home Affairs, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, at a conference on ‘illegal immigrants’ held in Pretoria repeated the call to ‘immediately’ stop the ‘flood’ of ‘illegal immigrants’ and to ‘remove’ those already in the country. He argued that a failure to do so will impoverish South Africans; lead to further demands for amnesty in a few years and that if all ‘illegal immigrants’ are removed the country’s unemployment problem would be closer to a solution. In addition, it is said that the minister told the conference that the Aliens Control Act might be amended soon to exact heavy penalties on people employing ‘illegal aliens’. He also pointed out that Amnesty granted to SADC citizens had resulted in 200,000 applications. He added that if this included the exemptions given to mineworkers and Mozambican refugees, a total of 350,000 are being attended to. Furthermore, the minister pointed out that legal migration should continue to obtain rare skills, professional expertise and investment.

• The Argus (19/06) reports that Wilmot James of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) argues that xenophobia is strongest among the most privileged South Africans. For him, the strongest sentiment against African immigrants, especially among whites, is emerging as one of the major obstacles to reforming South Africa’s immigration laws. The above argument is based on the results of two separate studies, one by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the other by Idasa. HSRC October 1996 survey indicated that almost 65% of the SA population disapprove of "illegal immigration" and 80% supported strong government action against it. The highest level of disapproval was among the most educated and most traveled white population (93%). The counter-intuitive element being the broad presumption that African people are the site of xenophobia since this is where the competition over jobs, access to social services and sheer survival is concentrated. So that the anti-immigrant attitude among African reveals protection of jobs as the principal concern. Further, the fact that whites, a group of people presumably least affected by labour market fluctuations, have the toughest anti-immigration attitude explains the conflict between Europe and Africa still plays its out in spite of efforts at nation building. Such results, Wilmot argues, are consistent with an Idasa October 1995 survey, which "in much more calmer times" found that 64% of the SA population favoured stricter immigration controls.

• Wilmot James points out in the Cape Times (18/06) the qualitative difference between refugees and immigrants and draws a moral equivalence between people who fled South Africa and went into exile and people "who, today, might knock on our door for a life of safety and dignity". Further, by becoming signatory to the UN and OAU conventions on refugees, South Africa has, according to him, drawn the equivalence. Thus what is required, is a policy response to refugees that will "honour international obligations to solve a human rights problem of forced migration in our domestic law". To this effect the green paper recommends a separate draft white paper and a separate legislation to deal with refugees.

• Chris Bateman in the Cape Times (13/06) looks at the extent of brain drain and points out that though the official figures are disturbing, they may reflect only a small part of the problem. According to a survey of foreign embassies and consulates thousands more skilled South Africans are leaving the country than there are skilled people coming in. It is stated that Home Affairs figures, drawn on the basis of declarations departing South African travelers make on their exit forms, estimate a net loss to the country last year of 3,168 "economically active" people while foreign diplomatic sources put the true figure at nearer 15,000, or more. The problem with figures obtained in this manner is seen to be the tens of thousands who also leave each year as tourists, and many who secure work permits overseas and do not come back. The British consulate in Pretoria estimates that 800 000 South Africans carry British passports. From January to May this year, the UK consulate is said to have issued 3,764 visas and work permits to South Africans, compared with 6,476 for the whole of last year and 2,480 in 1995.

• The Star (10/06), The Argus (10/06), Business Day (11/06), Cape Times (11/06), The Star (12/06), and the Sowetan (12/06) all report on the far-reaching proposals of the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE), an independent research body which has just completed a major three-year project on migration. It is reported that the CDE proposes freeing up of controls on movement in ways "that are more consonant with South Africa’s national interest". The CDE suggests that restrictions on the immigration of "skilled people from anywhere in the world" should be lifted immediately. That skilled immigrants should be granted permanent residence straight away and qualify for citizenship after five years. The CDE also recommends a number of requirements that unskilled people from SADC countries should satisfy before they are granted residence. The report maintains that SADC citizens be permitted into the country provided they register with the Department of Home Affairs and furnish a local address. Thereafter, they would have to satisfy a number of requirements at different stages, with different levels of rights, before they qualify for permanent residence and citizenship. They would have six months to find work and accommodation and face a two-year probation.

• Wilmot James, Executive Director of Idasa, in the Cape Times (11/06) argues for a greater flexibility in regulating those crossing SA borders. He points out three streams of people crossing South Africa’s borders: immigrants, those individuals who like to settle in the country permanently; refugees, people who flee persecution in their own country and seek asylum in South Africa; and, migrants, many of them here illegally.

• Queen's to Study African Migration: University researchers will help develop new immigration policy, (Kingston 10/06) Eric Moore of The Whig Standard interviewed Dr. David McDonald, Project Manager of the Southern African Migration Project and Mr. Michel Campeau of the Canadian International Development Agency concerning the $3-million research project.

• Blackman Ngoro of the Star (09/06) reports that the Home Affairs Department threatens to prosecute employers who employ ‘illegal immigrants’ and exploit their vulnerability by asking the department to have them removed from the country just before payday. Much of this type of exploitation was reported in the agricultural sector, restaurant and the construction industry. Although workers in the Mpumalanga area bordering Mozambique, police and defence force officials confirmed the farmers’ habit of employing ‘illegal immigrants’, when asked to respond to the allegations, Jack Raath, Executive director of the South African Agricultural Union, claimed the allegations are farfetched and that the union encourages farmers to work within the rule of law.

• Turning aliens into an asset: (30/5 - 5/6/97) Marion Edmunds of the Mail and Guardian reported on the proposals of the green paper task team on international migration, handed to the minister of Home Affairs, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, last week.
  
  The following are particularly illuminating: The scraping of the country’s current system and dealing with skilled immigrants as national assets; the recommendation that Home Affairs officials be stripped of many of their powers; and for South Africa to seek to attract highly skilled foreigners and entrepreneurs.
  
  With reference to passages in the green paper she notes that "Immigration can ... be viewed as being in the national interest and a potential aid rather than an impediment to nation-building". Also that "because of our past, South Africans tend to take a negative view of immigration... policy is therefore focussed primarily on control and expulsion rather than facilitation and management...we argue that immigration policy needs to be refocused as an issue of growth and development".
  
  According to this report, it is recommended that Home Affairs officials should be stripped of all their functions other than those relating to citizenship and immigration. That the department be renamed the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services and, be monitored by an independent immigration review board, which would serve as a board of appeal against the department’s decisions. Also that applications for immigration be determined by a points-for-skills system, where high point-scorers’ applications will succeed. Noting as well that the challenge for South Africa is to transform a racially motivated immigration/migration system into a non-racial and rational policy response to the objective needs of our country.
  
  With regard to the Southern African region, Marion notes that the proposals also suggest that immigration policy should acknowledge the importance of foreign informal traders, the majority of whom have no intention of remaining permanently in South Africa and; the opening up of South Africa for greater interaction with the Southern African Development Community. And that, in the longer term, South Africa should work towards the freer movement of people within the region while conceding complete free movement is not viable as long as "gross regional economic disparities" exist.

• Business Day (05/06) reports that a study conducted by the University of SA’s (Unisa) Graduate of Business Leadership and the International Survey Research, a Chicago-based firm studying employee and management attitudes in 92 countries, revealed that four out of ten managers would leave SA to work elsewhere. This, according to the report, compares with a third who said they would leave when asked the same question in a similar study three years ago. The latest study polled 300 managers for their opinions on leaving SA, affirmative action, job satisfaction and performance management.

• Yazeed Fakier of the Cape Times (04/06) reports on the steady stream of African refugees in Cape Town, pointing out that the conservative estimate put the number of political refugees in the city at about 5 500 at present. The influx rate is estimated at about 200 a month and is expected to grow as refugees flee the dangers of internals conflict, civil war and strife. Yazeed, meeting with Allie, a 48-year-old Somali refugee, helped dispel all the myths and labels so often unfairly apportioned to asylum-seekers from African states. It also revealed the pain refugees have to go through: leaving ones country of birth, abandoning family and loved ones in the process and, also that refugees have to contend with the torment of xenophobia from the citizens of the host countries they enter. This xenophobia is attributed to the difficulty to distinguish between ‘political refugees’ and ‘illegal immigrants’ or ‘economic refugees’ in search of better business opportunities, something which he conceives as at best ill-informed and, at worst without substance.

• The Cape Times (04/06) reports that Imam Rashied Omar of the Claremont Main Road Mosque is reinforcing the argument that South Africa has a moral responsibility towards African refugees coming into the country because of these countries’ support of the struggle against apartheid. The Mosque together with the Al-Jaamia Masjid in Stegmann Road, Claremont; the Africa Moslem Agency in Johannesburg have been involved in efforts to provide relief and accommodation to Somali refugees running away from civil war in that country. The three institutions also joined hands with prominent local businessmen to launch a refugee programme at the Claremont Mosque in February, during the fasting month of Ramadaan when 30 refugees were provided with a special celebration lunch at the end of the fast.

May 1997

• The Hansard (28/5/97) reports that Mr. FJ Van Deventer asked the minister of Home Affairs: whether he or his department is considering any measures to curb the influx of "illegal immigrants"; if not, why not; if so what measures; the second question was what are the main causes of the influx of the "illegal immigrants" to South Africa; and finally whether he will make a statement on the matter. In response to all of these questions, the Minister referred him to his budget speech in the National Assembly of 17 April 1997. He further went on to say bilateral agreements have been set with neighboring countries in which the discouragement of illegal movement to this country is a standing item on the agenda. In response to the second question, Buthelezi says the main cause of the influx of "illegal immigrants" can be attributed to adverse conditions in their countries of origin.

• The Hansard (28/5/97) reports that Dr PJ Steenkamp asked the minister of defense: whether the government is considering switching an electric border fence on South Africa's eastern border to the 'lethal' mode; if not, why not; if so, when will a decision be taken in this regard. Secondly whether he has a mandate or will make a recommendation to the Cabinet in respect to the switch-over of the fence to the "lethal" mode; if so, what are the relevant details? In response to all these questions, the Minister said no.

• The Argus (22/05) reports that deporting illegal immigrants from the Western Cape officially costs about R600 000 a year in travel and hotel costs, but the real figure could be much higher. According to the report, 80 illegal immigrants held in Pollsmoor prison were sent back to Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola, India, Kenya, Ghana and Namibia, earlier this month. Of this figure, at least 23% were flown to Tanzania, at a cost to the government of R2 700 each, a total of R62 000. In addition, the government also pays for immigration officers to escort the deportees to their countries’ border posts and, there is also the price of immigrants’ lengthy stays in prison.

• Brain drain to US from fear: (Cape Times 20/05) The results of a survey of South Africans living in the United States was published in Juluka, a news letter on South African issues. Their findings are as follows:

• Many South Africans were driven out of their country by fears of crime and affirmative action and were more ‘comfortable’ abroad. That they were reluctant to return to South Africa even if criminal violence was brought under control.

• The study reflects on the categories of those who left South Africa indicating that they were mostly engineers, professors, scientists and attorneys, of whom three-quarters were male, 90% white and between 20 and 40 years of age. According to this study, at least 20% were medical professionals, 23% had occupied business managerial positions and 20% were computer professionals. And, that the remaining respondents consisted primarily of engineers, professors, scientists, attorneys and students with only one respondent who was unemployed.

• Also that, 21% of the emigrants earned between $40 000 and $60 000 (R178 800 to R268 200): a third had annual incomes between $60 000 and $100 000 (R268 200 to R447 000), and 24% earned in excess of $100 000. According to Peters, "more than half said they found their quality of life and job prospects had improved in the US while 15% preferred their lives in South Africa and 10% were undecided".

• The Star (17/05) and the Argus (17/05) both report that entrepreneurs from Zaire, Nigeria and other African countries are buying up entire blocks of flats in Johannesburg’s deteriorating inner suburbs where the banks are reluctant to grant bonds. Estate agents say foreigners are rescuing the property market in Hillbrow, Berea, Yeoville and other areas where South African families are still battling to get bonds. In spite of government-backed measures to underwrite home loans, several realtors maintain that many banks were still quietly "red-lining" these suburbs. Most of the transactions, some involving millions of rands, are reportedly in cash.

• John Makoni in the Star (17/05) reports that eastern Johannesburg has always had a strong white Portuguese character. Today suburbs like Betrams are more likely to be the home of new Angolan and Mozambican immigrants who are living in extremely crowded conditions, along with "thousands of other economic refugees". Mozambican immigrants are lucky because they often find jobs with Portuguese businesses in the area, many owned by families who fled Mozambique in the 1970s.

• In Business Day (15/5) Dave Husy writes on the settlement of Mozambique by white South African farmers. Afrikaner farmers involved in the move to establish a "food corridor" stretching across the Southern African region from Angola to Mozambique are being welcomed by the governments of Mozambique and Zambia, and further north by those of Zaire and Congo. However, at the recent Southern African Regional Conference on Land, Labour and Food Security, SA delegates argued that the legacy will be exploitation, conflict and inefficiency. They attribute the farmers’ trek to the fact that progressive new land reform and labour legislation has forced many of them to change their practices or leave the country, and although the design of the land reform programme virtually ensures that their land cannot be taken away by the government without market-price compensation, many farmers have simply chosen to leave. Delegates at the conference called on governments in the region "to end their support of the Afrikaner settler farmers. If these farmers want to contribute to these countries let them contribute in real terms, not by importing exploitative practices".

• Marion Edmunds (Mail and Guardian 2-8/5) reports that two senior Home Affairs officials took a week long break in Hong Kong, at the taxpayer’s expense, to deport one Hong Kong citizen and allegedly enjoyed the largesse of another. According to her, the two Hong Kong citizens flew to Hong Kong after being convicted of perlemoen poaching. Both are back in South Africa - one legally, one illegally.

  A regional department spokesperson, indicated it was common practice for deportees to be accompanied, in case they "tore up their papers" enroute to their native countries.

• Cape Times (7/05) reported that the Mozambican government and the South African Chamber of Agricultural Development in Africa signed an agreement yesterday formalizing the creation of the Mosagrius Development Company, under whose auspices South African farmers will settle in the northern province of Niassa. At the same ceremony, Trade and Industry minister, Alec Erwin and Mozambican finance minister Tomaz Salomao signed an agreement on the mutual protection of investments, without which the Mosagrius project could not go ahead.

• The Star (6/5) quotes Minister of Defence, Joe Modise, as saying that the electric fence on South Africa’s northern and eastern borders could soon be switched to "lethal mode" to stop "illegal immigrants and other cross-border violations." Modise said that "increasing the voltage will have to be considered if the Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders were continually crossed illegally"

  The fence, built by the previous government in 1986 as a means of securing the border against ANC and PAC cadres, has been at non-lethal detection mode. Modise claims that "the threat we are facing is not a militarily one at this stage" but that "an internal crime threat is threatening to destabilize the country... if we are not coping with the influx of illegal immigrants and our people are being threatened, there will come a time when we will switch on the fence to lethal mode." Modise spokesperson, later denied the Minister was considering increasing the voltage and said that such action would be used only in the worst-case scenario, such as a war situation.

• The Cape Times (5/5) carries an article entitled Lessons from Green Paper by Faranaaz Veriava (Project Co-ordinator for the Green Paper on International Migration) looking at the process of policy making, particularly on the role that civil society plays in policy development and governance in the new democratic order. It also highlights some of the substantive challenges which a new migration policy for South Africa must address.

• Lungile Madywabe and Aurelia Dyantyi of the Sunday Independent (4/5) report on life in the Maputo section in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, home to many Mozambican immigrants. The residents say they are terrorized by young heavily armed assailants from Alexandra (boys aged between 15 and 19 years) who come to Maputo to steal money and valuables. Residents of Maputo claim that police are doing nothing about the attacks despite repeated complaints. Instead, they argue, the police do a little extortion of their own by tearing up legal immigrants' permits and threatening to arrest them if they do not give them money. Captain Johnson Biyela of the Alexandra police station denies that his officers are extorting money.

• The Sunday Independent (4/5) reports that the South African government spends R7 million each year repatriating "illegal immigrants" and, that the department of Home Affairs puts the figure of repatriations over the last two years at more than 337 797 people. Two thirds of deportees come from Mozambique, but there are also significant numbers of Zimbabweans and Basothos. Between 1995 and the end of last year, 289 114 Mozambicans, 32 200 Zimbabweans and 8 234 Basothos were arrested and deported for being in South Africa.

April, 1997

• Winnie Graham of The Star (30/04) reported that the UK-based migrancy consultancy, with offices in Sandton (JHB), is intent on recruiting some 2000 teachers, 700 accountants (or people with banking experience), 600 nurses and health care workers and 50 optometrists in SA. Andrew Collin of the Consultancy is quoted as saying that SA workers are highly regarded in Britain and that there are already some 200,000 South Africans living in Britain.

• The Star (30/4) reported Home Affairs minister, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, as saying that it was imperative that ‘illegal aliens’ did not have access to services paid for by the South African taxpayer. Speaking in Durban at the conference on the State of Transformation in South Africa, the minister said this was why he announced the introduction of a new national identification system. The system would discourage ‘illegal aliens’ from fraudulently using identity documents and would make social services largely inaccessible to them.

  The minister also stressed the government’s commitment to removing ‘illegal aliens’ from the country pointing out that the police and defence force had been deployed to put a halt to clandestine border crossings and that 15% more ‘illegal aliens’ had been deported in 1996 than in 1995. He also noted that the ministers involved in the national crime prevention strategy had agreed to a co-operative approach to border control.

  Turning to emigration, the minister pointed out that the problem could be stemmed by stamping out crime and other factors causing South Africans to leave. On the other hand, the influx of ‘illegal aliens’ would be stemmed in the long term only by the economic development of the entire Southern African Development Community.

• Business Day (18/04) reported that according to Minister Buthelezi, in a budget speech to the National Assembly, more than 100 000 illegal ‘aliens' from neighboring countries have been granted permission to remain in SA. The report also comments on other figures released in the Minister's speech.

• The Argus (18/04) reported on the tougher approach to admission of foreign workers announced by Minister Buthelezi to the National Assembly. The Minister says that these stringent rules will better secure employment opportunities for local residents.

• The Star (18/04) picked up on the same story as the Argus 18/04 story, indicating that the unemployment crisis has compelled the Government to adopt a more stringent approach to the admission of foreign workers.

• The Star (18/04) reported that homeless immigrants say that the South African National Civic Organization (Sanco) is exploiting them by charging them up to R200 a month for small partitioned sections of factories, many of them without toilets. Tenants do not talk freely about the situation since many of them are illegal in the country and fear repatriation.

• Business Day (17/04) reported that international consultancies like Ambler Collins, a London based company, is offering advice and assistance to persons or companies intending to move out of SA.

• Clive Sawyer reported in the Argus (16/04) that figures suggest that South Africa is in the grip of brain drain. Emigrants last year totaled nearly 10 000, close to double the number of immigrants. The source of his report was the annual report of the Department of Home Affairs that was tabled in Parliament.

  You will notice a difference in the amounts quoted in these first two bullet points. Sawyer quotes the official (Home Affairs) figures and the Klein figure is based on the estimates of an employment agency specializing in placing South Africans overseas. Even more frightening is the fact that the Klein figure refers to South Africans leaving for the UK only, whereas the Sawyer figure represents the total number of (known) emigrants. It is well-known that many people who emigrate do not declare their intentions to SA officials, but have to declare it when applying for emigration visas.

• Trove Lund reported in the Star (15/04) that ‘30% of all students who graduate as engineers in SA leave for overseas'. A spokesperson from the Engineering Association warned that the country's shrinking engineering community was a threat to economic growth.

• Marcia Klein reported in the Sunday Times (13/04) that ‘Doors are opening around the world for South Africans with marketable skills'. According to Mathew Collins, managing partner of London Based immigration and commercial consultant Ambler Collins, his company opened a branch in South Africa in response to ‘a large demand' for their service. He goes on to quote numbers of South African professionals moving out of South Africa to the UK. Collins says about 100 000 SA citizens under the age of 30 are leaving each year to enter the UK.
  

This page was last updated on January 26, 1998.