News This Week - May 2000

	SOUTHERN AFRICAN MIGRATION PROJECT
	Migration News - May 2000

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May 2000

South Africa: Sapa (Johannesburg 05-31) writes that Foday Sankoh, wife of the captured rebel leader has refused to accept official papers served by the Department of Home Affairs asking her to leave the country within the next twenty-four hours. Sankoh’s host and sponsors of the International Festival of African Arts and Culture (Festac) said that Ms. Sankoh had not accepted the papers because she felt that she was not guilty of any crime. The Department of Home Affairs officials, however, read out the document to her after she refused to sign for it. “I had no intention of staying,” Ms. Sankoh was quoted to have said. Mabitsela Malefane of Festac said that she was in the country in a ‘private capacity’ to discuss Sierra Leone’s participation in Festac 2000, to be held in SA. But, Foreign Affairs director-general Sipho Pityana believed that Ms. Sankoh was involved in activities promoting the interests of her husband’s group. Sankoh’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has been held responsible for engaging in a nine years long campaign of violence against civilians in Sierra Leone.

Namibia: Sapa-AFP (Windhoek 05-31) reports that in order to curb frequent attacks in previous weeks by UNITA rebels, the Namibian government has declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew along the northeastern border with Angola. This “control measure” would come into effect from June 1, and residents have been asked to “stay away from the [Kavango] river at night” for their own safety. Raids conducted by UNITA rebels in the region have killed nearly 50 civilians this year. Suspected UNITA rebels have been raiding homesteads and laying landmines along the river since the Namibian government agreed to provide logistical support to the Angolan army against the rebels last December. More than 16 persons were wounded in landmine-related accidents last week in the Kavango region. In the latest accident, 10 people were hurt when a landmine exploded inside a Roman Catholic bush church at Ntara, some 40 miles west of Rundu.

South Africa: Independent Newspapers Online (05-31) writes that Chico Godwin, a nuclear engineer at the Koeberg power station in Cape Town has been arrested by detectives from the ‘Illegal Aliens Tracing Unit.’ Godwin was detained shortly after he informed his employers that “there might be a problem” with his citizenship documents. Eskom spokesperson Carin de Villiers said that their investigation revealed that Godwin had unsuccessfully applied for asylum in South Africa in 1996, and had “obviously stayed” after he was asked to leave the country. Eskom, which is a “national key point installation” is going to beef up security measures under the National Key Point Act, including re-verifying identity documents of employees.

Angola: Sapa (Johannesburg 05-31) reports that Welfare Minister Zola Skweyiya has implored South Africans to contribute generously to the Angolan Humanitarian Support Fund, a new campaign to help thousands of displaced children in Angola. The appeal was made as a part of activities for the United Nations International Children’s Day. Last year, the UN had declared Angola as the worst place for a child, because of the country’s high child mortality rates, rampant malnutrition, low literacy rates, and high levels of HIV/AIDS.

South Africa: Dispatch Online, WOZA, Business Day, Sapa (Johannesburg 05-30) report that Foreign Affairs has declared the wife of Sierra Leone rebel leader Foday Sankoh a persona non grata, and asked her to leave the country within the next 24 hours. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Dumisani Rashaleng said that Fatou Sankoh had entered SA with a US passport under her maiden name despite being warned that she would be denied entry. SA does not want to hamper the peace process in Sierra Leone, said Rashaleng. As a result, the department has been compelled to take the ‘political’ decision to deport Ms. Sankoh.

South Africa: Business Day (05-30) reports on a survey conducted by PE Corporate Services on the formal-sector workforce in SA which suggests that salary increases for workers in this sector have been consistently 2-3% above inflation. Martin Westcott, the MD of PE Corporate Services claimed that the current shortage of skills in the country, including the continuing ‘brain drain’ through emigration, was a major factor driving the rising salary levels.

Malawi/Tanzania: Africa News Online, PanAfrican News Agency (Blantyre, Malawi 05-30) write that Tanzania has deported more than 15 citizens of Malawi for living and working in their country without passports and proper residence permits. The deportees, who were from the northern lakeshore district of Nkhata Bay, were fined approximately 90 US dollars before being expelled by the Tanzanian immigration authorities. In a related development, Malawian police raided brothels in the northern Malawian town of Mzuzu in search of Tanzanian women working as prostitutes. A few weeks ago, the local police had deported 17 Tanzanian women from the town, claiming that they were working as prostitutes.

South Africa: Independent Newspapers Online (05-29) reports that a Durban High Court judge has granted the request of a local businessman, who wanted to emigrate to Australia with his two daughters because of ‘crime and the threat of AIDS in SA’. In a groundbreaking and controversial judgement, Judge Jappie said that Richard Davis Jackson’s reasons for wanting to leave SA were “reasonable and genuine.” Jackson’s former wife had contested the petition on the grounds that the children would be separated from her. Jackson, however, argued that by remaining in SA, the children could become ‘crime victims, contract AIDS or receive an inferior education.’ Jackson had used the expert testimony of economist Adrian Saville, and a report on the AIDS pandemic by Dr. Mark Colvin to strengthen his case. Commenting on the controversial ruling, Dr. Saths Cooper, chairperson of the professional board of psychology said that the ruling was unfortunate and only strengthened people’s misperceptions about South African society.

South Africa: Sapa (Johannesburg 05-29) reports that as a part on the ongoing new anti-crime initiative ‘Operation Crackdown’, the police arrested nearly fifty persons for various offences, including robbery, theft, and illegal possession of firearms. The new raids were conducted in the areas of Alexandra, Sandton, Norwood, Rosebank, Sandringham, Bramley and a part of Hillbrow.

South Africa: Sapa (Kimberley, 05-29) reports that 31 persons have been arrested in the greater Kimberley area for different offences as a part of Operation Crackdown.

South Africa: Dispatch Online (East London 05-29) reports that members of organized crime unit and the South African Narcotics Bureau have arrested a suspected Nigerian ‘cocaine dealer’ after a chase through Beacon Bay bushland yesterday. The members are believed to have recovered an undisclosed amount of drugs from the suspect.

Zambia: The Post of Zambia (05-29) writes that following a meeting between government officials and UNHCR, Zambian immigration authorities have agreed to release all the refugees recently detained by them as ‘illegal immigrants’.

South Africa: Sapa (Parliament 05-29) In a written response to a question raised in the National Assembly, Home Affairs Minister Buthelezi revealed that items worth more than R150, 000 were stolen from the department in the first two months of this year. The individual cases were still being investigated, Buthelezi said. Passports worth R7750 were also stolen from the department’s head office during this period.

South Africa: Independent Newspapers Online (05-28) reports that Fatou Sankoh, the wife of Sierra Leone’s rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Foday Sankoh, has arrived in SA despite being told by the Department of Foreign Affairs that ‘she is not welcome’ in the country. The reason for her entry into SA from the US remains unclear though a local entrepreneur, MK Malafane had informed the department that she had been invited to ‘discuss her participation in a music and arts festival’. SA had refused to issue her a visa and all immigration entry points had been asked to look out for Ms. Sankoh. Fatou Sankoh said in Johannesburg on Saturday that she had not come to SA to talk about her husband or the RUF.

Zimbabwe: The Zimbabwe Standard Online (05-28) reports that Bernard Chukwu, a businessman born in Nigeria and living in Zimbabwe since the age of fourteen years has won his five-year legal tussle with the Zimbabwean Ministry of Home Affairs. The Ministry of Home Affairs had declared Chukwu as an ‘illegal immigrant’ after he began proceedings in 1995 to regularize his immigration status. After a report from an immigration adjudicator, the High Court asked the Ministry to reconsider its decision to deport Chukwu.

South Africa: The Sunday Times (05-28) Phylicia Oppelt provides a compelling account of Kwere Kwere at Wits University - a multimedia exhibition with television footage and slides, and part of the National Consortium on Refugee Affairs’ Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign. Kwere Kwere highlights the histories of exclusion in SA, and focuses on the ‘new threat [in SA] – immigrants’. The show “provides an unsentimental, powerful account of ‘us’ and a frightening record of our treatment of ‘them,’” she observes. For Oppelt, the exhibition exposes the xenophobic and racist mentality and attitudes of South Africans that “tolerate the Greek or Portuguese café owner but cannot bear the blacks from up north.”

Angola: Africa News Online, PanAfrican News Agency (Luanda, Angola 05-27) report that Spain has donated 3,765 tons of rice worth 1.3 million US dollars to assist internally displaced persons in Angola. Last year, the Spanish government had given 500 tons of rice, 400 tons of beans, and 350 tons of other food stuff to Angola as food aid.

Mozambique: Sapa-AFP (Chokwe, Mozambique 05-27) writes that ‘life is slowly getting back to normal’ in flood-affected areas in Mozambique. The recent floods in Mozambique were the worst experienced in the past fifty years, claiming more than 700 lives and displacing hundreds of thousands of persons. Now, in areas like Chokwe that remained submerged under six feet of water at the beginning of the year, most of the town’s residents have returned. International humanitarian agencies like Oxfam have helped with the cleaning up of flood debris from the town. Similarly, Spanish NGO Medico Mundi has provided a field hospital to replace the town’s original hospital that was ravaged by the floods. Last month, several European countries wrote off Mozambique’s debt while the international community pledged 452.9 million dollars towards reconstruction in the aftermath of the floods.

Zimbabwe: Independent Newspapers Online (05-27) Opposition parties in Zimbabwe like the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have alleged that many white Zimbabweans have been excluded from the voters’ roll. The MDC also filed an appeal this week in the country’s High Court to allow nearly 86,000 Zimbabwean residents with dual British citizenship to vote and contest for the upcoming elections. So far, the court has not made any decision on the appeal. The government had, in recent weeks, decided to revoke the Zimbabwean passports of residents holding dual British-Zimbabwean citizenship. According to the MDC, those who had obtained Zim passports under local laws should be treated as citizens despite their failure to renounce their British citizenship.

South Africa: Sapa-Inet-Bridge (Johannesburg 05-26) A new survey of 325 large South African firms conducted by the World Bank has revealed that chief executives of these firms view shortage of skilled labour and crime to be among the major obstacles to corporate growth. According to Jeff Lewis, a senior economist with the Bank, nearly 45 percent of respondents expressed that it was “extremely hard” to find professional and managerial staff. Firms preferred to hire workers with previous experience, “a worrisome outcome” in a context where a “large segment of the unemployed have been without a job or many not have held a formal job,” added Lewis. The survey also reported that 85 percent of firms had been subjected to some type of crime, and 60 percent of firms’ employees had been victims of crime while travelling to or from work.

Namibia: The Namibian (05-26) The Namibian police have arrested two South African men and a Namibian woman at Windhoek’s International Airport after a large quantity of drugs were allegedly recovered from their suitcases.

Namibia: The Namibian (05-26) reports that local police increasingly perceive unauthorized immigrants as a ‘worry’ in Karas. Early this week, police arrested 26 ‘illegal immigrants’ who claimed to be citizens of Angola. The Namibian police are verifying the ‘true origins’ of the migrants, and indicate that the migrants were headed for South Africa. These arrests follow the apprehension of 14 ‘illegal immigrants’ by police last month.

DRC: IRIN, Sapa-AP (05-26) reports that UNHCR is planning to repatriate Congolese refugees, many of whom have been in exile for 23 years. Many of these refugees are currently living in the Viana camp, near the Angolan capital Luanda. At present, there are nearly 11,000 Congolese refugees in Angola. Nearly 2000 Congolese refugees have applied for repatriation and will be sent home next month. Other refugees have expressed their uncertainty over returning as they have lost contact with their home communities after the long period of exile. The UNHCR is expected to provide arrangements to transport the refugees in mid-June, including the possibility of ‘airlifting’ returnees to main destinations in DRC.

South Africa: Independent Newspapers Online (05-26) John Matisonn details a ‘controversial plea’ by two researchers to permit ‘foreign immigrants to flood into SA.’ Anne Bernstein, Director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) and consultant Professor Lawrence Schlemmer recently told the Home Affairs Committee that there were several ‘myths’ on migration supporting the argument for controlling migration. These included beliefs that SA does not lack skilled persons; skilled professionals can be trained over a short period of time; people contributing to the ‘brain drain’ are leaving because of a ‘black government’; foreign professionals are extremely keen to enter SA; and AIDS is not reducing the number of skilled persons on a large-scale. According to Bernstein, “the best form of immigrant is a skilled foreigner…[who] will come here and start something and employ South Africans to help run it.” In their comments on the White Paper on International Migration, these researchers said that the ‘shortage of skills is desperate’ in SA, and immigrants will “create new wealth” in the country. Bernstein and Schlemmer also made a case for conducting new research on the real impact of immigrants and foreigners on the South African economy.

South Africa: Independent Online, AFP, Sapa (Pretoria 05-26) write that a group of 70 Ethiopians seeking refugee status in SA gathered recently at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The asylum-seekers revealed that their applications had been refused by the Department of Home Affairs because the “department deems Ethiopia a safe country,” said Kassa Argaw, spokesperson for the group. “We fail to understand how it reached that conclusion,” he added. The group presented a memorandum for Thabo Mbeki to an official from the president’s office, alleging that SA favoured refugees from African countries with the exception of Ethiopia. The asylum-seekers also maintained that they had fled political persecution and the ongoing war between Ethiopia and Eritrea prevented them from returning to their country.

Angola: Daily Mail & Guardian, Africa News Online, IRIN (Johannesburg 05-26, 05-25) report that, after a recent week long visit to Angola, UN Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari expressed his dismay at the poor living conditions of internally displaced persons in the country. Gambari visited encampments in places like Huambo and Viana. In Viana, 6000 displaced Angolans and 6500 refugees from DRC are living in unventilated tents and mud huts. “What I saw in Huambo” Gambari said, “made me very unhappy.” His visit coincides with the Angolan government’s implementation of the recent Rapid Assessment Report on Critical Needs in Angola with the help of international humanitarian agencies. In its latest update, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed that there were currently 2.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Angola. The numbers of refugees increased steadily from 530,000 in November 1998 to the present estimates since the renewal of fighting in the country in December 1998. The largest numbers of IDPs were concentrated in Luanda, Bie, Huambo and Malanje provinces. OCHA also said that growing insecurity in many parts of Angola such as interior Benguela province was impeding relief effort. For details, see: http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/2000may2/26may-angola.html

Zimbabwe: Independent Newspapers Online (Harare 05-25) Zimbabwe’s Attorney-General Patrick Chinamasa has announced that white residents of Zimbabwe who have maintained their British passports and citizenship “cannot vote” in the parliamentary elections due next month. There are nearly 86,000 British nationals in Zimbabwe currently holding nationality in both countries. Zimbabwe had officially banned dual citizenship in 1984, but Britain has not recognized the renunciation of rights to British nationality by white Zimbabweans maintaining ties with London. “No Zimbabwean can be a Zimbabwean citizen while being a citizen of another country. Clearly we’ll have problems if British citizens became members of the Zimbabwean parliament,” Chinamasa said. Meanwhile, High Court Judge Godfrey Chidyausiku reserved judgement on the double citizenship issue, saying that the law is fairly clear on this issue.

South Africa: Business Day (Cape Town 05-25) reports that the United Democratic Party (UDM) MP Tommy Abrahams has written to the Transport Minister Dullah Omar to exclude foreign nationals from the benefits of the Road Accidents Fund. The Transport Minister had revealed in the parliament recently that foreigners lodged 253 and 94 claims with the Fund in 1998-99 and 1999-2000 respectively. So far, qualifying victims have been given compensation regardless of their nationality. Omar accepted that there has been a sharp increase in the number of foreign claims in the past decade, which had cost the Fund several million rands. He also indicated that many of the claims were from tourists from wealthy countries of Western Europe, North America and East Asia. But, non-citizens “temporarily working in the country” have sometimes made these claims, he said.

Zimbabwe: Independent Newspapers Online (Harare 05-25) reports that two Cuban doctors have claimed asylum at the Canadian High Commission in Harare. Leonel Cordova, 31 and Noris Pena, 25 walked into the offices of the High Commission and registered as asylum-seekers. The two doctors had arrived in Zimbabwe on April 20 as a part of a group of 152 Cuban doctors requested by Mugabe’s government to serve rural hospitals. The two doctors, who had already decided to seek asylum before arriving in Zimbabwe said, “we were sent here…by Fidel Castro so that he can appear to the world as a good man.” The Zimbabwean government and the Canadian High Commission have not commented so far on the news of the defections. But the Cuban ambassador to Zimbabwe, Rudolfo Sarracino said, “they are not persecuted by the Cuban government and there is no reason why they should politicize the issue”.

Zimbabwe: The Financial Gazette, Independent Newspapers Online, Daily Mail & Guardian (Lusaka 05-25, 05-24, 05-23) report that white Zimbabwean farmers have visited Zambia on several occasions in the past few weeks to check out farmland. Large tracts of arable land are available in Zambia and the government is quite keen to recruit foreign investors. Ajay Vashe, the President of the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), in a telephone interview told The Financial Gazette that the Union wants “genuine farmers to come to Zambia, preferably those who would invest in tobacco, horticultural and floricultural produce”. Other African countries like Mozambique, Malawi and Uganda have received similar inquiries from Zimbabwean farmers seeking political stability and rich farmlands. Zambian government records show that some 36 farmers have bought land in the Tanzara and Mpongwe in northern Zambia. ZNFU officials have also shown Zimbabwean farmers land in the Chisamba, Kabwe, Mumbwa districts of central Zambia and Kasama district where tea and coffee production has been recently introduced.

South Africa: Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg 05-24) Khadija Magardie’s report argues that many asylum seekers in SA are treated as ‘illegal immigrants’ while they face the arduous process and long stopovers at Home Affairs offices to renew their permits. Magardie provides an account of two asylum-seekers from Cameroon, Isaac Nguetchue and Nicholas Tchiegue, whose numerous attempts to renew their asylum permits since the beginning of the year only led to their arrest by police – from the queue outside the office of Home Affairs. This week, representatives of the Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and Black Sash escorted them to the refugee affairs office at Braamfontein. Ngeutchue and Tchiegue are contemplating legal action against the Department and South African police for unlawful detention. In the past few weeks, Home Affairs’ officials have come under fire for turning away refugees without renewing their permits, while police have been accused of tearing up permits and demanding bribes from refugees.For the full report, see http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/2000may2/24may-refugees.html

South Africa: Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg 05-24) In this report, Khadija Magardie examines the new Refugee Act that comes into effect this month in South Africa. The latest Act, despite being a ‘step in the right direction’ is contentious, especially the clause that prevents asylum-seekers to work or study during the determination of their refugee status. Since the adjudication process may take as long as six months, humanitarian organizations argue that it leaves already impoverished persons with little or no means of supporting themselves. Other features of the new Refugee Act include setting up of special refugee reception centres and a standing committee of refugee affairs to resolve difficult and disputed cases. For the full report, see http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/2000may2/24may-refugees2.html

Zambia: The Post of Zambia (05-24) reports that the Zambian government, with the help of the UNHCR, is preparing for a possible influx of refugees from Zimbabwe. Commenting on the contingency plan being put into place, UNHCR resident representative Oluseyi Bajulaiye termed this as a “precautionary measure to facilitate an emergency response should the situation in Zimbabwe…prompt population movements.” The UNHCR also recorded arrivals of 400 new Angolan refugees in Mwinilunga. Confirming the recent deaths of two refugees in detention, Bajulaiye said that the Ministry of Home Affairs in Zambia was going to set up a committee shortly to review their procedures and “ensure the protection of bona fide refugees.”

Zambia: The Post of Zambia (05-24) reports that continuing strike by resident doctors in the country, and poor medical facilities and working conditions have motivated seven resident doctors to leave for neighbouring countries. The president of the Resident Doctors Association Dr. Jonathan Tembo yesterday said that nearly 64 doctors had left Zambia for ‘greener pastures’ in recent weeks. “There is a possibility that more may leave as nothing has…changed since our fight started,” he observed.

Zambia: IRIN (05-24) The detention of refugees under the current verification exercise conducted by Zambian immigration authorities had created a “state of anxiety among refugees in Lusaka”, says the UNHCR. The humanitarian agency acknowledged that the Zambian government had “expressed reservation on the freedom of movement of refugees” when accepting the Convention on Refugees, but expressed its concern over the poor treatment of refugees during the exercise. New reports in Zambia had revealed that many of these refugees were from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and two Congolese refugees had died recently while being detained by authorities. Other refugee groups in Zambia included the Angolan refugees, and according to statistics provided by the UNHCR, there were nearly 37,000 refugees at the Meheba refugee settlement, many of them Angolans.

Zamibia: The Namibian (Rundu 05-24) reports that several people have been killed or severely injured by landmines in and near Rundu in the last few days. A woman and child were maimed yesterday after they inadvertently activated the landmines as they were going to fetch water from the Kavango river. Local authorities believe that UNITA rebels, who had raided several villages in the area two days ago, had planted the landmines. In another development, Namibian security forces arrested two former UNITA members in the Rapara area, about 80 kilometres west of Rundu, who had committed crimes in Namibia.

Angola: IRIN (05-24) writes that five Angolan nationals believed to be members of the country’s armed forces are expected to appear in court at Rundu on charges relating to ‘criminal and terrorist activities’ in Namibia. The charges include ‘illegal’ entry into Namibia, possession of stolen property, robbery, murder, damage to property, and possession of anti-personnel mines. Namibian security forces in the Kavango and western Caprivi regions had apprehended the suspects. Since the arrival of Angolan forces last November, nearly 340 Namibians in the region have fallen victim to ‘acts of banditry’ carried out by armed groups of Angolans and UNITA members. Similar acts of terror have also been directed against civilians in Zambia along the Angolan border. Two weeks ago, Zambia’s Defence Minister had threatened to carry out cross-border raids into Angola to catch the perpetrators.

South Africa: Channel Africa, SABC (Johannesburg 05-24) reports that during a crime sweep that lasted about a week, South African police have arrested nearly 700 persons in Soweto for offences ranging from attempted murder to theft and fraud. The police also arrested 98 ‘illegal immigrants’ during this operation.

Zambia: Africa News Online, IRIN (Johannesburg 05-24) report that an appeal has been launched by the Zambian Christian Refugee Service (ZCRS) of the Lutheran World Federation to raise US $890,765 to help about 47,000 Angolan refugees living in eight transit and two settlement camps in Zambia. The continuing conflict in Angola, especially in the Moxico province has resulted in a regular influx of Angolan refugees into western and northwestern provinces of Zambia. By the end of last year, more than 15,000 Angolan refugees had crossed into Zambia, nearly 10,000 persons more than were expected by humanitarian agencies. The ZCRS revealed that although it had received some financial donation already, additional funds were needed for the “increase in the number of new refugee arrivals.”

Regional: Business Day (Lusaka 05-24) “A protocol to accelerate the free movement of people, labour, services and the rights of residence” would be signed in coming weeks by member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). Comesa Secretary-General Erastus Mwencha made this announcement after returning from the recent Comesa meeting in Mauritius. Though member states had committed to establish the free trade area by October 31 this year, all of Comesa’s 21 member countries were not expected to join in the launch in Lusaka. Countries like Namibia and Swaziland had been given permission to delay implementing the tariff reduction plan while renegotiating with the South African Customs Union. Civil strife in countries like the DRC, Zimbabwe, Burundi and the Horn of Africa could also undermine the efforts to launch a free trade area.

South Africa: The Natal Witness (05-24) Nalini Naidoo’s feature reveals that South Africa is ‘losing hundreds of nurses each year’. She writes that South African nurses are ‘voting with their feet’ by taking up lucrative overseas contracts. Eileen Brannigan, head of National Nursing Services for Netcare, one of the largest private hospital companies in SA indicated that more than 25 percent of the 90,000 registered South African nurses had left the country in 1999 alone. The large numbers of emigrations are despite the fact that only a small number of these nurses possessed specialized qualifications. The South African Nursing Council has been receiving about 300 inquiries every month from nurses about working overseas. Several nurses interviewed in the feature indicated that the migrations were due to a number of reasons, including better wages elsewhere and poor working conditions and treatment of nurses in SA. Responding to Naidoo’s feature, Dr. Lulama Nkonzo-Mtembu, director of human resources at the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health said that the department was working out a number of ‘urgent strategies’ to address the ‘brain drain’.

Namibia: Channel Africa, SABC, The Namibian (Geneva 05-24, 05-23) An emergency relief mission will be sent shortly by the UNHCR to Angola after a fact-finding team reported last month that many displaced Angolans were in a dire and desperate situation. The team had exposed that displaced persons were being forced to eat worms and grass in order to survive. Angola government’s continuing tussle with rebel forces has resulted in an estimated four million refugees in the country. UNHCR’s relief mission will be sent to the capital Luanda, and the northwestern town of Uige.

Angola: IRIN (05-23) writes that a latest report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimate the numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Angola to be around 2.5 million. Of these, one million persons had been officially recognized as IDPs. These displaced persons were also currently living in camps, often in ‘squalid conditions.’ There were about 120 camps with internally displaced persons scattered around the country, and 35 camps remained inaccessible to relief agencies due to fighting and other security factors. For example, the Cuanza Norte province remained insecure, and outside the reach of humanitarian actors. Relief efforts had also been hampered by the decline of food contributions by donor countries.

South Africa: Business Day (05-23) Schnteich, a senior researcher with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria provides a commentary on Safety and Security Minister Tshwete’s address during the parliamentary police budget vote. Despite the Minister’s assertions of a “renaissance in [the] fight against crime,” he should guard against ‘raising expectations’ of South Africans, writes Schnteich. The commentary argues that the figures for Operation Crackdown were not ‘encouraging’ especially since a large majority of those arrested were alleged ‘illegal immigrants.’ Tshwete had also not taken into account the ‘reasons’ why people were arrested.

South Africa: Business Day, Sapa (Cape Town 05-22) inform that two days ago, the Democratic Party urged Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi to allow the use of all forms of identity documents until the planned new ‘smart cards’ were issued in 2001. Last week, the Identification Amendment Bill, a draft legislation to abolish all old identity documents had been presented in the parliament. A memorandum attached to the Amendment Bill said that the multiple identification systems caused ‘unnecessary’ confusion and uncertainty. DP Home Affairs spokesperson Mike Waters commented that the proposed amendment would inconvenience about 2 million South Africans forcing them to apply now for the green, bar-coded ID book, and reapply for the new card next year. The DP, Waters said, “is baffled by the department’s shortsightedness. It simply does not have the capacity at both personnel and finance levels, to implement this amendment.” He also observed that the new Refugee Act had been passed “with no thought for the financial requirements” needed to implement the new legislation.

Mozambique: Africa News Online, IRIN (Johannesburg 05-22) reveal that the Mozambican government is in the process of setting up a new refugee centre in the northern Nampula province with the help of the UNHCR. According to a spokesperson for UNHCR in Maputo, the centre would provide accommodation and refuge for about 250 families. The UNHCR was also making arrangements for the possible influx of Zimbabwean refugees into Mozambique.

South Africa: Independent Newspapers Online (05-20) reports that the Free State police charged a Chinese citizen with corruption after he allegedly tried to bribe two members of the Illegal Immigrants Unit. According to the police, they were offered R10, 000 to release the immigrant and his two friends, shortly after they were arrested on suspicion of being in the country ‘illegally’.

Botswana: Africa News Online, Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone 05-19) reports that the Botswana government, especially the ministry of Labour and Home Affairs had earned the disapproval of international human rights organizations for denying a Lobatse-based traditional doctor citizenship status in the country. Kebalipile Molonya’s woes began in 1995 when he applied for a national registration card (O Mang), and was informed by immigration authorities that he was not considered a citizen. ‘The immigration officials told me to my face that my father was a Malawian and as a result I had lost my citizenship,” he recounted. Immigration officials, however, defended their actions. Chief Immigration Officer Seleka said that people born to parents of different nationalities were allowed to maintain a dual citizenship till the age of 21 at which point they were expected to accept the nationality of one country. But, Molonya’s case rests on Botswana’s constitutional citizenship provision that grants persons born in the former Protectorate of Bechuanaland to become citizens of Botswana. Molonya said that he has known no other home as he has never been to Malawi. The controversy over his citizenship status has further prevented him from registering with the Traditional Doctors Association in the country.

Zimbabwe: Africa News Online, Zimbabwe Independent (Harare 05-19) reports a sharp increase in the number of applications by white Zimbabweans who wish to leave the country since the land occupation crisis began in March. Diplomatic sources in Harare have revealed that there has been a dramatic increase in applications to migrate to countries like Australia, New Zealand, Britain, South Africa, Canada and the United States. Though the race of applicants is not known, it is expected that a majority of applicants, with the exception of those moving to SA, are whites. Many high commissions and embassies have had to recruit additional staff to cope with the rise in inquiries. A spokesperson for the US embassy disclosed that they were getting “about three to four written or telephone inquiries per day”. 150 Zimbabweans also recently submitted applications to move to Australia, and the High Commission is said to have received nearly 800 applications for visit and transit visas since March of this year. The Canadian High Commission has also received similar inquiries.

Namibia: Africa News Online, The Namibian (Windhoek 05-19) write that defence ministers of Namibia and Angola met yesterday at Rundu to review the issue of border insecurity. Namibian defence minister Erkki Nghimtina said that the two delegations at this extraordinary meeting of the Namibia-Angola Joint Commission on Defence and Security agreed to “map out a common strategy to root out UNITA bandits from the region.” UNITA members have subjected Namibian civilians in the Kavango and Caprivi provinces to frequent violence and risk in recent weeks. At the same time, Namibian Defence Force officials yesterday returned from southern Angola with the bodies of four Namibian citizens who were abducted by UNITA members near Rundu and later stabbed to death.

Namibia: The Namibian (Kuito, Angola 05-19) Colin McClelland report outlines the threat of an impending ‘humanitarian disaster’ in Angola. More than two million refugees have fled their homes to escape the decades long civil war in the country. Areas like Kuito have become the ‘oasis’ for 125,000 internally displaced persons, but poor, infertile soil in and around Kuito force the refugees to remain entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. The situation has been made exceptionally difficult by declining support for the UN World Food program. The UN says that it will run out of money by August, unless new donations are forthcoming. The organization has received less than half of the N$1,4 billion needed to feed nearly 1,5 million persons every month.

Business Report (05-19) exposes the plight of retrenched mine workers in southern Africa, many of whom have turned to small-scale diamond mining for economic survival. In places like Kimberley, retrenched mineworkers earn about R1200 a month, which is R1000 less than the average wage of a factory worker.

Africa News Online, IRIN (05-18) reports that the European Union has agreed to donate nearly $1 million for projects to assist Angolan refugees living in Namibia and Zambia this year. The new funds will help to provide shelter, water and other basic services to the residents of the Osire refugee camp, outside Windhoek. Some of the aid will also be used to improve the services at two other transit camps near the Namibia-Angola border. At present, there are between 10,000 to 15,000 refugees at the Osire camp, 97 percent of these are Angolan refugees. In Zambia, the money will be used for services like refugee registration, transportation, health care, and sanitation needs of refugees. In Zambia, there are about 200,000 refugees, of which nearly 25,000 are from Angola. The funds will be disbursed through organizations like UNHCR, IOM, The Belgian Red Cross and Medecins sans Frontieres.

Business Report, Independent Online, Sapa-AFP (Johannesburg and Maputo 05-18, 05-17) details the SA Chamber of Mines’ response to the statements made recently by a Mozambican doctor Frederico Brito. He had claimed that SA was deporting HIV-positive mine migrants back to Mozambique, without telling them of their health status or giving them their medical reports. The industrial relations advisor for the Chamber deemed the allegations “false”. “We don’t know what the HIV status of our employees is,” he said. The health advisor for the SA Chamber of Mines said, “half of the Mozambicans we recruit would be infected when they come to SA”. She states that mineworkers are returned to their countries of origin only when they are too ill to work productively and denied that miners are kept in the dark about their medical condition. She says that infected migrants are issued ‘exit certificates’ which clearly states the results of their medical examinations. Siseko Njobeni of the SA Human Rights Commission criticized this policy, “it is an unfair labor practice to dismiss people because of their HIV status”.

Channel Africa, SABC (05-18) Continuing conflict in Angola has caused the displacement of nearly two million people, who are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) have made this announcement recently, and indicated that the World Food Program has received only 72 million dollars of the 158 million dollars needed to provide relief to refugees and displaced persons.

Independent Online (05-18) A new Identification Amendment Bill has been tabled in the South African Parliament, and will be referred to the Home Affairs Portfolio Committee shortly. The proposed legislation will eventually eliminate all other forms of identity documents except the green bar-coded ID.

Independent Online (05-18) Safety and Security Minister Tshwete has refuted that Johannesburg or South Africa is the ‘crime capital’ of the world. While addressing the National Assembly, he has said that crime has dropped by 20 percent in South Africa following a new anti-crime initiative labeled ‘Operation Crackdown’ undertaken by SAPS. “Our operations are already bearing fruit,” Tshwete has suggested, despite the fact that the operation began only about two months ago.

Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg 05-18) The prolonged civil war in Angola has resulted in the displacement of nearly two million people. Colin McClelland provides an account of Angolan refugees who have fled to Kuito southwest of the country’s capital Luanda. At present, there are nearly 125,000 Angolan refugees in Kuito. Humanitarian agencies like the UN reveal that they desperately need more foreign aid to provide food and basic services to refugees. The land around Kuito, it is revealed, is not suitable for farming because it is infertile, and refugees face a constant danger of rebel landmines. As a result, Angolan refugees are entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. Despite the danger of landmines, many residents of refugee camps in Kuito are forced to walk for more than 20 km to collect firewood.

Independent Online, Reuters (05-18) “Peace, stability and freedom from fear will prevail in our country. Let criminals of every shade and color know that we will give them no quarter,” says Safety and Security Minister Tshwete. He claims a high rate of success for the police after SAPS changed its policing strategies and adopted Operation Crackdown. Crime levels are already declining, indicating that “this approach is starting to impact on our crime tendencies in general.” Thanks to international and cooperative anti-crime initiatives, Tshwete indicates, a major ‘Asian based drug counterfeiting operation’ and an unauthorized ‘weapons dump in Mozambique’ have been uncovered. Finally, he has asked South Africans to “work together” to “eradicate the scourge of crime from the streets and homes of our wonderful country”.

Zambia Daily Mail (05-18) The Zambian Minister of Home Affairs Dr. Peter Machungwa has asked refugees to ‘surrender their guns and live in harmony’ at the Maheba Refugee Centre. At present, there are 37,800 refugees at this camp and the numbers have increased lately due to renewed fighting in Angola. The UNHCR has asked the Zambian government to allocate more land for the refugees, while indicating that in the months of April and May this year, more than 1000 new refugees have arrived at the camp. Several refugees at the camp have also complained about the shortage of supplies, like plastic to construct shelters and hoes.

Business Report (05-18) South African mining companies have been recruiting cheap and unskilled migrant labor from neighboring countries for more than a century. Amplats (Anglo-American Platinum) is reportedly going to abandon this policy. A spokesperson for Amplats says that migrant labor policy has been a “problem in SA for many years. We would like to reduce migrant labor to the minimum.” Local people in the areas where the mines are located will replace migrants from other southern African countries contributing positively to local economies in the Northern, Northwest and Mpumalanga provinces where the platinum reserves are located, the spokesperson has said. However, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has criticized this new policy, and argued that the policy will create imbalances in the regional economies. The NUM has also said that migrants from surrounding countries need the jobs provided by the mining industry. New expansion projects to be undertaken shortly by Amplats are expected to create 13,000 new jobs.

WOZA, PanAfrican News Agency, Sapa-AFP, Channel Africa SABC (Maputo, Mozambique 05-17) The chief doctor of the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, Frederico Brito, alleges that South African authorities are deporting HIV-positive mine workers back to Mozambique. He said that these deported mine workers not been informed that they are carrying the virus or given their medical records. Brito has not disclosed the exact numbers of HIV-positive mine workers that have been deported, but indicates that these migrant workers are from the districts of Maxixe, Massinga, Vilankulos and Guvuro. Many of the Mozambican migrant labor working in South African gold mines are drawn from these areas. The situation in these districts, according to Brito, is “worrying.” Many migrants return only when they are at the terminal stage of the disease. At the same time, however, the absence of adequate medical information on returning migrants often prevents the provincial health authorities from effectively monitoring the spread of the disease.

News24, Business Day, Sapa (Cape Town 05-18 05-17, 05-16) Ann Bernstein, the executive director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) says that SA should recruit highly qualified international professionals. SA has to abandon its “schizophrenic attitude” towards the recruitment of foreign professionals because these professionals can reverse the ‘brain drain’ from the country. According to Bernstein, the white paper is a “flawed document”, lacking a coherent immigration policy that addresses the ‘existing skills crisis’ and “desperately needed” skilled labour in SA. She added that the document had additionally failed to pay attention to the impact of the AIDS crisis on the workforce. Bernstein made these recommendations to the Parliament’s Home Affairs Portfolio Committee. The committee is presently holding public hearings on the International Migration Draft White Paper. In another presentation, the Foreign Marriage and Family Protection Association said that the work restrictions placed on foreign spouses of South African citizens was a violation of constitutional rights. Reacting to these recommendations, some MPs said that skilled migrants would cause ‘unfair competition’ and the loss of jobs. Other MPs argued that skilled migrants would create additional jobs in SA. Some other MPs suggested that South Africans should be trained for skilled jobs instead of giving these jobs to immigrants. The ‘protectionist group’ also maintained that the ‘opening the sluice gates’ would encourage ‘criminals’ to enter SA.
See: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/briefing/nw20000517/16.html

Business Day, Channel Africa SABC (Auckland 05-17) The New Zealand High Commission in Harare has been receiving nearly 400 inquiries per day by white Zimbabwean farmers in recent weeks. Many white farmers want to move to New Zealand following the political crisis in Zimbabwe. The first group of 25 Zimbabwean families has now arrived in New Zealand at centers like Christchurch and Auckland. Many of the new arrivals already have relatives in the country. A support group called Zimcare set up by former Zimbabweans in New Zealand will also help Zimbabwean migrants. Meanwhile, the Immigration Minister has announced that it will waive normal requirements of a return ticket and financial support for citizens of Zimbabwe who are already in the country.

Business Report (05-17) Statistics South Africa has revealed that several SADC countries will participate in the forthcoming Census surveys to be held in October 2001. These countries will conduct their census operations at the same time, and Statistics SA will harmonize the questionnaires in order to capture information on cross-border migration within the region.

Africa News Online, IRIN (05-17) The US government has donated US $466,267 to the UN World Food Program (WFP) towards food for refugees at the Osire refugee camp. There are nearly 11,000 refugees at the camp, and many of these refugees are from Angola. The total number of refugees at the Osire camp is expected to reach 15,000 by the end of the year.

Business Day (05-17) While addressing the parliamentary hearings on HIV/AIDS in South Africa, a health advisor for the Chamber of Mines has revealed that the mining industry is facing an AIDS “catastrophe” with infection levels rising as high as 40 percent in the last decade. The Chamber of Mines has asked the government to amend the Employment Equity Act, which prevents compulsory AIDS testing by employers. According to the Chamber of Mines, this clause introduced by Parliament’s labor committee is preventing the ‘tracking’ of HIV/AIDS in the mining industry as well as the treatment of mine workers. The Chamber of Mines wants the government to allow the testing of mine workers provided informed consent is given and results remain confidential.

The Independent Newspapers Online, Sapa (05-16) Home Affairs Minister Buthelezi has said that xenophobia is on the rise in SA. Increasing resentment against foreigners and immigrants, he adds, is linked to the apparent failure of the SA government ‘to deal with illegal aliens’. “Our legislation and policies [with respect to immigrants and refugees] are perhaps among the most liberal in the world,” says Buthelezi. At the same time, he admits that the department of Home Affairs lacks sufficient resources to deal with a “greater portion of aliens who never enter our system and are in the country illegally”. He has indicated that his department has to increase its capacity in order to be able to inspect ‘workplaces and communities’ to apprehend unauthorized migrants. Buthelezi made these statements to the German Minister for Home Affairs during his recent visit to Germany.
For the full report see: http://gopher.anc.org.za/ancdocs/briefing/nw20000517/20.html

Business Day (05-16) quotes Martin Westcott, MD of PE enterprises, who says that SA’s shortage of labor is the “most significant constraint” to the country’s economic prosperity. The company’s latest national survey reveals that company staff turnover rates have increased from about 10 to 12 percent to 16 percent. In the information technology sector, the average is around 20 percent. He adds that high staff turnover is caused by mobility, beginning with rural-urban migration to the present trend of emigration. “Ten to twenty years ago, …people moved from places like Kimberley to Johannesburg. Now people are moving from Johannesburg to London,” he says. He recommends that the current shortage of between 300,000 to 500,000 skilled professionals can only be addressed by adopting flexible policies that allow skilled professionals into SA, as well as by attracting foreign investment by offering tax concessions and eliminating bureaucratic red tape.

The Dispatch (East London 05-16) The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) has announced that Operation Crackdown does not intend to target unauthorized migrants. Instead, POPCRU says that the focus of the operation is on crime in SA, and has asked Minister for Safety and Security Tshwete to employ additional officers to make this anti-crime initiative a success.

The Dispatch (Welkom 05-16) reports that seven mineworkers, including five migrants from Lesotho and one from Mozambique died in a gas explosion at a mine in the Free State. The Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs, mine management, and the National Union of Mineworkers will investigate the reasons for the explosion, and determine ways to prevent such accidents from being repeated in future.

The Namibian, Africa News Online, Pan African News Agency (Oshakati 05-16, 05-14) write that a majority of the 200 citizens of Angola that had been living in transit camps at Ohauwanga, Onaimbungu and Odila in Ohangwena region have returned to their country. The return follows a recent visit by Namibian home affairs officials led by Parliament Secretary Niilo Taapopi to the refugee camps. During the visit, Angolan refugees in these camps were asked to decide whether they wished to be moved to the Osire refugee camp or return to their homes in Angola.

The Independent Newspapers Online, Sapa-AFP (Namibia 05-15) While speaking to journalists at the largest refugee camp in Namibia (Osire camp), home affairs deputy permanent secretary Isak Goagaseb said that the continuing Angolan conflict is likely to contribute to an escalation in the numbers of refugees entering Namibia. At present, there are nearly 11,000 refugees in Namibia and many of these are from Angola. At least 4000 refugees are expected to seek asylum in the country in the next few months, says Goagaseb. The US has recently given about 780 metric tons of food to UNHCR officials in Namibia for these refugees, but the US department of refugees has revealed that Angola’s 1,3 million internally displaced persons are in acute need of food aid.

Sapa (Nelspruit 05-15) The Safety and Security Department in Mpumalanga is examining 28 cases of abuse of farm workers by their employers. The investigation follows the recent visit by Mbeki and other senior ANC leaders in the Piet Retief area to examine the working and living conditions of farm workers. After the visit, Mbeki had said that labourers were being treated like slaves and were frequently subjected to ill treatment.

The Sowetan (Johannesburg 05-15) The Department of Home Affairs has employed 40 lawyers in order to address the backlog of 22,500 asylum applications in South Africa from citizens of 110 countries. This recruitment is a part of a joint project being undertaken by the department and UNHCR in Pretoria. Home Affairs Deputy Director of Refugee Affairs Dr. Moleboge Machele indicated that the project will clear the backlog since 1994 and “facilitate the smooth implementation of the Refugee Act” that came into effect on 1 April. At the same time, refugee reception centers will concentrate on new applications, and applications will be expedited speedily to prevent another backlog. The new Refugee Act focuses exclusively on legitimate political or humanitarian applications, and stipulates that the government must process the applications within 180 days. The Act will also allow the asylum-seekers to obtain work or study authorization from a Standing Committee, or obtain exemption from conditions imposed by the committee. The committee will also determine the extension of the refugee status for asylum-seekers in SA.

The Independent Newspapers Online (05-14) reports that another well-known employee of SABC has been asked to leave South Africa. Home Affairs has refused to extend the work permit of Swaziland citizen Jabu Matsubela, and an assignment editor of SABC news in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. A spokesperson for SABC has said that though Matsubela did apply in time to renew his permit, Home Affairs had asked him to establish that no one else in Africa could perform his job. Last year, another journalist in Matsubela’s division had to leave South Africa because of a ‘similar dispute’ with Home Affairs. Other SABC employees investigated and/or deported by Home Affairs for allegedly using fraudulent identity documents include Tichafe ‘Tich Mitaz’ Matambanadzo of Woza Weekend and 5FM to Zimbabwe, Jam Alley’s Pushie Dunn to Liberia and Enoch Sithole.

Sapa-AFP (London 05-13) The already strained relations between Britain and Zimbabwe are likely to deteriorate further with reports in Zimbabwean newspapers that the government will not allow some 86,000 dual British-Zimbabwe citizens to hold passports from two countries concurrently. Although the decision has not been formally announced, Zimbabwe’s state run Herald newspaper, citing sources at the government citizenship office, had announced that British nationals would be expected to renounce their British citizenship under the 1981 British Nationality Act. Since 1984, Zimbabwe does not allow dual citizen status and under this law, dual citizens were expected to renounce foreign citizenship by 1985. The report states that those who have retained citizenship of other countries will be considered as “residents” and “not citizens of Zimbabwe”.

Africa News Online, Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone 05-12) Less that two months after officials promised to eliminate corruption from the Immigration Department, new reports of official bribery are re-surfacing in Botswana. Last week, a senior officer was apprehended with a large number of passports allegedly taken for ‘fixing’ and extending the stay for ‘some Zimbabweans’. The ‘fixing’ of passports and travel documents for P50 and P250 is believed to be a common, unofficially sanctioned practice in many immigration offices in the country. The report reveals that the practice is so entrenched in the country that people who follow formal procedures to renew their immigration documents are forced to pay the bribes. Officials from the Immigration Department have, however, denied the existence of the practice. The article also suggests that the wives of several immigration officers are running resident and work permit consultancies.

Business Day (Canberra 05-12) An Australian immigration official announced that there has been no change in existing policy on immigration applications from Zimbabwe. Despite the announcement, there has been a sharp rise in the number of applications for visit and transit visas to Australia. In the last two months, Australia has received more than 750 applications at its diplomatic mission in Harare, and a number of additional staff has been sent by the government to their embassies in Harare and Pretoria to handle the large numbers of applications.

The Post of Zambia (05-12) Katanga governor Mwanke recently visited Congolese refugees living in the Mwange refugee camp in Zambia’s Northern Province. The DRC government has informed Zambia that many of these refugees are willing to go home. The Zambian government, the article reveals, is going to cooperate with DRC to facilitate the repatriation of Congolese refugees.

Sapa (Parliament 05-12) While speaking during his department’s budget vote in the National Assembly, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said that migrants are adopting ‘marriages of convenience as a common practice’ to bypass SA’s immigration rules. He also said that a recent court judgement that allowed residence to foreign spouses is being ‘exploited by some asylum applicants’. He was referring to the September 1999 Cape High Court ruling that granted permanent resident status to foreign spouses of SA citizens. Foreigners, he said, are “exploiting the well-intentioned human rights objective of the courts”.

Africa News Online, The Sowetan (Johannesburg 05-12) report that the nearly three decades old civil war in Angola has caused the displacement of several million Angolan citizens. Now, South African Welfare Minister Zola Skweyiya has set up an ‘Angola Appeal Fund. The Fund has asked South African institutions and residents to provide humanitarian assistance in the form of funds, clothing and non-perishable food to help ‘needy’ Angolans.

The Star (05-12) Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, the article reports, has agreed to contribute all impounded goods to the Angola Appeal Fund. These goods include clothes, medicines and other items entering SA illegally that are confiscated by SA ports and airports authorities.

The Namibia Economist (05-12) David Nthengwe reports on a meeting of women in business from 14 southern African countries. Presenting the experiences of Zimbabwean women entrepreneurs, The Investment Forum for Women in Business outlined the many legal and bureaucratic barriers faced by women entrepreneurs. One of the presenters said: “these enterprising women crossed into neighboring countries for their merchandise…Yet when they tried to get access to credit from the banks, they were considered a high risk”.
See: http://www.economist.com.na/current/story4.asp

The Citizen (05-12) reports that Operation Crackdown, the new anti-crime initiative by SAPS continues with more than a 1000 arrests in Gauteng and the East Rand. The police have also confiscated goods worth millions of dollars. In Kwazulu Natal, a large number of stolen cars have been recovered.

Botswana Daily News Online, BOPA (05-12) provides an account of Zimbabwean migrants living ‘illegally’ in Botswana, ‘importing’ and trading goods and items across the borders of the two countries. According to the article, some Zimbabweans are hawkers selling products like vegetables, cigarettes and other items in the streets of Francistown. Other migrants collect old batteries to make and sell polish in order to buy goods for sale back in Zimbabwe. Some Zimbabweans collect old tyres in Botswana that are recycled in Zimbabwe and resold in Botswana. It is suggested that most of the items is ferried across borders at unchecked points though some goods are brought in through the Ramokgwebana border post. Zimbabwean migrants are a source of cheap labour in Botswana and have also proved to be diligent and dedicated employees. As a result many Batswana employers are ‘breaking’ the country’s labor laws by employing unauthorized Zimbabwean migrants as domestic maids, construction laborers and mechanics. At the same time, many undocumented migrants are regularly apprehended by the police and deported back to Zimbabwe. Each year, it is estimated that the Botswana government spends P200, 000 to repatriate the migrants, and nearly 10,000 Zimbabwean migrants are detained by the police. Government officials in Botswana reveal that the authorities in both the countries have discussed the issue of clandestine migration, but indicates that the issue can be addressed partly through ‘economic growth and political stability’ in Zimbabwe.

Business Day, Independent Newspapers Online, Sapa (Parliament 05-12, 05-11) In a written reply to a parliamentary question, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said that ‘South African taxpayers have paid more than R26m’ in the past three years to run the ‘one and only repatriation center’ for ‘illegal immigrants.’ The Lindela repatriation center in Krugersdorp is run by the Dyambu Trust and the cost of housing apprehended migrants at Lindela has been R9 m in 1999, R7,6m in 1998, and R10,2 in 1997.

Human Rights Watch (South Africa 05-11) Five human rights organizations in South Africa, including Human Rights Watch, National Consortium on Refugee Affairs, Lawyers for Human Rights, the Human Rights Committee, and the Witwatersrand University Refugee Law Clinic have sent a joint letter to the Department of Home Affairs and Safety and Security Ministry. The letter expresses the organizations’ concern over ‘Operation Crackdown’, a new anti-crime policing initiative that targeted suspected ‘illegal immigrants’ in SA. The organizations have asked the government to allow the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) to conduct an inquiry into the activities and conduct of the police during the operation. In addition, these organizations have criticized the recent remarks made by the Minister of Safety and Security Tshwete branding all foreigners in SA as ‘criminals’. The joint letter also expresses dismay over the poor treatment of detained migrants; overcrowding at the Lindela transit camp; prolonged detention of apprehended migrants, Home Affairs’ tardiness in renewing residence permits that forces people to become ‘illegal’ in the first place; and government criticism of HRC’s objections to the harassment of recent detainees. Estimates released by the Department of Home Affairs reveal that 10,000 undocumented migrants were apprehended during Operation Crackdown, which began in early March of this year, and nearly 7000 persons were held at the Lindela detention center.

Sapa (Parliament 05-11) During the debate on Home Affairs’ budget in the National Assembly, the Democratic Party criticized the department, and said that under-funding and poor management styles are responsible for its lack of efficiency and weak service delivery. According to the party, poor management decisions have resulted in the department’s “humiliating” record of failed legal proceedings in recent months. DP Home Affairs spokesperson Mike Waters argued that if the department continues to function in the same manner, employees are likely to lose their loyalty and commitment. As regards under-funding for critical services, Waters gave the example of the new Refugee Reception centre project for which only R5 million has been allocated by Home Affairs instead of the R15 million decided earlier through legislation. “About 1200 officers are required to police the presence of the estimated eight million illegal aliens” in SA, but the country has only “325 officers doing the job of repatriating roughly 180,000 illegals per year”, he has lamented. At this rate, he has added, it will take “the 325 officers about 44 years to deal with all eight million aliens”.

Africa News Online, African Eye News Service (SA 05-11) report that as a part of the Maputo Corridor initiative, the border taxes for commercial truckers using the N4 toll road between SA and Mozambique will be abolished next month. At present, heavy-duty vehicles are charged a US $100 per vehicle road tax duty at the Ressano border post in Mozambique. Trans Africa Concessions (TRAC) chief executive Trevor Jackson has asked both the countries to speed up the proposal to build a ‘one stop’ border post to encourage “cross-border traffic from industries such as import/export and tourism”.

The Sowetan (Johannesburg 05-11) Claire Keeton reports that despite the implementation of the Refugees Act on April 1, the treatment of asylum seekers by officials has not improved. The new regulations “impact negatively on asylum-seekers”, says Professor Jonathan Klaaren of the Refugee Law Clinic at Wits University, “they make a desperate situation…worse”. Klaaren, who is also a member of the National Consortium on Refugee Affairs, says that the new act also denies refugees the right to work and study. He also adds that the hasty implementation of the act was a “political decision” without “adequate training and from a weak base”. The feature reveals that the new arrivals among the asylum seekers are likely to be most adversely affected by the new Refugees Act. That is, till the refugees receive an asylum seekers permit, they will be at risk of being apprehended, detained or even deported. According to the Refugees Act, a person applying for asylum must be issued with a two weeks permit. But, several refugees have complained that though they have been waiting outside the Home Affairs office for many days, they have not received their papers. Home Affairs spokesperson Makwela said that the “transition” to the new system and staff shortages is creating the current problems, but indicates that the situation “will improve”. Similarly, Sally Sealey from the HRC said that “Home Affairs is making people illegal”. Finally, the article suggests that recent policing operation against crime and ‘illegal immigrants’ are only serving to aggravate the present situation.

The Financial Gazette (05-11) Jerry Grant, a deputy director with Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) in Zimbabwe confirmed that many of the country’s white commercial farmers have received offers to settle in places like Mozambique, Australia and New Zealand. “It is true that several commercial farmers have been invited”, he has said, “but these have been individual deals struck by farmers”. Grant has also described the ‘flight’ of the farmers as a ‘tragic’ outcome of the land occupation crisis in Zimbabwe. According to other sources, some 300 commercial farmers have applied to resettle in Mozambique and the Mozambican government seems keen to accommodate them. It is believed that the farmers will provide a $100 million agricultural development deal in Mozambique.

The Financial Gazette (05-11) reports that several Western embassies in Harare are receiving many requests and applications for visas by ‘desperate Zimbabweans’ who want to leave the country. Sources placed in the travel industry reveal that the four favored destinations for Zimbabweans are the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Other sources reveal that many of those who are leaving the country are, in fact, professionals and not commercial farmers. Acting High Commissioner for New Zealand Gerald McGhie has said that the ‘visa free window’ provided by his country has proved attractive to many Zimbabweans who wish to ‘check it out before making a permanent move’. He added that many applications had also been received at the commission’s Canberra office for permanent resident permits, but could not confirm the actual numbers of applications. Meanwhile, Nicholas Nagel, a manager at an international removals company called Glens International has said that they are receiving nearly 30 to 40 inquiries per day, many of them from foreign expatriate workers wanting to leave before the situation worsens. “This is the busiest time we have ever had”, he has maintained.

Channel Africa, SABC (Johannesburg 05-11) reports that despite heavy damage caused by recent floods, the N-Four toll road linking SA and Mozambique is expected to open next month. This new toll road will reduce the traffic congestion at the Komatiepoort border post on the South African side, and is part of the SA government’s Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) program.

Botswana Daily News, BOPA (05-11) Botswana police arrested a Zimbabwean citizen for allegedly stabbing a Francistown City Council employee to death. The suspect is also believed to have stabbed his girl friend on the shoulder. In another case, police have arrested eight Zimbabwe nationals for suspected assault. The article says that the police have made additional arrests of other Zimbabweans for suspected theft, housebreaking, and burglary.
Channel Africa (Bloemfontein, 05-11) reports that border patrols have been intensified by SAPS and the army in the Free State following the distribution of an anonymous pamphlet in Maseru, Lesotho encouraging citizens to loot South African shops and home.

The Dispatch Online, Sapa (Ladybrand, 05-11) report that following the discovery and distribution of an anonymous letter in Maseru, Lesotho last week encouraging citizens to raid South African shops and homes, the Free State police and the army have intensified their operations. Many shops owned by people of Indian and Chinese origin remained closed. The owners feared a repetition of events that took place in September 1998.

Channel Africa, SABC (Harare 05-11) The High Commission of New Zealand in Harare has repudiated media reports in Zimbabwe of NZ offering free air travel to their country. A large number of people had called the High Commission to ask for the free tickets. NZ Immigration Minister has also said that though her country has relaxed entry requirements for Zimbabweans, they have not been completely removed.

Africa News Online, African Eye News Service (05-11) Mozambican authorities have revealed that many of the people displaced by recent floods have returned home. In the district of Chokwe, for instance, about 99 percent of the 80,000 refugees have gone back.

Africa News Online, The Namibian (Windhoek 05-11) reports that the Namibian police have arrested four Angolan men, suspected to be Unita members in Kavango, for fatally shooting a 23 year-old woman. Although the police have not confirmed the report, the death of the young woman is the latest in a series of ongoing attacks on Namibian villagers and motorists by suspected Unita rebels.

Africa News Online, PanAfrican News Agency (05-10) reports that life is fast returning to normal in the flood-ravaged district of Chokwe in the southern Mozambican province of Gaza. Many people who had fled their homes to escape the swollen Limpopo River in the months of February and March have returned en masse to their homes. Most of the returnees were living in the Chihaquelane accommodation centre and in the neighboring district of Macia. Some 80,000 displaced people had sought shelter at one point at Chihaquelane. Nearly all of these displaced people have gone home, though a small number of people have decided to resettle in Macia and Chihaquelane.

Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg 05-10) writes that the Botswana government, because of limited financial resources, will not be able to provide compensation to the nearly 160,000 persons who were displaced by recent floods. The displaced persons are still living in makeshift camps set up by the government’s disaster management authority, and have been provided food and medical care. Many of the people affected by the floods are extremely poor, and “in a desperate situation”, reports a government official. So, it is highly unlikely that “they can speak out against the government’s decision” not to give them any aid to rebuild their homes, the official adds.

Africa News Online, Pan African News Agency (Lubango, Angola 05-10) A senior official at the Ministry of Family Affairs and Women’s Promotion have requested humanitarian agencies to provide food relief to the some 7000 displaced persons in the municipality of Jamba in the southern province of Huila. Relief efforts have not reached these displaced people as yet, and it is believed that they are near starvation, being forced to eat wild fruits for survival.

Africa News Online, The Sowetan (Johannesburg 05-10) The outgoing head of the UNHCR in SA, Nicholas Bwakira has observed that though escalating numbers of African refugees have compelled many African governments to pay more attention to asylum-seekers, many South African institutions demonstrate a “lack of capacity” to deal with refugees. In SA, for instance, the government had received nearly 60,000 applications for asylum status till the end of last year. Of these applications, only about 15,000 applicants were granted asylum status in SA and the decision had not yet been taken on more than 17,000 applications. The UNHCR has been helping the South African government determine the outcome of these applications. Bwakira has said that SA “may have good [immigration] policies, [but] its bureaucrats don’t always apply it properly”. Many government officials lack understanding of situations that refugees have left, he observes and recommends that “the South African government and Department of Home Affairs need to be improved”. The UNHCR has offered its help in making the refugee determination system in SA more efficient. Finally, Bwakira has said that the increasing complexity of refugee crises in many African nations demands greater political will and governmental initiative. The media and education should also play a far more active role in addressing xenophobic attitudes and sentiments about refugees and asylum-seekers, he adds.

IRIN (Johannesburg 05-09) reports that a Congolese government delegation, led by Katanga provincial governor Augustine Mwanke is visiting Zambia to “ascertain the prospects for repatriating” the 21, 000 DRC refugees in the country. The delegation has met recently with UNHCR officials and is planning to meet with refugees at the Mwange camp in northern Zambia. Congolese refugees had fled the Katanga region to escape the protracted fighting between government and rebel forces. Diplomatic sources in Lusaka have indicated that talks for repatriation may be “a bit premature”, especially since new refugees are continuing to trickle into Zambia. “…The new arrivals are a clear indication that nothing has changed”, says an analyst in Lusaka.

Business Day (05-09) Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Sisulu has announced that she is planning to take legal action against the producers of M-Net Television program ‘Carte Blanche’ for ‘alleged defamation and causing malicious damage’. The announcement follows the broadcast of a documentary which had suggested that the owners of Dyambu Operations that runs the Lindela transit camp for apprehended unauthorized migrants were involved in a corruption and extortion scam. High-ranking members of the ANC Women’s League, including Deputy Minister Sisulu own Dyambu Trust. While exposing the plight of ‘illegal immigrants’ housed temporarily at Lindela, the program had suggested that many immigrants were able to evade deportation by bribing Home Affairs officials. ‘We stand by our story’, the executive producer of Carte Blanche George Mazarkis has said.

Channel Africa, SABC (05-09) reports that the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed his concerns to Thabo Mbeki about South Africa’s decision to deport at least 6000 ‘illegal immigrants’ back to Nigeria shortly. The report reveals that the deportations are expected to be the largest group of expulsions from South Africa in recent times, and are the result of stringent measures adopted by the Pretoria administration to deal with the issue of clandestine migration.

Channel Africa, SABC (05-08) In order to discuss the issue of white Zimbabwean farmers entering Botswana, the British High Commission is going to meet shortly with the Botswana Council of Refugees and the Botswana Council of Churches. The Botswana government has revealed its anxiety over the escalating land conflict in Zimbabwe. Authorities fear that the conflict may lead to further congestion at the already overpopulated Dukwi refugee camp. They indicate that they do not have the resources and infrastructure to provide for additional entries. At present, there are more than 3000 Namibian and Angolan refugees at the camp.

The Namibian (05-08) While speaking in the National Assembly during the final debate on the Civic Affairs department, Namibian Minister for Home Affairs Jerry Ekandjo announced his ministry’s plans to issue new national identity cards to Namibian citizens. He indicated that the Ministry of Home Affairs was “busy computerizing” its system and population register to issue the “new new” identity cards that would be different from the identity cards being issued to citizens till the end of last year. He also revealed that a plan to issue new passports to citizens was in the works. The new identity card is expected to contain a chip within that includes “all the information” about the citizen.

Post Express (Lagos 05-07) Speaking to journalists at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, the Nigerian Assistant Inspector-General of Police Abimbola Ojomo has disclosed that around 6000 Nigerians are expected to be repatriated shortly by South Africa. In February this year, at least 57 Nigerian citizens were expelled from the same country for overstaying without valid documents. Similarly, in the past year, 427 prostitutes have been deported to Nigeria, including 40 migrants that have tested positive for the AIDS virus. She has also revealed that Nigeria and Ghana rank the highest in the list of countries engaged in large-scale human trafficking. In order to deal with the problem, the Nigerian police are planning to set up a national committee on human smuggling with sub-committees dealing with enforcement, sensitization and publicity, she has indicated.

Sapa (Gaborone 05-05) President Festus Mogae has stated that although his country does not wish to be involved in the ongoing diplomatic dispute between Zimbabwe and Britain, Botswana is willing to act as a conduit for the evacuation of British citizens from Zimbabwe. Addressing a news conference on his return from a trip to Nigeria, Germany and the US, Mogae has revealed that this willingness may, in fact, depend on the circumstances of the evacuation. “If it only [involves] flying British nationals to Gaborone or Francistown, I do not see why we should refuse”, he said. But, Mogae has denied reports that British troops are going to be stationed soon in Botswana to facilitate the evacuations. Finally, he has disclosed that SADC does not wish to contribute to the “economic isolation” of Zimbabwe despite SADC’s anxiety over the political crisis in Zimbabwe.

Sapa-AP (Geneva 05-05) writes that the UNHCR has closed its offices in Mbandka, and moved 65 Rwandan refugee children to Kinshasa. The agency believes that it may be easier to trace the families of the children in the capital. UNHCR is also trying to move another 60 children to Kinshasa presently located in the southern city of Mbuji-Mayi near the scene of current fighting. The article reports that in 1997, some 12,000 Rwandan refugees were shifted from Mbandaka as a result of the fighting in Congo. The UNHCR has also expressed its frustration at ‘bureaucratic and logistical difficulties’ that is preventing the organization from providing humanitarian assistance to some 25,000 refugees in a remote region of DRC.

Daily Mail & Guardian, Independent Online, Sapa-AFP (Johannesburg 05-05) Frederic Jeammes provides an account of white Zimbabwean farmers who are lining up in large numbers at various embassies to apply for exit visas. Australian and New Zealand embassies in Harare have revealed that there has been an increase in inquiries in the past few weeks, but have not released the actual numbers of people applying for the visas. On the other hand, neighboring countries like Mozambique and Zambia that had agreed to take in white Zimbabweans fleeing the land occupation crisis have received few requests or inquiries. A Zambian diplomat has revealed that his embassy is receiving an average of about three inquiries a day. “White farmers are coming in, but not so much”, he states, despite “attractive conditions”. Other Zimbabweans have registered at the British embassy in the case of possible evacuation, while Zimbabweans of British origin have already applied for passports or a visa. The white population in Zimbabwe is estimated at nearly 70,000 persons.

The Namibian (05-05) While speaking in the National Assembly, the President of CoD (Congress of Democrats) Ben Ulenga has remonstrated institutionalized xenophobia in Namibia, questioning the labeling of “people as aliens,” and attitudes that blame the “ills of the country on aliens”. South Africa also suffers from xenophobia, Ulenga has stated. Responding to Ulenga’s comments, Home Affairs Minister Ekandjo has said that the term ‘alien’ is commonly used to describe ‘illegal immigrants’.

Zambia Daily Mail (05-05) writes that the country has fined and deported a Congolese cleric for ‘illegal stay’, while 32 other unauthorized migrants from West Africa and Asia are being detained in Kitwe, Lusaka and Chingola. The detainees are going to be prosecuted or deported shortly. The Immigration Department in Zambia has initiated a campaign recently ‘to rid the country of illegal immigrants’.

WOZA (05-05) The South African government has set up two refugee camps near the Messina area for Zimbabwean refugees. But authorities have revealed that so far only one Zimbabwe national has sought refuge at these camps. A Home Affairs official has revealed that the major route from Zimbabwe to South Africa has been fairly quiet and that the present turnout of refugees is certainly “unexpected”. He had added that Zimbabweans are very likely considering other options like Britain, Australia, Mozambique and Botswana. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has asked SADC to help Botswana cope with the large numbers of refugees from Zimbabwe. According to the party, nearly a thousand refugees are crossing over from Zimbabwe into Botswana every day, though Botswanan immigration officials have refuted these figures. The Democratic Party has also made several suggestions to SADC on a plan of action to assist the refugees.

Sapa (Maputo 05-04) The UN World Food Program reports that accommodation camps for Mozambique’s flood victims are “almost empty” as hundreds of thousands of Mozambican displaced by recent floods have started returning to the their homes. As a result, Chiaquelene camp, which once housed around 60, 000 displaced people, has only around 2500 residents at present. Similarly, Macie camp that had provided shelter to nearly 20, 000 displaced persons a short while ago has only about 400 persons at this time.

Business Day (05-04) Lesley Stones writes that the current ‘technology brain drain’ has a significant global effect. Technology companies in countries like the US have long complained about government controls on immigration that prevent them from employing skilled foreigners to fill the vacancies. Now, it is expected that new US legislation will increase the visa quota from 115,000 to 200, 000 a year. As a result, the article observes, many people are likely to leave South Africa to find better paying, technology-related jobs overseas. This assertion has been confirmed by Statistics SA, which reports that around 2500 technical workers left the country in the fist six months of 1999, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total emigrants for that period. In order to address this problem, several SA companies are forging partnerships and linkages with Indian companies where software development skills are cheap and readily available. But this may prove to be a short-term solution since many Asian countries are also losing their workers to the west. Many Asian companies are also developing innovative strategies to offset skilled labor shortages.

Sapa (Pretoria 05-04) The Safety and Security Minister Tshwete has encouraged residents of Sunnyside in Pretoria to ‘expose criminals and assist in the war against crime’. “Let us not…let the criminals take over our city”, he said, while speaking during a report-back meeting for Operation Crackdown for the benefit of local residents.

The Financial Gazette, WOZA, Reuters (Harare 05-04, 05-03) After an eight-nation Commonwealth action group condemned recent events in Zimbabwe and Mugabe’s failure to ‘uphold the rule of law’, he has stated that white citizens of Zimbabwe are free to leave the country. He has also challenged the white farmers to take up the British offer of sanctuary, and said: “the[se] are 20,000 opportunities that Britain has provided for its citizens. They are free to leave and we may assist them by showing various ways to leave the territory”.

Africa News Online, IRIN (Johannesburg 05-03) In recent years, the SA mining industry has been struggling due to declining gold prices worldwide and higher costs for deeper underground mining to retrieve gold deposits. The result is that SA mining companies have been retrenching large numbers of mine workers, many of them from Lesotho. Basotho Finance Minister Maope has informed the parliament that some 17,000 additional lay-offs are expected this year. The additional retrenchments are going to be a further blow to an already sluggish Lesotho economy that depends to a large extent on mine workers’ remittances.

Africa Online, PanAfrican News Agency (Gaborone 05-03) The chief immigration officer at Ramokgwebana border post has denied press reports which suggest that the number of Zimbabwean nationals crossing the border into Botswana has increased in recent days. Dubbing such reports as distorted and false, he has instead indicated that the numbers of Zimbabweans crossing into Botswana has decreased this year. In 1999, there were between 6000-7000 border crossings daily during the first two weeks of April, but this year the numbers have declined to between 4000 and 5000 persons.

Africa News Online, The Post of Zambia (Lusaka 05-03) UNHCR has revealed that due to renewed fighting in Angola and the DRC, many more Angolan refugees are crossing into the NorthWestern province in Zambia. Some 800 refugees have already entered the province in the month of April. The agency has also denied reports, which suggest that refugees at Nangweshi and Sioma camps are starving.

Africa News Online, African Eye News Service (Lilongwe, Malawi 05-03) The Malawian police has uncovered a transnational crime syndicate operating in Malawi and neighboring Zimbabwe that kills young women for their body parts. The police are expected to step up its operations to arrest and prosecute the guilty parties.

City Press (05-03) Commenting on the recently signed bilateral agreement between SA and Nigeria, the article reveals that the two countries will also examine the issue of clandestine migration and deportation of unauthorized migrants. The article observes that Nigerians do not enjoy a ‘good reputation’ in many countries, including South Africa, especially since they have ‘formed syndicates that peddle drugs, commit corruption and fraud, and generally stabilize their host countries’. The article also contends that Nigerian immigrants in South Africa possess ‘illegal’ identity documents and passports, and have found ways of printing and distributing these documents to other Nigerian nationals in the country.

Sapa (Pretoria 05-03) In his address to the new Immigrants Selection Board at its inauguration in Pretoria, the Minister of Home Affairs M. Buthelezi has said: “our migration policies [should] encourage a brain gain.” He had also stated that South Africa should “admit into our communities people with professional skills” who can contribute towards and facilitate SA’s economic growth. He has also urged the board to ‘speed up’ the processing of applications for work and residence permits.

IRIN (Johannesburg 05-03) As the land occupation crisis intensifies in Zimbabwe, many southern African countries near Zimbabwe are preparing for an ‘influx’ of Zimbabweans. A UNHCR representative in South Africa has disclosed that a planning meeting of southern African countries took place on April 28, in which a ‘contingency plan’ to address the possibility of a ‘large external displacement’ of Zimbabweans was discussed. Though diplomatic sources have expressed concern about the region’s capability to provide asylum to these refugees, so far only one Zimbabwean has applied for asylum into Botswana. Countries like Zambia and Botswana already house large numbers of refugees, and do not have the resources to take in new refugees, the report has added.

Dispatch Online (Grahamstown 05-03) writes that the Department of Home Affairs is suffering from a shortage of staff and resources in rural areas. As a result, people living in rural areas are having a difficult time in getting services like obtaining identity documents as well as birth and death certificates.

The Sowetan, Independent Online, Sapa (Johannesburg 05-03, 05-01) Speaking to the preparatory committee for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Foreign Affairs Minister Dlamini-Zuma has said that the current “treatment of migrants and refugees” and increasing xenophobia and prejudice serve as a challenge to South African society. People have to be mobilized at the grassroots level, both within and beyond countries, she has added, arguing that prejudice often increases when “public authorities fail to combat racial discrimination and xenophobia, and tolerate racism”.

Daily Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg 05-03) In this feature, Khadija Magardie interviews several immigrant entrepreneurs in Yeoville, Johannesburg. African immigrants from countries like Zaire reveal that despite valid permits, frequent police raids at their workplaces in recent months to apprehend ‘illegal immigrants’ are causing their customers to dwindle rapidly. “These days there are more police in here than customers”, business owners say. Police officials justify their actions, stating that such raids have to be conducted at both public and private places to find ‘illegal immigrants’. But, migrants argue that these actions serve primarily to harass them, even if they have proper documents. Searches are often conducted without securing an ‘arrest warrant’, and police often demand ‘protection money’ from African shop owners, the article also reports.

Independent Online, Sapa-AFP (Gaborone 05-03, 05-02) According to an immigration official at the Ramokgwebana border post, the number of Zimbabwe citizens crossing into neighboring Botswana is increasing steadily. “More and more people say they are paying a visit”, the officer adds, though it is not certain whether the increase in numbers of border crossing have been caused by the current political crisis in Zimbabwe. The article also states that nearly 20 Zimbabweans are being apprehended on a daily basis for entering Botswana ‘illegally’. The government and different political parties in Botswana have, however, voiced concern that their country may be ‘swamped by refugees, straining the economy’.

Africa News Online, PanAfrican News Agency (Maputo, Mozambique 05-02) reports that the Mozambican police have detained eight members of the former rebel movement RENAMO in the town of Milange, in the central province of Zambezia. RENAMO has, however, termed this action as “political persecution.”

The Star, Independent Online (05-02) In its efforts to ‘clean-up’ Sandton and its north-east suburbs, Greater Johannesburg’s Eastern Council has fined 30 informal businesses and hawkers R500 and confiscated their goods and vending equipment. The fines have been levied for violations of the trading by-laws by using roadside vehicles and for leaving goods on a public road.

Sapa (Maputo 05-02) reports that many Mozambican people who had been displaced by recent floods are beginning to return to their homes. People have left the refugee camps in large numbers in central and southern Mozambique. But, a spokesperson for the UN World Food Program has indicated that many people will have to be fed until September. A majority of the flood victims are subsistence farmers.

Sapa, Independent Online (05-02, 05-01) writes that a Mozambican woman who was recently arrested on alleged drug charges has appeared briefly before the Johannesburg regional court. She is going to be charged under the drug trafficking act, and may also face additional penalties for living in South Africa ‘illegally’. The reports reveal that a second suspect, a Nigerian national, escaped before members of the Johannesburg SA Narcotics Bureau (SANAB) could arrest him. A Johannesburg police spokesperson has stated that the detainee was a part of a crime syndicate that had been operating in Hillbrow. He added that the recent success of Operation Crackdown in ‘flushing out drug peddlers in the crime ridden suburb’ had led the syndicate to move their activities to an ‘affluent suburb’.

The Star (05-01) While addressing separate May Day rallies, ANC Secretary-General Motlanthe and COSATU president Willie Madisha condemned the increasing intolerance towards migrant labour from neighboring countries. South Africans, Motlanthe argued, should not “forget the contributions of the solidarity of workers from these countries”. He added that attitudes that believe that migrants take away jobs from South Africans only serves to “weaken the alliance”. Similarly, Nzimande, the secretary-general of the SA Communist Party criticized companies for retrenching workers, while demanding higher productivity.

Updated 26 June 2000

Migration News - May 2000

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