South Africa February 2006 |
|
| Foreigners are stealing our birthright, (Star (SA), 2006-02-06):-Musina, on the border of South Africa and Zimbabwe, has supposedly been taken over by illegal immigrants, some of whom have obtained South African identity documents fraudulently. Some of the Zimbabweans have taken over RDP houses meant for poor South Africans, while others cross the border illegally, to come and claim child grants for their children. In recent months the town's leaders have blatantly shown their hostility to the informal community, handing out pamphlets which say: "Go back to where you came from." However, Ernie Sibanda, one of the perceived "aliens", angrily flashes his South African identity book, saying: "Their claims that we are foreigners are baffling and ridiculous. They did not question our identity when we voted in the last local government elections. But now they suddenly call us illegal immigrants." The rest of the community, about 3 000-strong, is incensed that they have been shunted around for the last 10 years with their basic needs for services and housing ignored. In the meantime, their leaders claim to have found proof that there are Zimbabweans living in RDP houses meant for poor South Africans. This discovery has fuelled the shack dwellers' resentment towards the municipality to the extent that they now defiantly say of themselves Sihlala nge nkani - "we live by force". But the municipality disregards this. Instead it has commented in the local press that the informal settlement is a burden on the town, stretching its already limited resources. Although the Limpopo premier, Sello Moloto, declared the informal settlement a part of Musina last year, town officials are adamant that the shack dwellers will be evicted by the beginning of March this year. "Those people invaded the land and are staying there illegally. As a municipality we won't provide services to them," said Musina municipal manager Abram Luruli. "Since the Vhembe district began supplying them with water, their number has increased from 570 to more than 1 000,'' he said. The municipality is increasingly under pressure to provide the shack dwellers with safe drinking water and sanitation to prevent the outbreak of diseases such as typhoid and cholera. The municipality has also made various attempts to remove the settlement but the people vehemently resisted attempts to dismantle their joined-up sheet iron and plastic homes. "While we are not saying all the people there are illegal immigrants, it could be possible that some of them are," Luruli said. "We wanted to evict them but we were advised by the provincial government to negotiate with them instead," he said. In the meantime, negotiations have begun with Limpopo's local government to move shack dwellers who are not on the waiting list to an area around Madimbo village, outside Musina. These include some of the occupants of Sihlala nge nkani. But in the meantime, nothing can be done in the case of Zimbabweans living in RDP homes, receiving basic services that South Africans also want. Luruli explained that those with genuine documentation could not be denied services. "Once illegal immigrants are issued with identity books, it is simple for them to gain access to low-cost housing and social grants. Their influx into the area is impacting negatively on the municipality's capacity to provide basic services as we are over-stretched," Luruli said. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |