Botswana March 2006 |
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| Relying on illegal immigrants, (Mmegi, 2006-03-17):-A day without illegal immigrants in Francistown and its environs could harm the city's economic activities. Some places would not function efficiently without illegal aliens, who have become an integral part of some organisations that solely depend on their services. Professionals from Zimbabwe have fled the economic hardships in their country and are all over the world searching for elusive opportunities. Botswana has not been spared, as the influx of illegals has been a great concern to authorities. With 28,120 illegal immigrants in the city's two police districts of Number One and 15 in a city with a population of about 83,000, the figure is too high to be ignored. It means the illegal aliens arrested last year made up 33.88 percent of the city's entire population. Some were picked from their workplaces whilst others were arrested in the streets whilst heading for their work places or searching for jobs. Illegal immigrants from neighbouring Zimbabwe have literally become part of Batswana and they now drive economic activities in Francistown and its environs as they dominate the work force in both the informal and formal sectors. Some of them are even self-employed in their endeavours to make a living. Across the sectors, their contribution cannot be ignored. For a city that chiefly depends on commerce for its survival with very few manufacturing factories, dependence on illegal labour can be risky, as they can be picked-up anytime by law enforcers leaving work places in serious disorder. It was not a shocker that during one of the police-military round-up operations in 2004, a man employed illegally by a ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) operative was netted wearing a campaign T-shirt with the portrait of a sitting councillor. The man was employed in a butchery at the Monarch location. This shows that even civic leaders do not help the government in trying to get rid of these illegal immigrants. Without them, a lot of mothers would not be able to go to work, as many of the housemaids take care and cook for their children and family members. Police or military raids targeting illegals from Zimbabwe, usually have negative results as these workers are bundled away. Batswana job seekers are known to shun jobs such as housemaids and herdsmen, which they claim do not attract satisfactory wages and illegals, take advantage of this and perform to their very best. If illegals are rounded up on any given day, a number of industries would literally close, as the majority of foreign workers do not have work and residence permits. Local taxis and long distance buses would also be grounded, as drivers would not be able to perform their usual business. A number of garages, panel beaters and spray painters, depend mainly on the services of illegals. Kutlwano Police Station traffic officer, Assistant Superintendent, Ephraim Simasiku said that between 2004-05, his officers had arrested a high number of illegal aliens driving public service vehicles - taxis and buses - without residence and work permits or valid passports. "I don't have statistics here immediately, but I can confirm that we continue to arrest many of them in this industry," he said and added that many of their Batswana employers go for these people because they are cheap to hire. "They argue that Botswana PSV holders are rare to find and those that are there are not ready to take the jobs because they are not well paid." Despite the fact that the police charge them for breaking the law, they continue hiring the illegals. This is the reality that authorities will have to grapple with as Batswana and other employers at large, continue to harbour illegal immigrants. The benefit of hiring illegals is that they are cheap and generally perform to their employers' satisfaction. Some of them are highly qualified academically to be handling some of the challenges they are paid so cheaply for. They find themselves trapped by the need to survive, as their economy back home cannot support their needs. This reality has left a lot of Batswana job seekers especially those who are selective of jobs, grumbling that the practice is denying them opportunities to make a living. Their other concern is that for the economy of a city with a population of over 83,000 to depend on the labour of illegal aliens places economic progress of the city at high risk. "It robs us of job opportunities and authorities must do something about it, before it explodes into a labour war," asserts a group of jobseekers in Francistown led by John Solomon. These job seeders have taken their concerns to the office of the District Commissioner, Sylvia Muzila, office of the Francistown East MP, Phandu Skelemani and the regional labour officer, Beseniah Buraga. Officer commanding Number One police district, Senior Superintendent, Boikhutso Dintwa confirmed to Mmegi that Batswana preferred to hire illegal aliens. "This problem is prevalent. At the factories, lands, cattleposts and even at homes, there are many Zimbabwean illegal immigrants who are employed, simply because they are cheap to hire," he complained. Although he could not provide any supporting statistics, Dintwa indicated that the frequency of the cases was "frightening". "When you go to the cattleposts and lands, illegal immigrants literally control everything and they run the economies of those places." At one of their recent raids, the police were able to arrest about eight illegals at one cattlepost and 10 at another. "These figures show that these people are many and are in control of economies in the rural areas." In Francistown, he said many of the workers depended on the services of illegals. He said their raids have always netted illegals in their hundreds. The police have done a lot to educate the public about the dangers of harbouring illegal immigrants in a bid to keep the situation under control, but their campaigns continue to fall on deaf ears. "Batswana are very resistant. They are refusing," he said and pointed out that they have concluded to apply maximum penalties to punish those, who are still resistant. The maximum penalty is P1,000. Buraga admits that his regional office is hit by a problem of shortage of staff. He however, said that his office was not aware that majority of the industries in town depended entirely on the labour of illegals. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |