South Africa August 2006 |
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| Beit Bridge to get migration office, (Citizen, 2006-08-21):-Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana and Nicholas Goche, his Zimbabwean counterpart, will open an office at the Beit Bridge border post on Friday, the Department of Labour said. The office’s main function would be to curb illegal migration, cheap labour, the abuse of labour laws and rampant crime, labour department spokesman Mokgadi Pela said on Monday. “The office, a first of its kind in Africa, will help Zimbabweans seeking employment in South Africa with legal papers,” Pela said in a statement. He said the office would be a major recipient of about 2 000 Zimbabwean deportees repatriated on a weekly basis from South Africa. “The centre will also provide deportees and other people in need of legal documents with food and other basic amenities while their documents are being sorted out. “The office includes among others, an HIV/Aids counselling centre. It will also serve as the centre point for the World Food Programme ... “ he said. Pela said the office’s opening followed site inspections which Mdladlana and Goche conducted earlier this year. Mdladlana and Goche had earlier said the office would help reduce illegal migration and the abuse of Zimbabweans by unscrupulous employers, Pela said. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |