News / Africa
SA's moratorium on the deportation of illegal Zimbabweans has expired
04 Aug 2011 at 08:26hrs | Views
Thousands of Zimbabweans in South Africa are in the dark about their residency status as the moratorium on the deportation of illegal immigrants expired.
Some NGOs claimed that the Department of Home Affairs had indicated that the moratorium might be extended until the end of this month, no announcement has been made.
Home Affairs deputy director-general Jackie Mckay said last week that the department would complete the adjudication of permit applications by yesterday and "finalise all outstanding matters in August".
Though the department has registered 275762 applications, NGOs estimate that there are as many as a million undocumented Zimbabweans in this country. This means thousands could be deported back to Zimbabwe, where the political situation is now less stable than when President Jacob Zuma's cabinet announced an end to the special dispensation for Zimbabweans in September.
The possibility of deportation would create insecurity among Zimbabweans, which could have a significant effect on South Africa.
Undocumented Zimbabweans will become more vulnerable to crime because corrupt police will start soliciting bribes from them and they were also less likely to report crimes such as rape for fear of being deported.
Some NGOs claimed that the Department of Home Affairs had indicated that the moratorium might be extended until the end of this month, no announcement has been made.
Home Affairs deputy director-general Jackie Mckay said last week that the department would complete the adjudication of permit applications by yesterday and "finalise all outstanding matters in August".
Though the department has registered 275762 applications, NGOs estimate that there are as many as a million undocumented Zimbabweans in this country. This means thousands could be deported back to Zimbabwe, where the political situation is now less stable than when President Jacob Zuma's cabinet announced an end to the special dispensation for Zimbabweans in September.
The possibility of deportation would create insecurity among Zimbabweans, which could have a significant effect on South Africa.
Undocumented Zimbabweans will become more vulnerable to crime because corrupt police will start soliciting bribes from them and they were also less likely to report crimes such as rape for fear of being deported.
Source - timeslive
