Opinion / Columnist
Trials and tribulations of Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa
28 Jan 2018 at 11:28hrs | Views
South Africa is a country where everyone outside the country believed that their economic and employment challenges would be solved. South Africa is one of the African country with the most powerful economy in the region and it has been attracting a lot of unskilled and skilled labour force from other countries in the Sadc.
I can vividly recall when I was still growing up and attending primary school when I could hear people saying they were trekking down the country for job opportunities in this Southern African country.
There was a recruiting office in Harare for workers destined to work in South Africa. This place was in Mabvuku Chizhanje which was called Wenera where Zimbabwean job seekers would visit that place for appointments. A number of people migrated to South Africa using this port during the early 60s where they were recruited to work in mines and other sectors like farming. They could also sign contracts to work in mines, manufacturing factories and others.
Most Zimbabweans would leave the country and brave the crocodile infested Limpopo river to get into South Africa which they called 'Egoli' meaning a country full of gold.
People have been migrating from the neighbouring countries like Malawi , Zambia and Mozambique seeking for greener pastures. South Africa has been accomodating them and they got especially menial jobs like domestic work and working in factories.
Zimbabweans would envy people working from South and called them 'Injivas' meaning people who would bring in a lot of money from South Africa and they seem to be having a better life as well.
Today the trend continues and a number of Zimbabwe nationals are still crossing the border with the aim of getting employment in Mzansi. However migrants faced their own share of problems as they try to settle down, ranging from social to economic.
Accomodation is very expensive and not easy to acquire and is one of the most challenging issue in Mzansi. The South African government has not been successful enough to arrest the problem of housing for time immemorial and most poor South Africans live in squalid conditions and squatter houses called 'Mikuku'. Those with well built houses in high density areas have constructed these structers and rent them to Zimbabweans who in turn pay between R500-R1000 per month depending on the size of the structure.
Criminal activities are so prevalent in such areas as there are more thefts and muggings during the day or night. Crime is so rampant such that the police cannot even trace and detect it. In most crimes committed such as murder, rape and armed robberies, they would go undetected.
As juvenile delinquencies escalates the young people are not spared and are so much involved and obsessed in taking narcotic drugs such as nyaope and drinking very strong stuff to avoid boredom.
Our lovely and beautiful sisters have also joined in the oldest profession of prostitution where they indulge with mostly unmarried Zimbabweans in order to eke out a living and alleviate hunger. They do offer sexual services and charge as little as R50 just for a quicky. Some have been citing the biting economic times where jobs are scarce.
Some strong marriages have broken as the spouse would have left the country for work and whilst in South Africa they meet single ladies and then start living together risking contracting the killer HIV and Aids.
Life has never been easy down in Mzansi as the government has since stopped the issuance of work permits and banned asylum seekers. This has caused the South African Ministy of Home Affairs to pounce on those people residing illegally in the country.
Recently there were reports of South African Police embarking on a clean up operation in townships like Soweto, Beria , Yeoville and Hillbrow where foreigners were targeted, got arrested searched and if found with no proper documents, they were sent to Lindela Camp for hard labour and then deported as part of the conviction. The police and home affairs have been tasked to round off and fish out any illegal business conducted by foreigners and closing them.
The locals have accused the foreign nationals that they were taking away their jobs. That is true Zimbabweans are hard working people and some are even better qualified to do the job than the locals. Also foreigners are prepared to take up menial jobs which the South Africans frown upon them.
I also resent the utter stereotyping that foreign nationals are responsible for high crime rate in South Africa. We all know that South Africa has had problems with crime for a very long time and their police force seem to connive intimacely with hard core criminals and that has got nothing to do with foreigners. There is no accountability of weapons such as guns possessed by civilians. South Africa is one of the country with a big number of unregistered firearms in the Sadc region posing danger to the people in the society.
There is also exploitation by white capitalists who take advantage of Zimbabwe's foreign nationals and used them as cheap labour thereby giving them peanuts at the end of the month.Discrimination at workplaces is so prevalent and the foreigners are called all sorts of denigrating names such as 'Makwerekwere' and are hated by the locals. Ill treatment and harassment by police is daily bread for foreign nationals and are sometimes asked to pay bribes ranging from R50-R200 when arrested for over staying in the country. Most of them are victims of violence.
South Africans needs to take ownership of their own societal problems and not try to blame these on foreigners who are just trying to eke out a living through hard labour.
The African National Congress should not be a scapegoat and start blaming foreigners for their own shortcoming in government where they have failed to deliver for the black majority while they bloat themselves on corrupt monies and patronage.
Poor governance back home will always create an unstable economic growth thereby accelerating unemployment. In such an environment people will not have an option but will migrate to where they can survive. Some skilled manpower are not spared in such a scenario. Governments are encouraged to build strong institutions in order to retain skilled labour and should come up with skills retention programmes which help in protecting the very important skills vital in building a strong nation.
Contacts
Facebook- Leonard Koni
Twitter- @leokoni
Whatsapp-+27747402042
E-mail-konileonard606@gmail.com
I can vividly recall when I was still growing up and attending primary school when I could hear people saying they were trekking down the country for job opportunities in this Southern African country.
There was a recruiting office in Harare for workers destined to work in South Africa. This place was in Mabvuku Chizhanje which was called Wenera where Zimbabwean job seekers would visit that place for appointments. A number of people migrated to South Africa using this port during the early 60s where they were recruited to work in mines and other sectors like farming. They could also sign contracts to work in mines, manufacturing factories and others.
Most Zimbabweans would leave the country and brave the crocodile infested Limpopo river to get into South Africa which they called 'Egoli' meaning a country full of gold.
People have been migrating from the neighbouring countries like Malawi , Zambia and Mozambique seeking for greener pastures. South Africa has been accomodating them and they got especially menial jobs like domestic work and working in factories.
Zimbabweans would envy people working from South and called them 'Injivas' meaning people who would bring in a lot of money from South Africa and they seem to be having a better life as well.
Today the trend continues and a number of Zimbabwe nationals are still crossing the border with the aim of getting employment in Mzansi. However migrants faced their own share of problems as they try to settle down, ranging from social to economic.
Accomodation is very expensive and not easy to acquire and is one of the most challenging issue in Mzansi. The South African government has not been successful enough to arrest the problem of housing for time immemorial and most poor South Africans live in squalid conditions and squatter houses called 'Mikuku'. Those with well built houses in high density areas have constructed these structers and rent them to Zimbabweans who in turn pay between R500-R1000 per month depending on the size of the structure.
Criminal activities are so prevalent in such areas as there are more thefts and muggings during the day or night. Crime is so rampant such that the police cannot even trace and detect it. In most crimes committed such as murder, rape and armed robberies, they would go undetected.
As juvenile delinquencies escalates the young people are not spared and are so much involved and obsessed in taking narcotic drugs such as nyaope and drinking very strong stuff to avoid boredom.
Our lovely and beautiful sisters have also joined in the oldest profession of prostitution where they indulge with mostly unmarried Zimbabweans in order to eke out a living and alleviate hunger. They do offer sexual services and charge as little as R50 just for a quicky. Some have been citing the biting economic times where jobs are scarce.
Life has never been easy down in Mzansi as the government has since stopped the issuance of work permits and banned asylum seekers. This has caused the South African Ministy of Home Affairs to pounce on those people residing illegally in the country.
Recently there were reports of South African Police embarking on a clean up operation in townships like Soweto, Beria , Yeoville and Hillbrow where foreigners were targeted, got arrested searched and if found with no proper documents, they were sent to Lindela Camp for hard labour and then deported as part of the conviction. The police and home affairs have been tasked to round off and fish out any illegal business conducted by foreigners and closing them.
The locals have accused the foreign nationals that they were taking away their jobs. That is true Zimbabweans are hard working people and some are even better qualified to do the job than the locals. Also foreigners are prepared to take up menial jobs which the South Africans frown upon them.
I also resent the utter stereotyping that foreign nationals are responsible for high crime rate in South Africa. We all know that South Africa has had problems with crime for a very long time and their police force seem to connive intimacely with hard core criminals and that has got nothing to do with foreigners. There is no accountability of weapons such as guns possessed by civilians. South Africa is one of the country with a big number of unregistered firearms in the Sadc region posing danger to the people in the society.
There is also exploitation by white capitalists who take advantage of Zimbabwe's foreign nationals and used them as cheap labour thereby giving them peanuts at the end of the month.Discrimination at workplaces is so prevalent and the foreigners are called all sorts of denigrating names such as 'Makwerekwere' and are hated by the locals. Ill treatment and harassment by police is daily bread for foreign nationals and are sometimes asked to pay bribes ranging from R50-R200 when arrested for over staying in the country. Most of them are victims of violence.
South Africans needs to take ownership of their own societal problems and not try to blame these on foreigners who are just trying to eke out a living through hard labour.
The African National Congress should not be a scapegoat and start blaming foreigners for their own shortcoming in government where they have failed to deliver for the black majority while they bloat themselves on corrupt monies and patronage.
Poor governance back home will always create an unstable economic growth thereby accelerating unemployment. In such an environment people will not have an option but will migrate to where they can survive. Some skilled manpower are not spared in such a scenario. Governments are encouraged to build strong institutions in order to retain skilled labour and should come up with skills retention programmes which help in protecting the very important skills vital in building a strong nation.
Contacts
Facebook- Leonard Koni
Twitter- @leokoni
Whatsapp-+27747402042
E-mail-konileonard606@gmail.com
Source - Leonard Koni
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