Opinion / Columnist
This and that with Maluphosa: Amagugu eGoli ayosala emaflatini
16 Jul 2011 at 09:00hrs | Views
Yes, the panic is almost tangible. The police have declared war on Zimbabwean immigrants. Last week I had a brush with ama-volontiya.
They scrutinised my asylum paper and discovered something that even the home affairs people would not have bothered about. I told them whatever error was on the paper was not my fault, and if they had any problem they should contact home affairs offices.
One tall guy, who was apparently the leader, threatened to physically assault me if I continued blaming home affairs for the mistake. I followed the group where ever they went. Miraculously the leader received a phone call and he had to abandon the group for a while.
Two girls said to each other:
"What do we do with him?" The other said she did not know since I was the 'property' of the tall guy. She quickly added, "Kakhulume phela sizwe ukuthi uthini." The first then said, "Khuluma phela baba." I answered that I had told them whatever fault was there I was not answerable. Further it was not my duty to tell home affairs officers how to do their work.
"Well, it means awubatli ku tsamaya. We are taking you to the Gumba-fire and you will be in court on Monday, where they will find you (sic) two thousand rand. "For what?" I asked.
"Hela! Stop asking us stupid questions and follow us."
The first girl then said, "If you have three hundred rand, we can let you go. If that man comes back, he will ask for a thousand." I silently took out the money and counted it in full view of the passers-by. The first girl panicked. "Don't count the money like that, u-baba lo madoda." I parted with the three hundred intended to buy boots for my wife and daughter. Yes, these are just the ears of the hippo!
The stampede that happened at Marabastad is another sure sign of the panic that has gripped the Zimbabweans here. The reasons are well known but like all governments that bury their heads in the sand hoping trouble will pass when ignored, 'there shall be an inquest.' Iwas at Marabastad on Friday the 15th. The number of Zimbabweans there is embarrassingly high. There were over two thousand of us there. Less than two hundred were served. This has been going on for the past month or so. And the panicky asylum seekers have grown restless because of the appalling service they are getting. A few guys I spoke to have been going there for the past two weeks, just to have their permits renewed, or stamped. The regulation is that a week after the date one had to have stamped their permit; they are considered illegal and are liable to a fine of one thousand rand! Most of these guys are not working and automatically have been squeezed out of the system. And at the pace home affairs are doing their business, thousands more face this fate.
Another thing that contributed to the stampede is corruption. There are a number of Shona vagabonds staying on a near-by soccer pitch.
Uyabazi othathekile! They solicit for bribes, of course in collusion with the guards and officers at home affairs, in exchange for a place at the front of the queue. Imagine arriving at the offices at three in the morning only to be overtaken by sluggers who arrive at eight o'clock, just to pay their way in and have their papers done before yours. That is how it is at Home Affairs. The soliciting is done in full view of the police and home affairs officials. It is no secret.
On Friday, it was actually the police doing this. I saw two bouncers in overalls, armed with AK rifles. They stomped up and down the winding queue asking if anyone wanted to go up-front. A few guys who had one hundred and fifty to spare, followed and in no time, they were out.
One guy who has been there since the reported stampede said the actual cause was one of theses armed guys who pointed his rifle at the restless crowd when the crowd started making noise about the queue jumpers. The last time I went to home affairs I thought they had finally hit the right button. The efficiency was ominous. Marabastad then only received those who had come to have their permits extended. Those who were applying for the first time were sent to other centres.
It is not nice to be in that queue. I remember a truck full of seemingly-drunk hooligans stopped at a robot nearby. They shouted "Makwerekwere! !Makwerekwere," and other unprintable obscenities. One of them who sat on the side of queue, cleared his throat and spat at a woman whose mouth was wide open in surprise; thick brown spittle that made a funny noise as it went through her mouth. She vomited for more than an hour!
Why change a winning formula? One can tell that what is happening now is just a way to get at us. They want to squeeze as many as possible out of their system and their country too. A friend of mine says it is the police that have declared war, and war has casualties on both sides. Another says they will carry him home in a coffin. He says he did not come here to be deported but to work. So it will be back to the drawing board for the immigrants and all smiles to the road-block for the police and their cohorts of volontiyas. I am not sure if whatever South Africa is doing has the blessing of the SADC or The United nations or SADC codes of conduct on refugees. In the meantime, let us get ready for the Great Trek back north.
Amagugu eGoli ayosala emaflatini, or emkhukhwini.
Ngiyabonga mina
They scrutinised my asylum paper and discovered something that even the home affairs people would not have bothered about. I told them whatever error was on the paper was not my fault, and if they had any problem they should contact home affairs offices.
One tall guy, who was apparently the leader, threatened to physically assault me if I continued blaming home affairs for the mistake. I followed the group where ever they went. Miraculously the leader received a phone call and he had to abandon the group for a while.
Two girls said to each other:
"What do we do with him?" The other said she did not know since I was the 'property' of the tall guy. She quickly added, "Kakhulume phela sizwe ukuthi uthini." The first then said, "Khuluma phela baba." I answered that I had told them whatever fault was there I was not answerable. Further it was not my duty to tell home affairs officers how to do their work.
"Well, it means awubatli ku tsamaya. We are taking you to the Gumba-fire and you will be in court on Monday, where they will find you (sic) two thousand rand. "For what?" I asked.
"Hela! Stop asking us stupid questions and follow us."
The first girl then said, "If you have three hundred rand, we can let you go. If that man comes back, he will ask for a thousand." I silently took out the money and counted it in full view of the passers-by. The first girl panicked. "Don't count the money like that, u-baba lo madoda." I parted with the three hundred intended to buy boots for my wife and daughter. Yes, these are just the ears of the hippo!
The stampede that happened at Marabastad is another sure sign of the panic that has gripped the Zimbabweans here. The reasons are well known but like all governments that bury their heads in the sand hoping trouble will pass when ignored, 'there shall be an inquest.' Iwas at Marabastad on Friday the 15th. The number of Zimbabweans there is embarrassingly high. There were over two thousand of us there. Less than two hundred were served. This has been going on for the past month or so. And the panicky asylum seekers have grown restless because of the appalling service they are getting. A few guys I spoke to have been going there for the past two weeks, just to have their permits renewed, or stamped. The regulation is that a week after the date one had to have stamped their permit; they are considered illegal and are liable to a fine of one thousand rand! Most of these guys are not working and automatically have been squeezed out of the system. And at the pace home affairs are doing their business, thousands more face this fate.
Another thing that contributed to the stampede is corruption. There are a number of Shona vagabonds staying on a near-by soccer pitch.
Uyabazi othathekile! They solicit for bribes, of course in collusion with the guards and officers at home affairs, in exchange for a place at the front of the queue. Imagine arriving at the offices at three in the morning only to be overtaken by sluggers who arrive at eight o'clock, just to pay their way in and have their papers done before yours. That is how it is at Home Affairs. The soliciting is done in full view of the police and home affairs officials. It is no secret.
On Friday, it was actually the police doing this. I saw two bouncers in overalls, armed with AK rifles. They stomped up and down the winding queue asking if anyone wanted to go up-front. A few guys who had one hundred and fifty to spare, followed and in no time, they were out.
One guy who has been there since the reported stampede said the actual cause was one of theses armed guys who pointed his rifle at the restless crowd when the crowd started making noise about the queue jumpers. The last time I went to home affairs I thought they had finally hit the right button. The efficiency was ominous. Marabastad then only received those who had come to have their permits extended. Those who were applying for the first time were sent to other centres.
It is not nice to be in that queue. I remember a truck full of seemingly-drunk hooligans stopped at a robot nearby. They shouted "Makwerekwere! !Makwerekwere," and other unprintable obscenities. One of them who sat on the side of queue, cleared his throat and spat at a woman whose mouth was wide open in surprise; thick brown spittle that made a funny noise as it went through her mouth. She vomited for more than an hour!
Why change a winning formula? One can tell that what is happening now is just a way to get at us. They want to squeeze as many as possible out of their system and their country too. A friend of mine says it is the police that have declared war, and war has casualties on both sides. Another says they will carry him home in a coffin. He says he did not come here to be deported but to work. So it will be back to the drawing board for the immigrants and all smiles to the road-block for the police and their cohorts of volontiyas. I am not sure if whatever South Africa is doing has the blessing of the SADC or The United nations or SADC codes of conduct on refugees. In the meantime, let us get ready for the Great Trek back north.
Amagugu eGoli ayosala emaflatini, or emkhukhwini.
Ngiyabonga mina
Source - Clerk Ndlovu
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