As many as
40,000 Zimbabweans could face deportation from South Africa after the
application process for a new kind of residence permit came to a close
on Wednesday.
The Department for Home Affairs announced that the
previous type of permit, which made special dispensation for
Zimbabweans to stay in the country, would no longer be valid after
December 31, no matter what their original expiration date.
According to the department, there are around
245,000 holders of the Dispensation for Zimbabwean Project permit, first
issued in 2010 and valid for four years. They were eligible to apply
for the new Zimbabwean Special Dispensation Permit
(ZSP), but only 207,802 applications had been received by December 30,
leaving a shortfall of 37,198 who potentially face deportation.
The new permit was announced in August after negotiations between the two countries with the deadline set for the end of 2014.
The Department for Home Affairs had been working
with a private company, Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) to implement
the application process which involved face-to-face appointments and
supporting documentation, and said that 198,840 appointments had been
booked through VFS.
However, Zimbabwe’s Herald newspaper said that many applicants they had spoken to
had experienced difficulties with the system, saying the website had
often been down and the call centre which handled the booking system for
appointments was “continually unreachable”.
Others said they could not obtain sworn affidavits from an employer and therefore failed to apply for the ZSP.
Large numbers of Zimbabweans emigrated to South
Africa due to food shortages, political repression and economic crises
under the rule of President Robert Mugabe.
The exact number of Zimbabweans living in South
Africa is unclear, but estimates range from 1 to 3 million, according to
fact-checking organization AfricaCheck.
South African Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba
had previously implied that those who did not apply would face
deportation. “According to our law, any foreigner staying here without
proper documentation must be deported,” New Zimbabwe
quoted him as saying. “But I hope all of those eligible to do so have
applied and they will get their permits otherwise, it would be tough
luck.”
The Department for Home Affairs did not respond when asked about likely fate of those who failed to apply for a permit.
In 2008, South Africa was the scene of violent
attacks on areas housing immigrants, including Zimbabweans, in major
cities in which at least 50 people were killed and over 35,000
displaced.
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