South Africa – Illegal Zimbabwean immigrants

Zimbabwean Illegal immigrants come to South Africa including other foreign nationals for one reason only, to attain a better quality of life in the hope of obtaining employment, whether legal or illegal.

The South African country already portrays a high unemployment level, and does not have work for its own people, let alone illegal’s. Yet the Zimbabweans have proved to be educated, hard working people, and South Africa benefits from the skilled labor offered by these illegals.

South Africa has many opportunities for skilled labor, with the biggest obstacle being a lack of ability to organize and structure an efficient process of legalizing the documentation. It is a fact that there are many vacancies in the education department as well as other equally important sectors. The Zimbabweans might well fill this requisite and teach the unskilled and uneducated population. Skilled people are a great asset to any nation.
The government of Zimbabwe is complaining about the nationals deported back by the South African authorities, and the harsh attitude toward refugees. Zimbabwe wants South Africa to standardize the document process for the stay of illegal immigrants. The Zimbabwe Home Affairs Minister, Kembo Mohadi would continue to persuade South Africa to maintain this action.

The literate and skilled education system in Zimbabwe cannot accommodate all the returning refugees because of the economic hardships they face. The Zimbabwean co-minister of home affairs supports the call for South Africa to deport undocumented people. In addition,  implementing a lenient document process is recommended.

The deportation of illegal immigrants back to their respective countries costs the South African government at least R90 million a year. A huge amount of this money is wasted as it is proven that the majority being Zimbabweans return to South Africa within days of their deportation.

South Africa portrays a progressive refugee and immigration law. Practical border controls and limited entry for illegals, a formidable detention and deportation procedure. Yet the cost of detaining and transferring illegal immigrants has increased significantly and this suggests the current system does not work. To minimize cost, the government needs to address the matter urgently, and eliminate corruption and bribery in this procedure.

The South African government must remain proactive and decrease the number of illegals from Zimbabwe and other neighboring countries, Nigeria, Somalia, and Ruanda amongst others who have left their deteriorating countries in the hope of securing a better lifestyle.

Many of the Zimbabweans do not bother to register or apply for permanent residence simply because of a lax refugee system. The growing informal settlements around the country breed the ground for these illegals to operate and earn an income without attracting  law enforcement officials. The rising popularity of informal settlements grows at an astonishing rate. Offering lower prices on food and other commodities, and no questions are raised on how legal all of this is. To many it is a way of survival. To many it is an increase in crime.

Written by Laura Oneale