by LUKE MONTEGOMERY ZUNGA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – SOUTH Africa is showing renewed determination to chase down undocumented immigrants.
Members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Department of Home Affairs are raiding businesses in search of illegal immigrants.
The heat is on mainly for Zimbabweans, who are the majority of migrants, and others from Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and as far as Nigeria, Ethiopia and Somalia.
West Africans and the Sahel region migrate in bigger numbers to Europe, across the Sahara Desert, Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic seaboard, where most of them perish on the treacherous journey.
Those in South Africa found to be in the wrong are taken to the police cells, and then to Lindela holding centre in Krugersdorp, to await deportation.
Recently the raids spread to the main shopping centres such as Sandton, Johannesburg and Fourways, among others. Some migrants may have documents but on scrutiny they are fake, having been gained fraudulently by corrupt Home Affairs officials. It seems there is nowhere to hide.
Taxis are stopped and passengers screened on the road for documents.
South African political parties such as the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and Action SA are making mileage out of illegal immigrants.
Dealing with such foreign nationals was at the centre of their election campaigns for the May elections. Some South Africans who are dogged by unemployment warmed up to their messages and gave them their votes.
South African authorities launched Operation Shanela, or Operation Cleanup, to deal with illegal immigration and criminality in general.
These operations will be troubling to those who are not documented and may discourage those who may have been planning to make their way into South Africa in the future.
Zimbabweans in particular cannot say explicitly that they are running away from war or persecution or hunger. A genuine refugee would be from a war-torn country. Zimbabwe is not one of them. Or a politician or businessperson of significance seeking asylum from political persecution.
Gone are the days when South Africa used to send trains to surrounding countries of then Rhodesia and Nyasaland to pick-up mines and house labourers who worked for pittance.
Jonathan Crush (2005) produced an in depth study of migration in Southern Africa for the Global Commission for International Migration.
In 1925 to 1980, South Africa used to import about 25,000 migrant workers a year from the region, for the diamond and gold mining, construction and agriculture.
In the study, about a quarter of the people in Namibia and Zimbabwe may have parents who worked in South Africa, with 41% of Batswana, 54% of Mozambicans and 83% of Basotho, confirming that labour migration into South Africa was not new.
On the one hand, in the current situation, South Africa is correct to deal with illegal immigrants. They can not allow thousands of unwelcome visitors, some crossing rivers and bridges, often at night and others bribing their way into the country.
There are borders which must be policed, and the New Border Authority is intensifying border control.
One day we might find South Africa having to build walls along the Limpopo River, Lebombo and Drakensberg to keep away undocumented foreign nationals, if politicians in the Patriotic Alliance and ActionSA are allowed to have their way.
On the other hand, it would be short sighted to be heavy-handed and a sign of a lack of leadership by both politicians and our learned stock of technocrats.
Why can’t South Africa and leaders of other countries in the region sit around the table and frame a programme of action to deal with migration in an effective and yet non degrading manner?
At the heart of the movement of people across countries is usually the poor economic growth in their respective countries.
Taking a step back into history, South Africa always supported the government of the late Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.
In 2007 an office was set up in South African foreign affairs to find ways to solve the Zimbabwe crisis. That led to the establishment of a special permit for Zimbabweans in 2010, now known as the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP).
But that has not entirely succeeded to end the illegal movement of people from across the Limpopo River as evidenced by the on-going raids which are catching many undocumented Zimbabweans by surprise.
NB: Luke Montgomery Zunga is researcher and economist at the South African Development Foundation. The views and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to CAJ News Africa, its editorial staff, management or publisher.
– CAJ News