Asylum seekers sleeping outside the Home Affairs offices in Cape Town.
CAPE TOWN – Amidst the Home Affairs crisis in the Western Cape, where Zimbabwean asylum seeker Adonis Musati died in an immigration queue whilst waiting to apply for a permit, PASSOP understands that R800 000 has been released for an exercise dubbed ‘Operation Umbrella’ to target, arrest, detain and deport illegal immigrants.
The South African Police Service (SAPS), National Immigration Branch (NIB) and Cape Town’s Metro Police are to combine their resources and the intention is to carry out raids in the townships, arresting up 120 people at a time. This was to have started on 1 November and lasted for five months, but has been delayed until about the 20th November
There are similarities to Zimbabwe’s Operation Murambatsvina, in that the intention is to ‘clean up Cape Town’ for the forthcoming holiday tourist season. It follows several radio advertisements warning people to submit their applications for and extensions of asylum status. This has fuelled frustration with the Home Affairs refugee centres in the Cape because of their failure to service the thousands of applicants.
PASSOP believes this could be part of a bigger plan to rid the tourist magnet of Cape Town of foreign asylum seekers. “South Africa is discouraging immigrants from dirtying their tourist capital,” explained a South African, who declined to be named. So the struggle Zimbabwean refugees face is likely to intensify.
PASSOP plans to meet with Patrick Chauke, chairperson of Parliament’s Home Affairs portfolio committee, to appeal for parliamentary intervention against Operation Umbrella.
These efforts to round up and expel refugees and illegal immigrants cost millions of rands, yet there is not even accessible water for the immigrants who spending weeks in queues. Protest action has been the only means available to draw the attention needed on this issue, so if Operation Umbrella goes ahead PASSOP are planning the largest protest ever organised by immigrants here.
Meanwhile, following the death of Adonis Musati, PASSOP has had an amazing response from the public. There have been offers of clothes, blankets, food, water and even volunteers.
As a result, we have agreed to endorse and support the set up of the Adonis Musati Project. Adonis died hungry and is a hero in the struggle of immigrant asylum seekers in South Africa to gain access to basic needs.
A project team of three volunteer co-ordinators will spearhead this initiative – namely Nonkie Simikade, Galilia Brogneri and Stefan Lukas. Anyone interested in assisting should email Stefan on: slukas@mweb.co.za
The Adonis Musati Project was launched on 15 November with five senior members of PASSOP, Miss Ivy Dhliwayo, a cousin of Adonis and Maria Sithole, his step-grandmother in attendance to endorse the project.
Last week several Zimbabweans were arrested for deportation in De Noon – a township in Cape Town. This is not an isolated incident and there are more than 30 Zimbabweans in Polsmoor Prison awaiting deportation who have not even been able to submit their application for asylum. Many have spent more than a month arriving at the Home Affairs offices daily from as early as 3 a.m. and queuing without ever being served.
Every day asylum seekers are arrested for deportation and we need to protest against the wrongful arrests being made. PASSOP has had meetings in four of the townships mobilising our supporters in preparation for protest action. – If you would like comment or to assist in any way email: braam@thezimbabwean.co.uk or write to PASSOP, P.O. Box 39511, Capricorn Square,7948