Speaking at the Financial Mail Medium-Term Budget briefing in Johannesburg, Manuel advised that the debate on immigration needs to be “less hysterical”. He added: “The human spirit is quite extraordinary. There have been stories of people dying trying to get into countries.”
According to a report in Johanessburg’s Mail & Gaurdian, Zimbabwe has effectively outsourced its skills base to South Africa. The report says remittances back to Zimbabwe are estimated to be in the region of $500 million a year. Cross-border trade on an informal level has also increased. A study conducted by the ComMark Trust in 2006 found that between R15 billion and R20 billion was pumped into South Africa’s economy by other African traders who bought goods in SA to sell back home.
Another study by Unisa found that 62 percent of 4 654 Zimbabweans sampled had completed secondary school; 10 percent had a post-secondary school diploma; 3 percent were artisans; 15 percent held a professional qualification such as teaching or nursing and 4 percent had a university degree.
 Many Zimbabweans, according to the M&G, say however that they feel they are not being employed at levels commensurate with their qualification. Most work in the automative industries or hospitality sectors earning less than R2 000 a month. The majority are assumed to be illegal immigrants: of those who participated in the survey, 57 percent wanted refugee status and 35 percent wanted work permits.
 The M&G quotes a Zimbabwean economist who asked not to be named, who said that globally about $1 billion is being sent to Zimbabwe a year in remittances. Most of the money from South Africa apparently is sent informally using taxi and bus drivers, traders and friends. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, desperate for foreign exchange, buys the money on the black market at a premium.
The economist went on to add that Zimbabwe needed $40 million for fuel and $15 million for elecricity a month.Â
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