The desperation of many people makes them easy targets for unscrupulous characters who offer them empty promises of documentation, employment, scholarships or accommodation. We at Working for Zimbabwe have encountered numerous cases of people who have begged and borrowed money to pay individuals who claim to be able to organise south African passports, ID documents, birth certificates, work or study permits or permanent residence only to take their money and disappear or provide forged documents that are picked up by Home Affairs leading to deportation.
Tracey Sibanda met a man at Park Station in Johannesburg who claimed to be an immigration agent who could assist her with obtaining a South African ID document for a mere five thousand rands. In fact if she could give him R1000 immediately as a deposit he would even throw in a scholarship to a university of her choice as he supposedly knew the right people in the right places.
This naive 23-year-old Zimbabwean fresh from finishing her international marketing degree in Chinhoyi gave him all the money she had, R600, as well as her passport. She never saw him again and the mobile number he had given her simply failed to go through. My cousin whom I was staying with in Hillbrow lent me some money to go back home with a malayitsha. My boyfriend helped me to get an emergency travel document and another visa and this time I am not making the same mistake again, says Tracey who is still forced to leave the country every 30 days because of the nature of her visa.
Many people lose their documents under similar circumstances and simply end up as undocumented ghosts constantly looking over their shoulders for fear of discovery. There are countless stories of people who have wound up caught in the ugly world of human trafficking or found themselves having lost all their material possessions to con artists taking advantage of them.
We cannot deny the fact that while many Zimbabweans have legitimate documentation, there is a good number who either knowingly or unknowingly carry fraudulent papers. It is these people who when discovered cause further distrust amongst employers who cannot afford the risk of being embroiled in affairs that portray their companies in a negative light. The damage to their brands could take years to repair and the repercussions persist long after the offender has left.
We advise people to take the time and make the effort to seek professional advice and explore the options available to them as there is room in South Africa for those with strong educational backgrounds, or relevant and useful experience as well as scarce and critical skills, without the need for paying exorbitant sums of money to slick street tricksters. Our final word to anyone out there considering taking a legal short cut of any sort is beware the path of least resistance; real progress requires real sacrifice and takes time; if something sounds too good to be true it usually is.
Working for Zimbabwe is committed to assisting Zimbabweans with finding appropriate employment that leads to the realisation of their right to life with dignity. We have a client in Johannesburg who is looking for a household manager. The incumbent must be able to cook (by recipe), clean and maintain the property, occasionally look after three children and must possess a drivers’ license. A competitive salary, merit based bonus and provident fund are on offer to the successful candidate. Interested and qualified parties should contact sandi@workingforzimbabwe.com or call +27 72 815 5227.
David is a young Zimbabwean with a Bachelor of Science in Network and Communications Management. (Honours Graduate) He is skilled in Oracle Red Hat Linux, Windows 2003 Server, and Windows 95/98/2000/NT/XP. David is desperately looking for employment in a field relevant to his qualifications as an internet/intranet administrator in any industry whatsoever as he is currently engaged in volunteer work. If anyone is willing or able to assist our endeavours in any way kindly contact us on info@workingforzimbabwe.com or call +27728152277.
We also have a significant demand for chefs in Cape Town and Johannesburg.