JOHANNESBURG Zimbabweans entering South Africa illegally may find it tough to skip the border as South Africa last week started deployment of soldiers at its borders. (Pictured: Border jumpers on the South African border)
Despite the formation of a national unity government between President Robert Mugabes Zanu (PF) party and the two formations of the MDC, job opportunities remain scarce in Zimbabwe. The economy is still trying to recover from a decade-long economic rot caused largely by Mugabes populist policies.
Most of the countrys citizens, including women and minors, have thus, been forced to scale the borders of neighbouring countries, as they seek better job opportunities away from their country, which has an unemployment rate of over 80 per cent.
However, South Africas Defence Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, said this week that her country had already begun deploying soldiers of the borders with Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Mozambique, in what she said was meant to boost security and ensure that police are withdrawn to concentrate on fighting crime internally. Our troops are already at the border and I am happy to say that the deployment is going well, she said.
She added that consultation meetings were still being held with various stakeholders in a bid to find ways of further tighten the border security. The deployment of soldiers marks more difficulties for the Zimbabweans, who had learnt to bribe police officers to buy their way into the neighbouring country, but might find it hard to negotiate with the soldiers.
Over 1 000 Zimbabweans are said to be crossing the border into South Africa everyday, most of them using unorthodox ways, as they do not have the required travel documents. South Africa last year removed its stringent visa requirements for the Zimbabweans and issued a free three-month visa for all those wishing to seek employment in that country.
However, the stop-gap measure has brought about new problems, as the visa cannot be renewed from within South Africa, meaning that the Zimbabweans should take regular time-off from their workplaces every three months to renew the visa.
Upon renewal, the bearer is required to spend at least seven days in their home country, before they can return to South Africa for another three months visa. This has resulted in some of the Zimbabweans losing their jobs, which are usually taken when they return, as some of their employers are not patient enough to wait.
Post published in: News