JOHANNESBURG Representatives from the MDC formation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, is optimistic of a better outcome today, as it forges ahead with its endeavour to get amnesty for the thousands Zimbabweans using fraudulently acquired South African documents.More than 5 000 Zimbabweans have lost their illegally-obtained South African identity documents and passports, after the neighbouring country launched a crackdown on such people in December last year.
The MDC, which has already held meetings with South African authorities, told The Zimbabwean early this week that its three officials will today meet South Africas deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba, as it continues its quest.
The meeting will be held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria this morning, with Ngqabutho Dube, the MDCs Secretary for South Africa, saying that they will forge ahead with their appeal for a blanket amnesty for all affected Zimbabweans.
The MDC-M will be represented at the meeting by three of its South African officials namely Jabulani Mkhwananzi (chairman), Khumbulani Moyo (spokesman) and Dube.
We hope that the South African government will hear us out and grant the amnesty to all the affected Zimbabweans, not only a section as has already been said by the countrys Immigration department, said Dube.
We feel that if this issue is amicably resolved, all Zimbabweans in that bracket will willingly surrender their South African documents and solve this problem once and for all.
Todays meeting follows a number of others held between the MDC and South Africas Immigration department, which have so far attracted partial concessions from the South African authorities, who say that they are prepared to grant amnesty to a select section of the Zimbabweans, while arresting and deporting those who do not qualify.
The MDC, which seeks to have a blanket and unconditional amnesty, has thus, decided to go the political route and in April wrote to the ANC, requesting a meeting with Gwede Mentashe, the South African ruling partys Secretary General.
The purpose of the meeting has not changed and we will discuss the issue regarding South African documents being held by Zimbabweans and those that have already been confiscated because we believe that there can be an amicable solution to this issue.
The MDC argues in the proposal that the South African government should explore further the mass exodus of Zimbabweans to that country, in order to understand the push factors for many to leave their country of origin.
Most Zimbabweans desire to go back to Zimbabwe and would do so at any given moment if the situation changes and this point should not be underscored, said the party in its draft proposal, attached to the letter submitted to the ANC and highlighted, among other issues, the mass movement of the 1980s, which was catapulted by the Gukurahundi atrocities, in which Mugabe killed an estimated 20 000 civilians from the country western regions of Matabeleland and the Midlands.
The party also relived the political violence and economic collapse that bedeviled Zimbabwe between 1999 and 2009, where the mass rejection of Mugabe and his Zanu PF party after the formation of the MDC drew a lot of retribution by the octogenarian leader.
The MDC believes that if the South African government were to declare amnesty for all Zimbabwean holders of South African documents (ID, passports) and alter them to bear their country of origin as Zimbabwe.
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