Home Affairs Minister, Naledi Pandor, said she would only respond after receipt of a formal letter. “We wish to remind employers in all sectors of our economy that it is illegal and against the spirit of our Immigration Act to employ illegal immigrants,” said Mkuseli Apleni, Director General at the Department of Home Affairs.
Although South Africa issued freely-processed work, business and study permits under the Zimbabwe Documentation Project, most farm workers missed out because of either lack of knowledge about the programme, or failure to access the mandatory employer letters from reluctant farm owners who doubted the motive behind the programme.
Apleni expressed concern at reported indications that the on-going strike action on farms could influence the rise of xenophobic attacks against migrants, accused of accepting slave wages and thereby taking jobs from locals.
“We urge members of the public to join government and other stakeholders in helping to find a long lasting solution to current challenges facing farm workers and to desist from calls for xenophobic violence that will only exacerbate the situation with serious consequences for life and limb,” added Apleni.
Passop and Cosatu want Zimbabwean farm labourers to be part of an on-going regularisation programme as and when they arrive, in order to prevent their exploitation.
Post published in: Africa News