But to others like Tendai Samudza (46), the ZDP has created a host of problems and thrown his life into disarray. Samudza is one of the 6,000 Zimbabweans who took heed of the host government’s calls to trade their fraudulently-acquired identity documents for freely-processed permits. Two years on, life is in limbo.
The only “benefit” of his “good decision” to abandon his adopted name for his true identity has been a permit that expires in two years’ time. As a result he is now out of employment and in danger of losing the benefits of his 18 years’ service with a mining company.
The Chipinge-born man was fired from the Stillfontein branch of Sasol Mining last July 27 after the Department of Home Affairs sent a letter to his company stating that the man who had for close to two decades been known as Nicholas Tshabalala, a South African, was in fact a Zimbabwean migrant.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by listening to the government, but now I know I made a grave mistake,” he recently told The Zimbabwean.
For the past six months he has tried to get his benefits from the company, but his efforts have drawn blanks thus far. Not even his efforts to get justice through involving the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration seem to be bearing any immediate fruits.
His family is now suffering, with his children on the verge of dropping out of school. “I know I deserve better treatment from that company and I will use all the resources and channels I can to get my benefits,” he vowed.
Attempts to get comment from the company drew blanks, with one of its human resources personnel promising to comment only after the case had been finalised. An officer with the CCMA said Samudza was not the only one affected by the documentation programme, with scores of other Zimbabweans having also sought similar assistance. We are still waiting for CCMA’s official response to our queries.
Diana Zimbudzana, an appeals officer with the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, which was influential in pushing for the ZDP, said it was unfair for companies to dismiss employees in such a manner.
“The ZDP came with blanket amnesty for all those who had acquired false South African IDs, passports and driver’s licences, so there are no grounds for companies to use it to dismiss employees,” she said.
“The Department has to go back and clarify the state’s position on such dismissal, but should the affected people come forward and report, we will be more than willing to help. Home Affairs did give employers instructions that they should not fire employees who responded to the programme, which came after a cabinet decision.”
The DHA confirmed that the ZDP amnesty did indeed cover employee security, but promised a full response after gathering facts and contacting companies reported to have defied the directive.
Post published in: Africa News