According the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), there are approximately 1.5 million Zimbabweans living in South Africa.⁽²⁾ The South African Government launched a four month long ‘Zimbabwean Documentation Process’ (ZDP) in 2010, which aimed to regularise the position of Zimbabweans in South Africa by dealing with special applications for work, study and business permits from Zimbabweans. The ZDP began in September 2010 and the deadline for applications was 31 December 2010. This CAI paper considers the ZDP and argues that whilst in theory it was a commendable initiative, in practice the process was plagued with difficulties. These difficulties excluded many Zimbabweans from the process and they will consequently be vulnerable to deportation when the 31 July 2011 moratorium on deportations of Zimbabweans is lifted.

The plight of Zimbabweans in South Africa

Millions of Zimbabweans have fled their country due to the prevailing political and socio-economic conditions there. The most popular destination for Zimbabwean migrants is South Africa, which has seen a massive influx of migrants from Zimbabwe in the last decade.⁽³⁾ A large number of Zimbabweans living in South Africa are asylum seekers. However, very few Zimbabwean asylum applicants are ultimately recognised as refugees, a situation that leaves large numbers of Zimbabweans undocumented and vulnerable in South Africa.⁽⁴⁾ Without documents, Zimbabweans in South Africa face grave challenges and are vulnerable to arrest, detention and deportation by the South African authorities.

Unpacking the ZDP

Towards the end of last year the South African Government announced an initiative to regularise the position of Zimbabweans living in South Africa. Zimbabweans were invited to apply for four year work, study or business permits at the Department of Home Affairs’ offices around the country. In addition, Zimbabweans who were in possession of fraudulent documents were encouraged to hand over such documents to the authorities and were guaranteed amnesty from prosecution. This formed part of what became known as the ZDP or Zimbabwe Documentation Process, an attempt by the state to regularise the position of Zimbabweans in South Africa.

Civil society organisations initially lauded the state’s move as one which would regularise the migration between Zimbabwe and South Africa, improve the lives of Zimbabweans living in South Africa and aid the state in assessing the numbers of Zimbabweans in SA and their needs.⁽⁵⁾ Early on in the process however, problems surfaced that cast doubt on the legitimacy of the entire process.

Was the ZDP successful?

The first obstacle in the ZDP was that applicants required passports in order to apply for work, study or business permits. This requirement was relaxed in the last two weeks of the ZDP but the news of the relaxation did not reach many Zimbabweans who wished to apply.⁽⁶⁾ As a result, Zimbabweans without passports were excluded from applying for permits under the ZDP, either because the Zimbabwean Embassies could not process their passport applications before the 31 December 2010 deadline, or because they simply failed to apply because they were under the impression that passports were required and were not aware of the relaxation in the requirements.

A second major obstacle to the success of the process was communication. A number of Zimbabweans report being confused about the requirements of applying for permits under the ZDP. Many applicants report spending hours in queues outside Home Affairs offices without knowing the manner in which applications were to be lodged or the cut–off point for applications each day, resulting in many applicants being turned away after standing in the sun in a queue the whole day.⁽⁷⁾ Corruption played a further role in slowing down and complicating the process. Non-Zimbabweans reportedly approached the Zimbabwean Embassies and attempted to “buy Zimbabwean passports” so they too could qualify for permits under the ZDP.⁽⁸⁾

The greatest hurdle to the success of the process however, appeared to be the short time frame allocated to the ZDP.⁽⁹⁾ The response to this criticism by the Minister of Home Affairs was that the process was in essence a year-long process which begun with the ‘special dispensation’ that was granted to Zimbabweans in 2009. However, according to African Centre for Migration and Society’s senior researcher Roni Amit, this is somewhat misleading, as the initial Zimbabwe dispensation provided for Zimbabweans to apply for work, study and business permits under the normal, much tighter requirements, rather than under the ZDP.⁽¹⁰⁾

During the last few weeks of the process, more officials were deployed at Home Affairs’ offices around the country in order to process the large number of applications. Applicants could submit applications without passports and without fingerprints being taken and Home Affairs’ office hours were extended in order to receive as many applications as possible. Unfortunately, these efforts were too late to make a real difference.

The Department of Home Affairs reports that approximately 276,000 applications were received and are being processed. As noted above however, it is estimated that 1.5 million Zimbabweans live in South Africa. Between 2008 and 2010, there were an estimated 400,000 Zimbabwean asylum seeker applicants in South Africa. The remainder of Zimbabweans most likely then fall within the category of those who rely on work, study or business permits – it is hard to believe that only 276,000 of the remainder of Zimbabweans in SA came forward under the ZDP. It is more likely that the tight time period of only a few months prevented large scores of Zimbabweans living in SA from successfully applying under the ZDP.⁽¹¹⁾

A further obstacle identified was the lack of engagement by government of civil society organisations working on issues of migration in South Africa.⁽¹²⁾ Such engagement would have gone a long way to ensuring that the process that was put in place was suitable and achievable.

Concluding remarks

The rationale behind the ZDP is commendable. However, the implementation appears to have been lacking on many fronts. Most notably, the time frame allocated for the ZDP appears to have been wholly inadequate when compared to the numbers of Zimbabweans living in South Africa. Changing of the goal posts regarding application requirements also appears to have created confusion and left many Zimbabweans out of the loop as to what exactly was required of them in order to apply under the ZDP.
The African Centre for Society and Migration detailed the lessons to be learned from the process and put forward suggestions for future documentation processes. These include the following:⁽¹³⁾

* Extend the time period for the regularisation process;
* Allow sufficient time to prepare for the documentation process;
* Ensure that staff at Home Affairs’ offices are adequately trained to receive applications;
* Provide applicants with information on the process;
* Ensure that application forms are widely available;
* Ensure that changes in the application process / requirements are communicated clearly.

The success of the ZDP remains to be seen. The challenges described herein however indicate that many Zimbabwean migrants were excluded from the process, a fact that puts the ZDP in a questionable light. Until 31 July 2011 there remains, as part of the ZDP, a moratorium on the deportation of Zimbabweans. The concern is that as soon as this date passes, large numbers of undocumented Zimbabweans who were unable to access the ZDP will again be deported and forced once again to try to make a living under extremely difficult conditions in Zimbabwe.

A further pressing concern is that once the moratorium on the deportation of Zimbabweans ends on 31 July 2011, the South African authorities will round up suspected ‘illegal foreigners’ en masse and detain them for purposes of deportation, without assessing individually who has a right to be in South Africa and who does not. This could potentially result in documented migrants, including asylum seekers, being unlawfully arrested and detained and possibly even deported. The Consortium for Refugees and Migrants (CORMSA) warns of this ‘operation clean up’ that is due to take place at the end of July 2011 and expresses concern that documented migrants will face arrest and deportation.⁽¹⁴⁾

It is not clear whether the state is prepared to deal with the potentially large number of deportations when the moratorium is lifted, or if existing mechanisms are going to be strengthened in order to ensure that any deportations of Zimbabweans are substantively and procedurally fair. For Zimbabweans living in South Africa, both documented and undocumented, the situation remains very tense.

NOTES:

(1) Contact Nicola Whittaker through Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s Rights in Focus Unit ( rights.focus@consultancyafrica.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
(2) ‘IOM stands ready to assist Zimbabweans returned from South Africa’, The International Organisation for Migration, http://iom.org.za.
(3) ‘The documented experiences of refugees, deportees and asylum seekers in South Africa: a Zimbabwean case study’, Written submission prepared by civil society organisations working on the refugee and asylum seekers’ human rights issue in South Africa for presentation to the Minister of Home Affairs, April 2006, http://cormsa.org.za.
(4) Ibid.
(5) ‘Civil society responds to Home Affairs ‘Zimbabwe Documentation Project’ and end of special dispensation for Zimbabweans’, http://www.lhr.org.za.
(6) Roni Amit, ‘The Zimbabwean documentation process: lessons learned’, African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) Research Report, January 2011, http://www.migration.org.za.
(7) Ibid.
(8) Alex Bell, ‘Corruption and confusion as Zim documentation process gets underway’, The Zimbabwean, 23 September 2010 http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk.
(9) Roni Amit, ‘The Zimbabwean documentation process: lessons learned’, African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) Research Report, January 2011, http://www.migration.org.za.
(10) Ibid.
(11) ‘Many individuals will be unable to access the Zimbabwean documentation process before the deadline’, SANGONET Pulse, 13 December 2010, http://www.sangonet.org.za.
(12) ‘Civil society responds to Home Affairs ‘Zimbabwe Documentation Project’ and end of special dispensation for Zimbabweans’ http://www.lhr.org.za.
(13) Roni Amit, ‘The Zimbabwean documentation process: lessons learned’, African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) Research Report, January 2011, http://www.migration.org.za.
(14) ‘End of Moratorium on Deportations to Zimbabwe and the Situation of Ongoing Zimbabwean Migration to South Africa’, 28 April 2011, http://www.cormsa.org.za.

Written by Nicola Whittaker ⁽¹⁾