While the rest of South Africa is looking forward to a peaceful Christmas at the end of the year, thousands of Zimbabweans say December will be the beginning of their nightmare.
This comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) will be done away with.
This means Zimbabwean nationals who were on this permit will now have to apply for other visas that allow them to be in the country.
The ZEP made it easy for Zimbabweans of low skills to be in the country. Many of those who had this permit had been in the country for more than 10 years. It is estimated that about 200 000 Zimbabwean nationals are affected.
The Helen Suzman Foundation has challenged Home Affairs’ decision to discontinue the ZEP. The group has argued that this could have an impact on the human rights of some Zimbabweans.
The Star spoke to several of those who were affected by the withdrawal of the ZEP about the impact of the decision on their lives.
Lucia Nkomo (not real name) said she had been in South Africa for at least three decades. She said she had hope that she would stay in South Africa longer after she willingly offered her fraudulent South African ID to authorities.
Nkomo said she had been on a renewable permit since she handed over her fake ID in 2010.
She said she was now being harassed by xenophobic law-enforcement officials who would frequently make remarks that December will be time up for most Zimbabweans in South Africa.
“We have been staying here long, we have properties here and South Africa is our home now, it’s not going to be easy to leave just like that,” Nkomo said.
Nkomo who is a domestic worker does not fit into the category of rare skills said she was afraid that applying for a working visa would be a waste of time for her.
“They made that process so strict and I am a domestic worker. I am not a doctor so applying is going to be a waste of R1500.” she said.
Meanwhile, a Zimbabwean businessman in Joburg, Busani Ngwenya, said he had been in South Africa for more than 20 years.
He said he left Zimbabwe because the economy was collapsing and work was scarce. Ngwenya said he also was in possession of a fraudulent ID but turned it in during an amnesty period in 2010.
Ngwenya has been on a number of permits. He said his entire life had been turned upside down because of the decision not to discontinue the ZEP.
“I am running a business in Joburg and I work with another guy both of us are sending money back home because things are not good in Zim,” he said.
Ngwenya said he could not apply for a business permit because he needed to have at least R5 million in his account.
“I do not have such funds so I feel hopeless,” he said.
Yvonne Ngwenya, another frustrated Zimbabwean living in South Africa said her children were both born in South Africa.
She says since she handed over her illegal ID her children were also regarded as non-South African.
Her son had done his matric in South Africa but had not managed to continue with his studies due to confusion around their citizenship.
“This thing frustrated my children but they were born here. They say they need critical skills it’s clear they are not going to allow me to stay.”
While government hopes that implementing its policy would ensure that South African immigration laws are adhered to some feel that corrupt South Africans at the borders were to blame for the immigration crisis in the country.
In interviews with Zimbabweans who frequently cross the border of SA and Zimbabwe, The Star learnt that it only cost R500 to get into the country illegally. Those who crossed into the country through the Limpopo River only did so because it was a cheaper way into the country.
Nicholas Mabena, a director at the Africa Diaspora Forum, told The Star that the discontinuation of the ZEP would destabilise the lives of thousands of Zimbabweans.
“The majority of the people that we work with do not qualify because they are of low skill. The critical skills list puts them out of the system and with the general working visa the company has to prove that there is no South African that can do the work,” he said.
Mabena urged Zimbabweans who do not qualify for other visas to write to Home Affairs and express their situation.
Siya Qoza, a Media Liaison Officer in the office of the Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi referred The Star to a speech the Minister had made concerning the ZEPs.
This is what Motsoaledi had to say: " The exemption granted to the Zimbabwean Nationals was and always has been a temporary measure pending improvement of the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe."