By Kitsepile Nyathi, HARARE Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has said that it is worried about the continued portrayal of its nationals in South Africa as the worst criminals amid rising anti-immigrant sentiments in the neighbour country.
Information Minister, Monica
Mutsvangwa said on Wednesday that the matter came up at a cabinet meeting on
Tuesday.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s
government has expressed concerns over the treatment of Zimbabweans in South
Africa, which has witnessed increased attacks on foreigners, some violent.
“Cabinet noted with concern
the continued malicious reports on the social media depicting Zimbabweans as
the chief perpetrators of crime in South Africa and highlighted the need to
consistently supply correct information in the formal media,” Ms Mutsvangwa
told journalists in Harare.Information Minister,
Monica Mutsvangwa
“Cabinet would like to assure
the nation that government remains committed to ensuring that citizens are
given the requisite protection and accorded the necessary dignity.”
In recent months, South
African government officials have spoken out against the alleged involvement of
foreign nationals, especially Zimbabweans, in violent crimes.
Zimbabwe has the largest
migrant population in South Africa as its nationals continue to run away from
the political and economic woes at home in search of better opportunities.
South Africa has the
continent’s highest prevalence of violent crimes, such as murder, rape and
armed robberies.
There are no statistics on
Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa, but President Cyril Ramaphosa’s
government revealed this week that over 170,000 of them could be forced to
return home in December after the expiry of their special permits.
South Africa’s Department of
Home Affairs said that only 6,000 of the 178,000 Zimbabwe Exemption Permit
(ZEP) holders had applied to renew their special permits before the December
deadline.
Pretoria, last year, decided
to scrap the ZEP permits that were first introduced in 2009 to cater to the
undocumented Zimbabweans and allow the holders to apply for residence and work
permits through the normal channels.
Civil society groups have been
fighting the move by the government to end the special dispensation in the
courts, saying the situation in Zimbabwe has not changed to warrant the
immigrants’ return.
South Africa has been under
pressure to clamp down on illegal immigrants, with vigilante groups sprouting
around the country to push for the removal of foreign nationals.
There have been several
marches in South African cities such as Johannesburg against foreign nationals,
which has sometimes led to violent xenophobic attacks.
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