On 15 October 2013, about 40 Department of Home Affairs (DHA) officials protested outside their Cape Town office.The protest brings to a head several months of clashes between officials and DHA management.
Sibusiso Tshabalala
News | 21 October 2013
What drives a 15-year-old boy to move to a neighbouring country on his own and without his guardian’s consent? Meet Brian Dlodlo, now a 20-year-old man from Zimbabwe who crossed to South Africa through Beitbridge Border Post as an unaccompanied minor in 2007. Brian has no identity papers. He is effectively the citizen of no country.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 16 October 2013
Petro Nzazi (not his real name) and his young brother are refugees from Angola. They have lost their refugee status, and they are now left without any identity documents.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 25 September 2013
A Zimbabwean woman, Faith Muchina (not her real name), 48, claims that officials at the Cape Town Department of Home Affairs (DHA) intimidated her into changing her application for refugee status to cite economic and not political reasons. As a result she lost her asylum seekers status in October 2012 and is now illegally in the country. She has now been in the country for eight years.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 10 September 2013
A GroundUp journalist was left shaken after she was harassed by security guards at the refugee reception centre in Cape Town while reporting a story.
Mary-Anne Gontsana
News | 2 September 2013
Zimbabweans in Cape Town who claim they fled torture at the hands of ruling party ZANU-PF say recent reviewing and rejection of refugee statuses by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is causing great anxiety and uncertainty.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 28 August 2013
A Malawian man, Simon Phiri, 44, was attacked by three robbers in Masiphumelele, Fish Hoek in April 2013, on his way home from the shopping mall. The robbers searched his pockets, took his phone and money, then struck him with a golf stick on the head.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 13 August 2013
89-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980, is set to lead the country for yet another five years.
Tariro Washinyira, Mpho Mabhena and GroundUp Staff
News | 6 August 2013
Five years after violence marred the last elections, Zimbabweans are to take to the polls on the 31 July. The question is: will it be a free and fair election?
Nwabisa Pondoyi
Brief | 31 July 2013
The father of a Dutch family that has been living in South Africa since 1996 has been ordered to leave the country by the end of next week. The order came from Home Affairs in Cape Town. The family has been struggling with the department for 17 years to live and work legally in South Africa. Although the order is made against the father, it is effectively forcing the family to leave the country.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 23 July 2013
Immigrants who protested outside Kraaifontein Police station on Thursday 20 June claim that police officers assigned to the Wallacedene area yelled offensive statements at them. They also gave harrowing accounts of how they lost their livelihoods.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 25 June 2013
Somalis marched to Parliament on 7 June in response to xenophobic violence against Somali refugees. About 500 people participated.
Tariro Washinyira
Brief | 12 June 2013
Evelyn Handiseni founded a support project called Divine Caring Hands in 2012. The idea was born from her desire to help women who face challenges similar to those she has faced in her own life.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 13 February 2013
A Zimbabwean man, Farai Chawasema, who lost all use of his hand in an injury at work on 29 November last year, is accusing his employer, Patrick Pieterse, of Pat's Engineering and a medical practitioner, Ajmal Ikram, of Melomed Gatesville Medical Centre, of failing to get him workman's compensation.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 30 January 2013
More than 20 refugees' children in Cape Town could not be enrolled in schools early this year due to the lack of asylum documents. The refugees have approached several schools in Western Cape but were turned down.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 23 January 2013
Two Zimbabweans who went home for the festive season explain how it was more challenging than they imagined, both financially and crossing the border.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 16 January 2013