Immigration

Trucking company fires unionised employees

Six Zimbabwean men have accused a Stikland trucking company of dismissing them for having joined the Motor Transport Workers’ Union of South Africa (MTWU). They accuse the company of exploitation and ill treatment, and claim they are owed pay.

Tariro Washinyira

Feature | 6 August 2015

The silent screams of xenophobia

After the 2008 xenophobic attacks which left 62 people dead and thousands displaced and homeless, the attention of South Africans shifted back to the many other social issues that plague South Africa’s conscience. Urgency was lost and prevention of xenophobia and violence became mundane.

Marike Keller

Opinion | 5 August 2015

Zimbabweans fear deportation as Home Affairs bungles special permit process

The immigrant rights group People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) is concerned that hundreds of Zimbabweans are being told to leave South Africa imminently.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 4 August 2015

How I was “ransomed” hitching back from Zimbabwe

A freelance reporter for GroundUp found himself all but held hostage on his way back hitchhiking from Zimbabwe.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 23 July 2015

Scene of a murder, Hout Bay’s “white house, could be demolished

The controversial “white house” in Hout Bay, scene of the murder earlier this month of a Congolese resident, could be demolished in August, says Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport.

Tariro Washinyira

News | 22 July 2015

Is Operation Fiela to be extended?

Operation Fiela was instituted in May for two months in response to xenophobic violence in Kwazulu-Natal and Gauteng. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) carry out its raids.

Mariska Morris

News | 7 July 2015

Operation Fiela: I saw soldiers moving towards my stall, says trader

A Nigerian trader arrested at Cape Town station during Operation Fiela on World Refugee Day has described how he was accused of drug dealing.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 2 July 2015

Disturbing court judgment ignores our rights

On 23 June the Pretoria High Court struck from the roll an application by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) that tried to put an urgent end to Operation Fiela. Lara Wallis explains why this is deeply concerning.

Lara Wallis

Opinion | 1 July 2015

Cape Town’s Congolese shun independence celebrations

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) marks 55 years of independence today but many Congolese who fled to Cape Town say there’s nothing to celebrate since the country is at war and the government does not reflect the will of the people.

Bernard Chiguvare

Brief | 30 June 2015