Immigration
The costs of transferring money to Zimbabwe
The cost of sending money across national borders has been falling rapidly over the last ten years, everywhere in the world, but Sub-Saharan Africa is the most expensive region, and sending money from South Africa to neighbouring countries appears to carry the highest costs of all.
Ben Stanwix and Tariro Washinyira
News | 24 August 2015
Police deny immigrants right to appear before a magistrate
On 13 August 2015, Potchefstroom police station cells security officer Buisanang Malefane told GroundUp on the phone that Malvern and Hamilton Mugwagwa, who are in their custody, have no right to appear before a magistrate because they are unlawfully in the country. They were arrested on 5 August 2015 at a roadblock in Potchefstroom on their way from Cape Town back to Zimbabwe.
Tariro Washinyira
Brief | 14 August 2015
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