Three Zimbabwean men were detained at Richmond Police Station for over 15 days for being in the country unlawfully. The police were apparently waiting upon Immigration Services of the Department of Home Affairs to deport the men.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 22 January 2014
The parents and relatives of six Zimbabwean children and five adults have found themselves helpless after malaichas (their smugglers) were arrested for human trafficking.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 11 December 2013
Human rights organisations have opposed the possible closure of the Cape Town Refugee Reception offices on the foreshore.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 11 December 2013
The hardships and inconsistencies of the South African refugee system are illustrated by what has happened to Zimbabwean asylum seekers who work on a farm near Vanwyksdorp, a tiny rural town in the Western Cape, more than four hours drive from Cape Town, that is only served by gravel roads.
Tariro Washinyira and GroundUp staff
News | 28 November 2013
In 2010, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) formulated an easier and quicker way for Zimbabweans to obtain their work permits and stay in the country legally. But it has not gone smoothly.
Nwabisa Pondoyi
News | 6 November 2013
Jesus Espirito Do Santos has lived in South Africa since he was three. He is at risk of being sent back to Angola where he was born. Yet he only speaks English and Afrikaans and can’t speak Portuguese.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 5 November 2013
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is a statutory body that regulates health workers. It registers doctors and disciplines them if they do something wrong. If it had to perform its tasks properly, patients would benefit. Instead, according to several organisations and doctors, the HPCSA’s inefficiency hurts patients.
Delphine Pedeboy and GroundUp Staff
News | 30 October 2013
Nancy Muzembe, originally from Zimbabwe, struggles against all the odds to give her son a good education.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 29 October 2013
A decision taken in 2012 by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to stop processing new applicants at the Cape Town refugee reception office has resulted in asylum seekers having to travel long distances at great cost to be documented and renew their permits.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 23 October 2013
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