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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: SAFRICA ZIMBABWE EXEMPTION PERMIT (TV/R)
HEADLINE: South Africa’s Zimbabwean Permit Exemption Deadline Looms
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: 02/08/2023 at 12:15pm
BYLINE: Jan Bornman
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Johannesburg, South Africa
VIDEOGRAPHER: Zaheer Cassim
PRODUCER: Jan Bornman
SCRIPT EDITORS: Schearf, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB__ TV X RADIO X
TRT: 2:43
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Radio intros in script below for Production to version for radio. ))
((INTRO))
Zimbabweans make up South Africa's largest group of immigrants, with about 800,000 living in the country, many for decades but not all of them legally and doing low skilled jobs. Authorities have granted about 180,000 Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) but stopped renewing them and announced a June deadline for Zimbabweans to get a critical skills visa or leave the country. Jan Willem Bornman reports from Johannesburg.
((NARRATOR))
Zimbabwean Stella Makande, a single mother and headmaster of a Johannesburg pre-school, has been living in South Africa for the past 14 years with her 18-year-old son Daniel.
He has only known South Africa as his home.
But with a June expiration date looming for Makande’s visa, known as a Zimbabwe Exemption Permit, she is anxiously weighing her options.
((Stella Makande, Headmaster (English, ?? secs))
“So, for me Zimbabwe is it's more a foreign country for me, I'm going to have to start over again, I have to start looking for a job, I have to start looking for a place to stay. So, as I said, If I had money, I would rather go somewhere else where I start afresh and hopefully get something that will be able to sustain me and my son.”
((NARRATOR))
South Africa announced two years ago it would end extensions of the permit past June 2023, saying it was never meant to be permanent.
Migration is an increasingly touchy issue in South Africa, which suffered record unemployment last year of more than 35%, fueled by the COVID pandemic and endless power cuts.
Activists say if holders of Zimbabwe Exemption Permits, the ZEP, don’t secure other visas or leave South Africa, their futures will be risky.
((RADIO INTRO: Nicholas Ngqabutho Mabhena is executive director of aid group African Diaspora Forum.))
((Nicholas Ngqabutho Mabhena, African Diaspora Forum (English, 22 secs))
“What is very clear is that come 30th of June 2023, if there is no change of heart, on the part of government, people will be undocumented, they'll join the army of the undocumented because in our own view, you have more undocumented migrants including Zimbabweans than those that are on ZEP.”
((NARRATOR))
Several interest groups have launched legal challenges against South Africa’s ending the Zimbabwean permits.
((RADIO INTRO: Lawyer Simba Chitando represents the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Holder’s Association.))
((Simba Chitando, Lawyer for ZEP Holder’s Association, (English, 31 secs))
“It is so manifestly unreasonable to ask 180,000 people to up and leave after 13, 14 years of legally being in a country, it is shockingly unreasonable. And it is inconsistent with the requirements for a permanent resident who needs to be in the country for five years to qualify. And these people have been here for 12 years. Why are you not allowing them to migrate fully?”
((NARRATOR))
South Africa’s department of home affairs did not respond to requests for comment but has vowed to fight the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, headmaster Makande four months ago applied for a work visa but has not yet heard back.
Her son Daniel hopes to attend university in France but says South Africa will always be home, even if they are forced to leave.
((Jan Bornman, for VOA News, Johannesburg.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Johannesburg
BylineJan Bornman
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
