Beitbridge border post. Photo: Macvivo via Wikipedia
30 March 2016
Last month, Groundup reported on Tracey (not her real name), a Zimbabwean woman who was desperate after she was refused to re-enter South Africa on 6 January, even though she had the correct papers.
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has now removed the restrictions. In an email sent on 29 March to Tracey via GroundUp, the department writes: “The request for the waving of your undesirable status has been considered and was successful. The department has therefore decided to remove the restrictions placed upon your name with immediate effect.”
“I feel very happy about the development, because I now can come to South Africa and work for my children,” said Tracey.
Based on the Minister of Home Affairs’ statement that all Zimbabweans traveling home for the December holidays in 2015 would be able to do so even if their Zimbabwean Special Permits had not yet been issued, Tracey went home to Harare. But on her return she was denied entry.
Tracey says she has had a difficult time in Zimbabwe.
“I could not pay fees for my grade 4 and 6 children. No one was prepared to assist me in that respect. Friends and some family members could only afford to buy us food,” she said.
She is however not sure whether her job as a domestic worker will still be waiting for her when she gets back to Cape Town. “I was given two months to sort out my permit by my employer,” she says.