COMMENT - 25,000 down, 2,975,000 to go? Because, after all there are supposed to be 3,000,000 Zimbabweans in South Africa, right? Pay attention to when the number of deportations starts tapering off, and your are going to get a true picture of how many Zimbabweans escaped the destruction of the Zimbabwe Dollar by the MDC.
South Africa deports 25,000 Zimbabweans
06/06/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
SOUTH Africa deported 25,827 Zimbabweans between October 7 last year and Tuesday this week, officials revealed as the latest group of deportees arrived at Beitbridge. In 2009, South Africa invited Zimbabweans resident in that country to apply for special dispensation permits to legally live and work in the country.
Nearly 275,000 people were granted permits before the deadline expired, and South Africa announced in October 2011 that deportations would commence. On Tuesday, South African authorities disgorged 587 illegal Zimbabwean immigrants from seven busloads at the border.
Charles Gwede, Zimbabwe immigration department’s assistant regional manager at Beitbridge, said they expected the number of people being deported to increase – because record numbers were entering South Africa at undesignated points.
“There has been a sharp increase in the number of people capitalising on the drop in water levels to cross the Limpopo River into South Africa,” he said.
“We would like to warn people against using undesignated entry points as they risk being attacked by robbers who operate in wooded areas along the river.”
Zimbabwean authorities are critical of South Africa’s decision to deport ex-convicts and ordinary families together. Gwede said this had fuelled crime in Beitbridge town as police were not able to isolate the “bad apples” for better policing.
Gwede said: “South African authorities are supposed to deport ex-convicts separately but sadly we continue to receive them mixed, and that is now a major challenge.
“They are supposed to be vetted first and then categorised accordingly because most of them end up engaging in criminal activities.”
On arrival in the country, the deportees are received by the immigration authorities at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Beitbridge Reception and Support Centre (BRSC) who vet them to ascertain whether they are bona fide Zimbabweans.
Soon after that process, IOM offers the deportees overnight accommodation, medication, food and transport to proceed to their respective homes.
The IOM BRSC has the capacity to accommodate 600 people at any given time.
Some of the deportees turn down any form of assistance from the IOM and those who opt to go home using their own means are released.
Buw Gwede says many of those let go simply cross back into South Africa an undesignated entry points.
Labels: DEPORTATION
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Sata to boycott Comesa summit over 2007 deportation
Monday, 10 October 2011 00:00
ZAMBIAN President Michael Sata will not attend the forthcoming Comesa Heads of State summit in Malawi, accusing that country's President Bingu wa Mutharika of
failing to apologise for unceremoniously deporting him in 2007. The meeting would have been President Sata's maiden international assignment following his election two weeks ago.
The Zambian leader was arrested in 2007 when he flew to Blantrye to hold talks with that country's former president Mr Bakili Muluzi. He was detained and declared a prohibited immigrant. President Sata was bundled into a vehicle and driven across the country to the Malawi-Zambia border in Chipata.
Malawi did not state reasons for the deportation. President Sata on Saturday rejected an invitation by President wa Mutharika to attend the Comesa Heads of State summit to be held on October 14 and 15.
President wa Mutharika had sent Malawi's ambassador to Zambia Mr David Bandawe with the invitation.
"You are fully aware of the dilemma in which I am with your government. Your government, for no apparent reason, declared me a prohibited immigrant when I went to visit an opposition leader," President Sata told the envoy.
"Your government has not apologised to me or my lawyer in Malawi and therefore I find it extremely difficult to go to Malawi. They bundled me and put me in a Land Rover and brought me back. Your government has not been courageous enough to apologise."
The Zambian leader said he initially thought the Malawi diplomat was bringing him an official apology.
"I thought when you were coming, you were bringing apologies . . . I would have loved to take this first international trip, but the people of Zambia and everybody knows that I was deported from Malawi," he said.
President Sata said he found it difficult to travel to Malawi for fear of possible embarrassment since immigration authorities there still regarded him a prohibited immigrant.
In a statement, Malawi's presidential spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba said President Sata had been "cleared of the prohibited immigrant status".
"He is an institution, an embodiment of the wishes of the people of Zambia. We can no longer deal with Mr Sata as a person . . ."
"Under such circumstances, the fear of immigration embarrassment in Malawi for President Sata cannot arise in international diplomacy."
President Sata, then in opposition, sued the Malawi government for defamation and wrongful detention. The case is still pending in the courts and judgment is expected to be delivered in a few weeks time.
President Sata will be represented by Vice President Guy Scott, Foreign Affairs Minister Chishimba Kambwili and Commerce Minister Bob Sichinga.
On September 29, Reuters reported that the Malawi government had lifted the entry ban on President Sata, trying to head off a diplomatic spat before hosting the major regional conference.
Prior to the announcement, Zambian media had predicted that Sata would not go to the Comesa Summit because of the way he was treated in 2007.
- Lusaka Times/Reuters/The Herald.
Labels: BINGU WA MUTHARIKA, COMESA, DEPORTATION, GUY SCOTT, MALAWI, MICHAEL SATA
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Ian Khama deports sex slur Indian
by
28/10/2009 00:00:00
AN INDIAN businessman has been slung out of Botswana after being declared an “undesirable person” for allegedly insulting President Ian Khama about his sexuality.
The declaration was made under a presidential decree which cannot be challenged in a Botswana court, and which has been used to deport foreign critics of the Botswana government in the past.
Sayed Fakhar Abbas Shah’s lawyer, Duma Boko, said he would now consider taking the matter to the Southern African Development Community’s Tribunal.
Shah was arrested on October 6 and charged with “use of insulting language to the President” contrary to Section 93 (1) of Botswana’s Penal Code.
He is alleged to have stated: "I do not f**k ladies just like your President Khama who does not have a wife."
Prosecutors said the statement inferred that President Khama – who is 56 and has never married -- “is of a different sexual orientation than the conventional”.
The case was however withdrawn from court, Shah declared “an undesirable inhabitant of or visitor to Botswana” and deported on Thursday last week.
Shah’s deportation has focused attention on Khama’s authoritative style of leadership which has alienated many and caused deep rifts in the ruling party.
A former lieutenant general and commander of the Botswana defence forces, Khama’s military-style leadership; the extreme power granted him in the Constitution and lack of consultation with his ministers on key decisions has caused Botswana’s urban elite discomfort, although he remains hugely popular in the diamond producing country.
In 2005, Botswana was condemned by human rights groups when then President Festus Mogae ordered the deportation of an Australian professor, Kenneth Good, who had lived and worked in Botswana for 15 years.
No explanation was given, but Good and human right activists put the expulsion order in connection with his co-authoring of a critical report titled, “Presidential Succession in Botswana: No Model for Africa”.
Labels: BOTSWANA, DEPORTATION, IAN KHAMA
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MDC’s Chaibva deported
Bulawayo Bureau
MDC senior official Gabriel Chaibva was last Friday deported from Botswana after authorities there accused him of being a Government sympathiser. Chaibva, who was recently suspended from his post as spokesman of his party for attending President Mugabe’s swearing-in ceremony in June, was escorted by police from Gaborone and left at the Plumtree Border Post to make sure that he had indeed left Botswana.
In an interview with AFP, Chaibva said he had gone to Gaborone to meet Botswana government officials and ruling party members over their hostile attitude towards the Zimbabwean Government.
"I had gone there to meet some government officials to discuss a few issues, among them their negative stance on Zimbabwe.
"They are ill-treating our people there and their foreign policy on Zimbabwe is basically bad, but they would not listen and accused me of being a Government spy and their police accompanied me all the way from Gaborone to Plumtree," he said.
On the same day, former Herald political editor Caesar Zvayi was also deported from Botswana where he had been engaged as a university lecturer.
In a move roundly condemned as political, the deportation order was reportedly based on his being on the European Union sanctions list. Botswana has of late been sucked into the British-led political onslaught on Zimbabwe.
On Friday, political analyst and independent legislator Jonathan Moyo lashed out at the Botswana government for deporting Zvayi who had a work permit that entitled him to work at the University of Botswana as a lecturer.
According to an online agency report, Moyo warned that such moves had the effect of straining relations between Gaborone and Harare.
Labels: BOTSWANA, DEPORTATION, GABRIEL CHAIBVA, MDC
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Zvayi deported from Botswana
Our reporter
Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:29:00 +0000
ZIMBABWEAN journalist and former senior Herald staffer Caesar Zvayi was yesterday deported from Botswana where he was working as a lecturer for after a spirited campaign by anti-Zanu PF activists to have him deported.
political reasons, a development observers say could have repercussions on regional co-operation.
Zvayi, a former political and features editor of The Herald, was employed at the University of Botswana as a media studies lecturer.
The Herald reports that Botswana State agents delivered the deportation order, which was written and signed by President Ian Seretse Khama “in the presence of journalists”.
According to the paper the whole affair was meant to be a publicity stunt.
"The deportation order came from the President’s office and was handed to Mr Zvayi in front of journalists, mostly from the foreign media though the State broadcaster was also present," a source was quoted by the daily as saying.
Zvayi was recently added on a European Union sanctions list together with another journalist, Munyaradzi Huni, the political editor of The Sunday Mail.
Zvayi was last month hired by UB to lecture in print journalism but was later placed amongst the 137 people published by the EU that have been targeted for sanctions for their support of President Robert Mugabe's regime.
“I make no apologies for supporting Zanu PF because I subscribe to its Pan African values," Zvayi told The Botswana Gazette yesterday.
“I will never support the (Movement for Democratic Change) MDC as currently constituted because to me it is a counter-revolutionary Trojan horse that is working with outsiders to subvert the logical conclusion of the Zimbabwean revolution,” said Zvayi.
“Being at UB does not mean I stop being a Zimbabwean, supporting Zanu PF has no bearing on my qualifications as a journalist or competence as a media practitioner. The maliciousness and childishness of this campaign (to have him deported) is testimony to the fickleness of the people behind it who apparently believe universities employ people on political grounds. They need only look at the University of Zimbabwe today, whose Chancellor is President Mugabe, but which employs vocal MDC office holders, sympathizers and activists like Dr. Lovemore Madhuku, Dr. John Makumbe, and Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, among others.”
The government of President Khama has recently come under criticism for its treatment of journalists.
The editor of the Botswana Gazette, Aubrey Lute, last month criticized a Bill introduced by the Tswana government which he said was aimed at “muzzling the media.”
MmegiOnline accuses President Khama of ruling by decree. “Khama should live up to his promise that he joined politics to defend democracy. We are not too convinced that he is a democrat. Other than the few populist stunts that he made to dupe the gullible masses we see no democrat but a dictator,” said a recent editorial in the paper.
The deportation of Zvayi is likely to cause more diplomatic tension between Botswana and Zimbabwe according to critics.
Last month Botswana’s military was reported to be building up along the Zimbabwean border. President Mugabe responded harshly, warning neighbouring countries to ‘think twice’ before launching an attack against his government.
Opposition leaders in Botswana warned Khama against making derogatory statements about Zimbabwe as the country was a key trading partner with of Zimbabwe.
The opposition Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) said “because of the economic position we have crafted for ourselves, it may not be in our best interests to choose our enemies, especially those that we depend on for our livelihood”.
BPP’s leader, Bernard Balikani read: “It is all very right to be holier than thou and come up with a foreign policy that does not recognize Robert Mugabe and his government. However, we must not forget that the electricity that we import from the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique flows through Zimbabwe.”
Labels: BOTSWANA, CAESAR ZVAYI, DEPORTATION, SANCTIONS
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Manning's deportation
By Editor
Tuesday June 17, 2008 [04:00]
It appears that our government officials, ministers in particular, do not learn from their past mistakes. We thought that the case of Roy Clarke’s attempted deportation a few years ago had presented government officials in general, and our ministers in particular several lessons, especially when it comes to the issue of deportations.
Home affairs minister Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha was also minister in the same ministry when the government attempted to deport our columnist Roy Clarke. In fact, it is Lt Gen Shikapwasha who personally issued deportation orders against Roy.
This decision was successfully challenged in court and very fundamental issues were brought out by High Court judge, Philip Musonda, who handled the matter.
In a nutshell, judge Musonda established that Lt Gen Shikapwasha’s decision was irrational, did not follow rules of natural justice and was not proportionate to the alleged wrong on Roy’s part. In short, Lt Gen Shikapwasha’s decision was outrageous and defied the logic of accepted moral standards, that no sensible person who had applied his mind to the question to be decided could have arrived at such a decision.
Principles of natural justice are rules of fair play. One among these rules is that each party to a case must be given enough notice of the case so that he or she is aware of the allegations to be met. In other words, a person is supposed to be given an opportunity to be heard. He is not supposed to be condemned unheard. That is why even Jehovah God did not condemn Adam and Eve before hearing them, because he is a God of justice.
Therefore, any decision made in disregard of the rules of natural justice is ultra-vires, thus null and void. The essence of the rules of natural justice is to protect fundamental human rights because without these, man is as good as dead.
These are the lessons we learnt from Roy Clarke’s case. But Lt Gen Shikapwasha doesn’t seem to have learnt any lesson, looking at the way he deported Mbeza Safaris managing director Ian Manning. We do not know what crime Manning committed to deserve a deportation but clearly, the manner in which this deportation was effected leaves much to be desired. Without doubt, from the information we have so far, we can safely say that those dealing with Manning’s deportation have not followed the rules of natural justice.
Yes, the minister is legally entitled to exercise discretion in such matters. But we are also aware that such discretion is from time to time abused. Discretionary powers are abused if exercised for unauthorised purposes or when irrelevant considerations are taken in a matter.
Manning was last week whisked away and expelled from the country because, we are told, his temporal work permit had expired. But his wife Cathlin had an expired permit, which was not extended. Why hasn’t the same action been effected against her if it is a crime for one to remain in the country following the expiration of their work permit? As a matter of fact, Cathlin challenged the officers deporting Manning to do the same to her for the same reason. Why did they spare her?
We know the politics obtaining in the Safari business but it will be wrong for anyone to use the law to fix those who are considered or perceived to be enemies.
There is need for Lt Gen Shikapwasha to ensure that clarifications are made concerning Manning’s deportation in the spirit of upholding the rule of law. Otherwise those who feel or think that Manning is being victimised will get the benefit of doubt. His wife claims that Manning has been deported because he stepped on the toes of the powerful people in society.
Cathlin further claims that these powerful people want to alienate most customary land in the country and inflict poverty on the majority of rural people. These claims are serious and show that there is a problem somewhere which should be exposed and not concealed.
It should not be forgotten that President Mwanawasa’s government is premised on the adherence to the rule of law and observance of rules of natural justice. It will be a serious contradiction if President Mwanawasa keeps on preaching the observance of the rule of law when his ministers are busy defying the same principles.
Manning’s family, friends and relatives deserve to know where the government has taken him. They need to know about his safety and health. Does Lt Gen Shikapwasha realise the amount of mental torture and anguish that Manning’s family, relatives and friends are exposed to by not knowing his whereabouts? Why hold Manning incommunicado? Is this the rule of law?
Labels: DEPORTATION, IAN MANNING
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Manning's family demand his Whereabouts
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tuesday June 17, 2008 [04:00]
FAMILY of deported Mbeza Safaris managing director Ian Manning has demanded that the government informs them about his whereabouts. In an interview yesterday, Manning’s wife - Cathlin - also challenged government to formally serve his husband with a deportation order if they wanted to expel him from the country. Cathlin likened the events leading to Manning’s arrest and deportation to the “evilness of a Gestapo raid during the Nazi reign of terror in Germany”.
“He was whisked away in a vehicle from Immigrations Department having been told to report there and collect his temporary permit on Friday afternoon, presumably Friday so that no legal recourse could be sought over the weekend,” she said. “The anxiety of the family is only partially relieved as one is not sure if the message we received is genuine and from Mr Manning himself. The message is from Kasane in Botswana.
“Why on earth would the government drive a man through Botswana, a man who speaks perfectly good English and if told to leave Zambia, has the means to collect his belongings and purchase his own plane ticket? Mr Manning’s whereabouts are still not known.
Nobody has heard from him since 7 am on Sunday morning when a message purportedly from Mr Manning came from Francistown in Botswana saying the vehicle had now changed number plates to GRZ from private ones and four burly men were escorting him to the South African border. Again one has to ask what evil has Mr Manning done to deserve such attentions.”
And Cathlin also challenged the government to formally deport Manning if they did not want the safari businessman to continue his operations in the country.
“If Zambia really doesn’t want an investor who has brought such great hope and investment to a community in Luembe and has touched the hearts of environmentalists around the country with his fearless questioning of abuses of natural resources, why does the government not serve the man with a deportation order?” she questioned.
“Why the cloak and dagger? We must begin asking questions about how our country is being run. How safe are we? And where the heck is Ian Manning right now? Has he been killed in the bush? For what? ...Trying to save some national forests from corrupt deals, exposing poor governance in some government departments. This is unbelievable. I thought we had chased away the shushushu era in 1991.”
The government on Saturday deported Manning, 63 for allegedly illegally staying in the country after the expiry of his temporary work permit.
Sources at Ministry of Home Affairs said Manning was deported to South Africa via Botswana by a combined team of Immigration Department officials and some officers from Office of the President Special Division.
The sources said Manning was arrested on Friday afternoon at the Immigration Department where he and his family had gone to have their work permits extended.
Labels: DEPORTATION, IAN MANNING
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Govt deports Mbeza Safaris MD
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Monday June 16, 2008 [04:01]
GOVERNMENT has deported Mbeza Safaris managing director Ian Manning for allegedly illegally staying in the country after the expiry of his temporary work permit. According to sources within the Ministry of Home Affairs, Manning, 63, was last Saturday deported to South Africa via Botswana by a combined team of Immigrations Department officials and some officers from the Office of the President Special Division. The source said Manning was arrested on Friday afternoon at the Immigrations Department where he and his family had gone to have their work permits extended.
"Yes, he was deported this morning Saturday through the Kazungula border to Botswana. From there, he will be taken to South African border because he possesses both an Irish and South African passports," said the source. "He is a very stubborn old man who even took the immigrations office to court. So I didn't expect Lieutenant General Shikapwasha not to sign the deportation order."
When contacted for comment, Immigrations Department acting public relations officer Ken Simenda referred all queries to Ministry of Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Susan Sikaneta who refused to comment but referred the matter to home affairs minister Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha.
But Lt Gen Shikapwasha also referred all queries to the chief immigrations officer.
When informed that both the Immigration Department and Sikaneta said he was the only one who could comment on the matter, Lt Gen Shikapwasha responded: "Let me hear from the officials before I could comment."
And Lt Gen Shikapwasha yesterday said he could not comment on the matter as he was in church.
And Manning's family complained that he was being victimised for "stepping on the toes" of powerful people. Manning's wife, Cathlin, complained that her husband, who is also co-director of Luembe Conservancy, was being victimised by powerful people who wanted to alienate most customary land in the country and inflict more poverty on the majority rural people.
"Staying in Zambia would be a pleasure if justice was served. God loves justice, fairness and peace," she complained. "Manning's arrest after years of harassment and a huge fortune spent trying to help exploited people get a fair deal must be seen as a serious blow to democracy, decency and the rule of law. In fact, when they were arresting him, I told them that they should also arrest me because even my permit had not been extended. But they refused and took him a way to an unknown location. Fortunately, this morning yesterday, he sent me an e-mail and said he was in Francistown being accompanied to the Martin's Drift border with South Africa."
And a family friend Rolf Shenton said: "The harassment of Ian should also send shivers down the spines of all non-indigenous Zambians and the poor who invest their lives in a country that has once again been hi-jacked by greed.
"We can try to distance ourselves and say he had it coming to him, but for what? Speaking out against wrong? If we allow the weak in our society to become victims of state suppression, then surely tomorrow the same suppression will visit us. Foreigners have no rights, poor people have no rights, and actually no one has any rights except those paid for. Are we too busy selling mother Zambia to dubious investors to see the truth?" asked Shenton.
Manning has pledged to invest US $1.7 million into his business activities in the country.
Labels: DEPORTATION, MBEZA SAFARIS
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