The South African cabinet last week approved a proposal to scrap a special dispensation for Zimbabweans and gave the nod to resume deportations of people staying illegally with effect from the end of December.
South Africa Home Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa Sunday confirmed the upcoming meeting and said details of the meeting with representatives of Zimbabwean nationals living in South Africa would be released in due course.
“The meeting will be held this week. Since the announcement by the cabinet to document Zimbabweans living in South Africa, there had been a great deal of distortion and misinformation, particularly from NGOs and (so-called) immigration experts, aimed at sowing confusion among Zimbabweans in the country,” he said.
Mamoepa said the suggestion that Zimbabweans would have to return en masse to Zimbabwe to acquire the documents was “far from the truth”.
He said there was an agreement between Pretoria and Harare that Zimbabweans need to approach the Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria or consulates in Johannesburg and Cape Town which will profile their details to enable them to be documented in South Africa.
The special dispensation implemented in April last year, allowed Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa the right to live, work, attend education facilities and access basic health care for a period of six months.
The special dispensation would come to an end on December 31.
NGOs advocating for refugees said the decision to withdraw the special dispensation would result in mass deportation for those who do not have the means to gain legal permit.
* Business Day
