South Africa's HOME Affairs Minister Nkosana Dlamini-Zuma has referred back to the drawing board the proposed special dispensation giving undocumented Zimbabwean migrants already in SA the right to live and work for up to a year.
Her department is also reviewing the recently introduced visa-free entry facility that allows Zimbabwean passport holders the right to work in SA for 90 days .

Home affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said yesterday Dlamini- Zuma was reviewing all processes in the department.

The proposed special dispensation for Zimbabweans was among the measures sent back for discussion on the “nature, scope and implication of the decision”.

Government insiders said that in some quarters it was believed there had not been enough consultation before announcing the measures.
Other concerns were that neighbouring countries did not have renewable visa-free entry for Zimbabweans, and visitors to SA from countries such as Mozambique qualified only for a limited period during the year, and had no right to work.
Set to be rolled out from the department’s new refugee reception centre in Pretoria, the facility was aimed at addressing the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, where many now live off foreign remittances.
Registration of border jumpers was also meant to improve the security situation. In addition, the special permit for undocumented Zimbabwean immigrants would have saved money spent on deporting people who almost always returned to SA.

Loren Landau, head of the Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand, suspects that any change of plans by home affairs was for the sake of short- term domestic interests.

During an “economic downturn and job losses, there will always be sentiments against immigration”, he said yesterday.

Shortly before the elections, then Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula announced that the department would introduce a special permit meant for undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in SA.

Valid for 12 months, the proposed document would have given the holder access to services such as health and education.

In April, home affairs suspended deportations while granting Zimbabwean passport holders reciprocal visa- free entry into the country with the option to work. Such a provision was unusual in the region. While Mozambican, Lesotho and Swazi nationals enjoy visa-free access into SA, they do not have an automatic right to work.
The government was keen on implementing a uniform policy for all neighbouring countries but it was under pressure from local and international rights groups to accommodate Zimbabweans fleeing the crisis.
Last week Medecins Sans Frontieres called on the government and United Nations agencies to urgently address the humanitarian needs of Zimbabweans refugees.
“Every day, despite claims that Zimbabwe is ‘normalising’, thousands of Zimbabweans continue to cross the border into SA, fleeing economic meltdown, food insecurity, political turmoil and the total collapse of their health system,” said the medical group’s SA head, Rachel Cohen.

Zimbabwe has once again broken another another world record with Harare ranked the worst liveable city in the world

ROBERT MUGABE
The latest Economist Intelligence Unit global liveability survey places London (51st) and Manchester (46th) in the top tier of places to live, although their positions in the global ranking reflects the challenges faced by many large urban centres. Vancouver remains top of the league table, benefiting from strong Canadian infrastructure and Harare sits at the bottom thanks to the unfolding crisis in Zimbabwe.

Mswati who jetted into Harare with one of his several wives-Inkosikhati Lagija, a princess, a prince and a traditional minister Induna Shende Tsabedze in the company of Zimbabwe’s 85 years old leader Robert Mugabe went on a tour of Gideon Gono’s farm - Donnington Farm. The Zimbabwe Tribune has learnt.

The King's wife spent Friday with First Lady Grace Mugabe touring the fruits of the first familiy's loot. She was takento Gwina farm in Banket, a farm the first lady forcibly grabbed from High Court Judge Ben Hlatswayo.

Mswati was greeted with a 21-gun salute the highest honour that can be bestowed on a visiting head of state.

On Thursday morning Mswati commissioned some grain silo’s at the controversial Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono’s Donnington Farm, in Norton about 60km southwest of Harare.

Sources today said Gono whose farm produces chickens and other perishable goods is looking for export markets in Swaziland.

“Remember Gono can not export to European countries, he is now short of ready market for his produce, so Swaziland could be a good market for him,” said a source.

Donnington Farm has been under Gono’s ownership for close to 4 years. The visit by the polygamist Swazi King was a laid down plan by Mugabe as he tries to get his protégé connected in the political system.

Gideon Gono is by far the most successful farmer in Zimbabwe. His yields are largely credited to his unfair advantage of access to state resources. His maize yields have in the past been used to feed starving army officers.

Gideon Gono has been the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor for close to six years.

ZIMBABWE-HARARE -The MDC dismisses the malicious fabrications in today’s issue of The Herald that ministers of excellence snubbed the COMESA summit which kicked off in the resort town of Victoria Falls at the weekend.


MDC

For the record, several ministers attended the COMESA summit. Hosting COMESA is neither a Zanu PF nor an MDC role. It is a national responsibility and the attempt to balkanise the government in terms of Zanu PF or MDC ministers is regrettable.

The allegation that MDC ministers snubbed the Comesa summit is unbridled mischief which is part of a well-orchestrated plot to malign and soil the image of the MDC and its leadership in government. In any case, there is no such as an MDC minister as alleged by The Herald. They are ministers of government who are serving the people of Zimbabwe

The malicious fabrications betray the reality that there are some people in certain political parties who continue to abuse the state media to mislead the nation that the MDC is pulling some strings to derail government efforts.

Zimbabweans know that if anything, it is the MDC which is working hard to make sure that the economy recovers and that food is brought back on the people’s table. The people of Zimbabwe are aware of the real culprits who are scuttling the work of the inclusive government.

The MDC’s commitment to the inclusive government has never been half-hearted. The half-hearted are refusing to implement the Global Political Agreement to which they appended their signature.

The half-hearted are delaying to swear in Senator Roy Bennett as deputy minister of Agriculture. The half-hearted are refusing to iron out the issue of provincial governors, ambassadors and permanent secretaries.

The half-hearted are skirting the contentious issues of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana. The half-hearted are standing in the way of a clear High Court order which has ruled that the Media and Information Committee is an illegal body that cannot continue to extort money from journalists.

And Zimbabweans know that the half-hearted and the evil-minded are firmly located in Zanu PF. They are waylaying the efforts of the inclusive government by continuing to disrupt farming and arresting innocent people on trumped-up charges. This is a coterie bent on a matrix of planning to fail when the rest of the country planning to succeed.

The MDC has clear ideas and programmes while others have assumed an oppositional role, scuttling the work of the Prime Ministers and his hard-working team of ministers who want to bring the economy back on its rails.

They continue to resist the work of the inclusive government by abusing The Herald and the ZBC to propagate the views of one political party in a tripartite inclusive government.

The MDC is a party of excellence. We believe in honesty, hard work and commitment to agreements that we have signed. We believe in accountability, freedom and social justice. No amount of propaganda will blur our vision of a new Zimbabwe and a new beginning.

Together to the end, marching to a new Zimbabwe.