/ 9 June 2009

No visa review, says Home Affairs

There was no review of the dispensation allowing Zimbabweans to travel to South Africa without a visa, home affairs said on Tuesday.

There was no review of the dispensation allowing Zimbabweans to travel to South Africa without a visa, home affairs said on Tuesday.

”There is no such thing,” spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said in reference to a report in a national newspaper on Monday.

The newspaper wrote that Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had referred back to the drawing board the proposed special dispensation allowing Zimbabwean passport-holders the right to work in South Africa for 90 days.

It also reported that the department was reviewing the 90-day visitor’s permit granted at the border, which allows undocumented Zimbabweans to seek casual work during their stay.

The report quoted Mamoepa as saying that Dlamini-Zuma was reviewing all processes in the department.

However, reacting to the report on Tuesday Mamoepa said: ”The minister sent the dispensation to Cabinet, to inform it of the nature, scope and implications of the decision.”

She did not make any specific recommendations to the Cabinet, he said.

Mamoepa said Dlamini-Zuma had been briefed by various units of the department so she could familiarise herself with her new ministry and prepare for her budget speech.

In May, former Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula announced that Zimbabweans need not apply and pay for visas to travel to South Africa, but could instead apply for the free visitor’s permit.

The decision sparked mixed reactions from human rights activist and political parties.

While some commending the waiver as a progressive policy, others believed it could create problems in the long run. — Sapa