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More Zimbabweans applying for visas into SA
Dumisani Muleya, Business Day (SA)
May 17, 2006

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A201628

AN increasing number of Zimbabwean citizens are applying for permits to enter into SA, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said today.

There were already an estimated two million Zimbabweans in SA illegally, Pahad said at a media briefing in Parliament.

"We have been concerned about the deteriorating economic situation, where inflation has now reached 1000%, and the predictions are it can get worse.

"We remain concerned not only about the effects on the people of Zimbabwe, but the effect on the region as a whole, because Zimbabwe is an important player."

It was a major problem for SA because, according to reports, there were two million "undocumented" Zimbabweans in SA.

"By any standards this is high - even if it’s not as much as this, it is high. Our own missions in Zimbabwe are reporting that they are having increasing numbers of people seeking visas to come to SA."

SA continued to interact with the Zanu-PF government as well as opposition groupings in Zimbabwe on both a political and economic level.

"The Minister of Finance (Trevor Manuel) and SA Reserve Bank governor (Tito Mboweni) are in constant touch with their counterparts (in Zimbabwe), going beyond the earlier request for $1,2bn assistance, taking into context the whole problem economically and politically."

Hardships continued to grow for Zimbabwe’s people, Pahad said.

However, SA remained "committed to our view that we can only contribute with other countries in the world to create a climate within which the Zimbabweans can solve their problems. There is nothing we can impose on them".

The UN was discussing the possibility of a visit by Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"We look forward to getting more information on this. One assumes he won’t come unless he sees some prospects of a breakthrough," Pahad said.

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