Back to Index

Zimbabweans queue for jobs that South Africans won't do
Wiseman Khuzwayo, Business Report (SA)
January 20, 2008

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=&fArticleId=4212141

Limpopo farmers have used permits from the department of home affairs to bring thousands of Zimbabwean labourers into the country to do seasonal jobs that unemployed South Africans are not prepared to do.

Home affairs granted the concession to employ Zimbabwean farm workers to farmers in the Musina district before rolling out the work permit system nationally.

Mpho Moloi, the director of the regional home affairs office in Polokwane, said the concession to use migrant workers had been extended to all farmers in South Africa, because most farm work was seasonal and there were not enough locals willing to do the work.

However, Moloi could not provide statistics on the number of Zimbabwean migrants employed under the concession in the Musina district, which borders Zimbabwe.

According to the department of labour, a survey conducted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) showed that most farms in the area sourced 80 percent of their labour from Zimbabwe and 20 percent locally.

The survey further showed that the overall labour force on those farms ranged between 1 000 and 2 000 workers, depending on the season, although other evidence suggests there could be many more.

In October 2001 the number of Zimbabwean migrant workers was estimated at 5 500 when farmers brought a high court application to stop them being deported by home affairs.

The farms in the district produce tropical and subtropical fruit and most of their Zimbabwean workers are seasonal fruit pickers.

The concession preceded the Immigration Act of 2002.

When home affairs cracked down on illegal immigrants in 2001, three rebel farmer associations belonging to the Soutpansberg District Agricultural Union decided to act unilaterally to retain the services of their skilled Zimbabwean staff, some of whom had worked for them for more than 15 years.

The Weipe, Pont Drift and Njelele farmers' associations applied to the Pretoria high court to interdict home affairs from deporting their workers in October 2001. The associations said their situation was unique because most of their members farmed on the banks of the Limpopo River.

They argued that the workers and their families lived on both sides of the border and had become irreplaceable components of their farming operations. In an agreement that was made an order of court, the three farmers' associations agreed to remove the motion.

Home affairs, in return, agreed not to arrest the farmers or deport the workers. The department allowed the affected farmers to present exceptional cases of labourers who could be exempted from deportation.

Exceptional cases included those where a foreigner was married to a South African spouse and qualified for life partnership recognition.

In addition, an office was opened in Musina to deal with submissions by the farmers. This cross-border immigration forum was staffed by officials from the provincial department of agriculture and the national departments of home affairs, labour and safety and security.

Moloi and the IOM said this was an informal structure and did not form part of a bilateral agreement between the governments of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Moloi said a new agreement was still being negotiated, but the present arrangement was working well.

In January 2006 labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana and his Zimbabwean counterpart, Nicholas Goche, met at the Beit Bridge border post amid massive media interest.

The two ministers also visited farms along the border, and inspected progress on the IOM's as yet unopened reception and support centre.

According to the labour department, one of the aims of the centre is to ensure that those seeking employment in South Africa are not on the run from the law in Zimbabwe. It is also intended to help repatriate Zimbabwean migrants and provide medical assistance and food to the needy, with the help of international donor organisations.

Moloi said farmers who wanted to employ Zimbabwean farm workers had to apply to home affairs for a corporate permit, which cost between R1 000 and R2 000. It would be issued for six months to a year and was renewable if the farmer still needed the labourer.

However, he agreed that home affairs or the farmers could not do much if, after obtaining the work permit, the migrant headed for greener pastures in cities like Johannesburg, where he could abuse it.

Charles Pieterse, an attorney who is also a partner in a labour brokerage, said his brokerage and law firm assisted farmers in making applications for corporate permits. His practice had helped about 250 clients on this issue, but he said there were also farmers who made their own applications.

The concession was intended to allow Zimbabweans to enter South Africa to work in the farming, mining and forestry sectors.

Pieterse said the applying farmer had to motivate his application by explaining why there was no local labour and undertake to pay the worker the sectoral determination minimum wage.

For the year to February, the labour department has set this at R1 041 a month, or R5.34 an hour, for urban areas, and R989 a month, or R5.07 an hour, for rural areas.

Pieterse added that any Zimbabwean farm worker applying for a work permit would still have to have a valid travel document or passport.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP