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JOHANNESBURG, May 8, 2008 (thezimbabwetimes.com) The South African government on Thursday said it would resume the granting of temporary resident permits to illegal Zimbabweans immigrants in South Africa as provisional measures to accommodate the surge of refugees escaping political persecution and massive unemployment in the troubled country.

Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula issued a statement appealing to Zimbabweans to bring proof of their qualifications with them, saying they should take advantage of the scarcity of skills in South Africa.

“We definitely need a new approach, She said, “I believe as government we should challenge them to take up that opportunity.”

Reiterating that the Home Affairs department would not open refugee camps for Zimbabweans here Mapisa-Nqakula said: “If people are hungry and we open a camp along the borders, of course people will jump over to have a meal and cross back to Zimbabwe.”

With Zimbabwe facing an unemployment rate of about 85 percent South Africa is struggling to deal with the thousands of Zimbabweans who continue to flee to the country in search of economic opportunities.

The minister, who was participating in a briefing with her counterparts on the government's governance cluster, said there was no point in giving Zimbabweans refugee status as most of them wanted to earn money and then return home.

She said a refugee camp would have a “pull effect”.

Another concern about making people refugees was that they could then return home only once the problems had been resolved, the minister said.

 

Mapisa-Nqakula said the government was “throwing money into a bottomless pit” because the thousands of Zimbabweans being arrested and deported every week were simply returning to SA

 

Meanwhile, South Africa Young Communist League (YCL) on Wednesday urged South Africa Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula to ensure that South African Police Services [SAPS] stop harassing over 1500 Zimbabweans who have taken up residence at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg.

 

Hundreds of Zimbabweans fleeing political persecution in Zimbabwe are seeking sanctuary at Central Methodist Church

 

The YCL made the call while launching a campaign to collect clothes and blankets for the Zimbabweans based at the Church after recent brutal raids by the police.

 

The YCL is the Youth Wing of the South Africa Communist Party (SACP), a partner in the Tripartite Alliance consisting of the African National Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Union.

 

“As the YCL, we cannot sit back whilst our brothers and sisters are being harassed and intimidated,” YCL National Secretary, Buti Manamela said. “We had to find a practical way to contribute to the challenges faced by our fellow Zimbabweans not as an act of charity, but as an act of solidarity.

 

“It is through solidarity that we can make sure that the dictatorship in Zimbabwe comes to an end. It is through solidarity that we can change the deepening political crisis in Zimbabwe.

 

“It is through solidarity that we managed to attain our liberation as South Africans and, therefore, it is through solidarity that we can assist the people of Zimbabwe against the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.”

 

Manamela called on President Thabo Mbeki and SADC heads of state to continue to exert pressure on the Zimbabwe government and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to respect the will of the people of Zimbabwe.

 

“Our government needs to play a much more visible role in Zimbabwe. South Africa's intervention has moved from quite diplomacy to blind loyalty. The South African government and SADC need to put pressure on the Mugabe regime and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission,” he said.

 

The YCL national committee on Monday criticised President Thabo Mbeki's mediation role in Zimbabwe , saying it followed the same pattern of "denial, denial and denial".

 

Manamela said the mediation was misleading and embarrassing and called for Mbeki to be replaced by a mediator who would acknowledge the problems in Zimbabwe.