responsible for ensuring that their corporate workers comply with the provisions of the
corporate permit and the Immigration Act. Corporate workers who have become illegal
because of a government failure to properly document them in a timely fashion should
not be subjected to early morning raids, arrests or deportation. Human Rights Watch
learned of migrant workers who had been subjected to police raids and even arrested
and deported because the government of Zimbabwe had delayed renewing their ETDs
and/or the government of South Africa had delayed renewing their temporary residence
permits.
A commercial farmer on the Limpopo border complained about the ineptitude of the
governments of South Africa and Zimbabwe in issuing workers’ documentation in a
timely fashion. He said:
I’m working with two governments and they are very slow and
bureaucratic. Police and/or soldiers come and arrest our people because
they don’t have permits. But it’s not our fault. They’re only focusing on
us along the border. We work out a rapport with the police commander
stationed in this area, then we get another baboon coming along and he
says something else. They come and disturb our guys for three to four
hours at night on the compound. They have guns and the others don’t.
That’s the only thing.131
On a neighboring farm, there had been three police and/or military raids in the previous
week, resulting in the deportation of a large number of workers. The farm owner
lamented:
It’s no good explaining to the police or military the problems with the
system. The first lot took about 70 workers and another 120 were
arrested in the subsequent two raids. What then happens is that within a
day-and-a-half 90 percent are all back again working. You must realize I
still owe them money.... Because they are getting arrested, a lot don’t
even sleep in the houses provided. A lot sleep outside where they are
more safe.132
131
132
Human Rights Watch interview with a white commercial farmer, Weipe, April 24, 2006.
Human Rights Watch interview with a white commercial farmer, Weipe, April 26, 2006.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOLUME 18, NO. 6(A)
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