adminThupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
SEVEN hundred and ninety six Zimbabweans arrived home yesterday in the morning by train via Beitbridge border post as the South African government introduced its maiden rail deportation system.
The group of men only was received by Zimbabwean authorities at the National Railways of Zimbabwe station which is adjacent to the government run reception and support centre.
The deportees arrived in 13 coaches accompanied by 138 South African police officers and six officers from the neighbouring country’s Department of Home Affairs. The group is part of 1,350 people who were rounded up during Operation Fiela (Clean-Up) which is being jointly implemented by South Africa’s immigration authorities, the police and army.
The first batch of 440 immigrants arrived in the country last week in a convoy of eight buses.
The acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare, Grace Maramba said the repatriation process went on smoothly.
“The process was handled well and we are working towards increasing our staff complement at the reception and support centre so that we handle all the processes expeditiously in future” she said.
Eight hundred and one people were deported by train but five others — two from Malawi and three from Mozambique — were taken back to South Africa following a mix up by the neighbouring country’s immigration authorities.
The Beitbridge Reception and Support Centre has a holding capacity of 1,000 adults and 40 children at any given time.
Those deported were assisted with food, counselling, medical check-ups and information on safe migration processes.
Twenty-five people who complained of chest pains were screened for respiratory diseases and all tested negative for Tuberculosis.
Among those who were deported were 52 ex-convicts who had completed serving jail terms of between three and 15 years in that country’s prisons for offences that include robberies, theft, illegal mining and fraud.
Zimbabwe’s Consul General to South Africa, Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro said 346 people were left at the Lindelani holding centre in Johannesburg.
“We are left with 346 Zimbabweans and the repatriation documents are now ready. At the moment we are working with the Department of Home Affairs towards repatriating the next batch in buses and we are very hopeful that the process won’t take long” he said.
Mukonoweshuro said the train was introduced as a way of decongesting the swelling numbers of illegal immigrants at the Lindelani Transit Holding Centre.
He said the train would only be used in cases where there would be larger numbers of people at the centre.
“Women and children will always be deported in buses. As the consulate we continue to urge Zimbabweans travelling to South Africa to ensure that they are properly documented and they must avoid overstaying,” said Mukonoweshuro.
“Those travelling with children must be aware of the new requirements on long birth certificates and the requisite affidavits if only one parent is travelling with a minor.”
Online Reporter