In an interview on the side lines of a bilateral meeting between Zimbabwe and South Africa in Harare, Zimbabwean Ambassador to South Africa Isaac Moyo said that the majority of Zimbabweans in South Africa were there illegally.
He also said that Zimbabweans illegally staying in South Africa pose a security threat to Pretoria, and Zimbabwe’s interests in that country,
I think this is an issue which impacts on the security of South Africa and it also impacts on the interests of Zimbabwe because we cannot have such a large number of people carrying no known documentation at all.
Moyo said while most of the illegal immigrants entered the country through undesignated points, others went through proper entry points but became illegal somewhere in the process, mostly due to overstaying. He said although he did not have specific figures for those that were illegally in South Africa, he was certain that they outnumbered the more 260 000 who carried Special Dispensation Permits,
Nobody knows the numbers of these people because most are border jumpers. Some organisation carry out studies while some newspapers just throw figures which appear exaggerated but the fact is we really don’t know. The South African government doesn’t know and we as an embassy don’t know.
More: NewZimbabwe.com