Entrance to the Beitbridge Border Post in Limpompo, 4 April 2023. Zimbabweans buy their basic stuff at the shops near the border and some cross illegally to come and buy goods through the 40 metre long fence which costs 37m along the border to keep Zimbabweans from illegally entering South Africa. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
If unaccompanied Zimbabwean children were not trafficked into South Africa as their government claimed, experts argued they – and their parents – were in violation of immigration laws in place since 2015, especially for unaccompanied minors into this country.
According to an expert on immigration, Lerato Serai, failure to comply with immigration laws may have legal consequences.
“The key question emerging from this clash is whether the incident constitutes child trafficking or if it’s merely a violation of existing immigration laws,” she said.
“And if he (Zimbabwean Exemption Permit Holders Association’s spokesperson advocate Simba Chitando) is arguing that the law has changed all of a sudden then that’s blatant disrespect of SA’s laws because, according to the new requirements for children travelling through SA ports of entry put in place effectively on 1 June 2015, he along with those parents have all disregarded the laws of a country they so desperately want to be a part of.”
In a recent development, Chitando asserted that the 433 Zimbabwean children rescued by the Border Management Authority (BMA) last week were not victims of child trafficking.
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Chitando claimed the children were going to visit their parents residing in South Africa and he urged the authorities to consider this perspective.
“The requirements have changed, almost, I’d say, arbitrarily. And many Zimbabwean parents do not know that without the documentation the department of home affairs is expecting they would be committing what the department calls child trafficking,” he said.
“What we are actually seeing is a more benign situation, in my view, of parents who do not have the affidavits and other documentation they were looking for.
“For that reason the department calls this child trafficking when in fact it’s just children going to see their parents.”
The department of international relations and cooperation spokesperson, Clayson Monyela, dismissed these claims.
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He said that it was false and disrespectful to suggest that the department of home affairs spontaneously altered immigration laws or requirements for unaccompanied children entering the country.
Serai said there was an urgent need for a thorough investigation to ensure the safety and well-being of the children involved, “regardless of the intent behind the journey, any deviation from established immigration procedures may expose minors to vulnerabilities and exploitation”.
“But nonetheless we cannot say it is ignorance, especially from Chitando. He’s a lawyer and it’s unlikely that these laws are new to him,” she added.
“It’s not the time to act like a victim now. He must take accountability –the parents in this situation were wrong.”
She also said it was important to uphold regulations to prevent abuse and trafficking while balancing that with the need for compassionate consideration of individual cases.
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“The situation highlights the complexity of handling cases involving unaccompanied minors and prompts a broader discussion on the adequacy of existing legal frameworks in addressing such scenarios,” she added.
BMA spokesperson Mmemme Mogotsi has confirmed that the unaccompanied children did not have the necessary documents.
“At the border we require you to present yourself and if you don’t have the necessary documents and we find you in a bus, just like these children, we send you back and we deny you entry.
“Actually we don’t process you further.”
Mogotsi said the immigration laws state that a minor accompanied by a parent must both have a passport or a guardian must have a passport and a letter from one parent.
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