It appears some Zimbabweans are unhappy with South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi’s decision to repatriate a large group of detainees from the Lindela centre this week.
Motsoaledi ordered the repatriations in response to an escape at the facility earlier this month.
ZIMBABWEANS NOTE THE HIGH NUMBER OF EX-CONVICTS REPATRIATED
Zimbabwe’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana has said that many of the returnees from South Africa are ex-convicts.
“Zim is expecting 18 buses through Beitbridge between tonight and tomorrow morning. These buses have 476 Zimbabweans deported from South Africa. A good number of the expected citizens are ex-prisoners. They are coming from different detention centres, some for documentation issues.
“These are mainly former prisoners; some have different histories from murder, robbery, fraud, housebreaking and documentation problems.”
Reports emerging from Zimbabwe claim that the offenders have been given a five-year ban on travel to South Africa.
There are fears that crime in Zimbabwe will spike if South Africa continues wholesale deportations.
Mangwana claims that 129 of the 527 repatriates who arrived on Saturday 9 May were ex-convicts.
“11 buses with 527 deportees have arrived in Beitbridge at around 1500 hours. One hundred and twenty-nine are ex-convicts. Mashonaland East has two people, Mashonaland Central four, Mashonaland West five, Bulawayo 101, Masvingo 100, Midlands 41, Manicaland 69, Matabeleland North 54 and Matabeleland South 64 and Harare 87. 7 of the 527 are females.”
Mangwana said that alongside the screening the repatriates would undergo there would be a vetting process to ensure that deported ex-convicts were not wanted for crimes in Zimbabwe.
