The government of Zimbabwe has ruled out retaliatory action against South Africans living in Zimbabwe, saying the country will not respond to the deportation and return of Zimbabwean nationals from South Africa by expelling an estimated 25,000 South African citizens.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi made the remarks in Parliament on Wednesday after a question was raised on whether Zimbabwe should invoke the principle of diplomatic reciprocity by sending South Africans back to their country.
The issue was raised by Zaka South legislator Clemence Chiduwa, who suggested that Zimbabwe consider reciprocal measures in light of the growing number of Zimbabweans returning from South Africa.
However, the Temporary Speaker ruled the line of questioning out of order before allowing Ziyambi to respond.
“As Zimbabweans, we are friends with everyone. Our culture dictates that if our children visit and they want to come back, we duly take them back. We do not have a policy of chasing away visitors,” Ziyambi said.
He said Zimbabwe would continue to uphold the values of Ubuntu and maintain its long-standing policy of welcoming foreign nationals who are legally in the country.
Ziyambi also recalled that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had previously directed authorities to regularise the status of people holding identity documents marked “alien” and to issue national identity documents to undocumented long-term residents.
“We want to maintain this level that will accept everyone. If we have our brothers and sisters coming from South Africa, we will accept them. If we have a South African who wants to come here and whose papers are okay, we accept them. They are our brothers and sisters,” he said.
The debate came as Parliament discussed government’s response to the increasing number of Zimbabweans returning from South Africa under the ongoing repatriation programme.
Speaking in Parliament, Health and Child Care Minister Douglas Mombeshora said more than 99,000 returning Zimbabweans had so far been screened for communicable diseases at ports of entry.
He said health workers were also identifying returnees living with chronic illnesses, including HIV, diabetes and hypertension, to ensure they continued receiving treatment.
According to Mombeshora, a clinic established at the Beitbridge Reception Centre is providing up to five days’ medication before returnees are referred to health facilities in their home districts for long-term care.
He said government was avoiding initiating long-term treatment at the border because patients first required baseline medical assessments, including viral load tests, and needed to be integrated into Zimbabwe’s treatment protocols.
Responding to a supplementary question on whether HIV treatment regimens in Zimbabwe and South Africa were compatible, Mombeshora said the medicines used were largely similar, although the two countries followed different treatment guidelines.
He said patients would undergo further assessment before being transitioned onto Zimbabwe’s treatment programmes.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Ziyambi, standing in for the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, said government had put in place programmes to support the economic reintegration of returning citizens.
He said returnees were being assisted with transport to their home areas and could access vocational training, Empower Bank funding, agricultural support programmes such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa and other empowerment initiatives.
He added that health services, social welfare support and livelihood programmes were available to help returnees rebuild their lives and contribute to the country’s development.
Zimbabwe launched the repatriation programme on 28 May in response to escalating anti-immigrant protests in South Africa.
The campaign intensified after anti-immigration groups issued an unofficial 30 June deadline for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country, with demonstrations in several communities accompanied by reports of violence targeting foreign nationals.
Government established an inter-ministerial taskforce operating a 24-hour command centre at the Beitbridge Reception Centre to receive, register and assist returning Zimbabweans before transporting them to their respective destinations.
The programme has also received support from United Nations agencies and private sector partners. South African authorities have not released an official estimate of the number of Zimbabwean nationals living in the country.
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