3.2.2. Discrimination, Exclusion, and Corruption
The previous sub-section showed that FMs are excluded and
discriminated in the inner city,
particularly in public institutions such as schools and
health facilities. With regards to the employment, the fact that
companies ask FMs for the South African ID, for example, proves that the
majority of South Africans know little thing about refugees and asylum seekers;
and few of them also understand who can hold a South African ID.
Likewise, Mrs Sabwe states that one of her sons was attending
Grade 12 and was expected to write his matric examination at the end of
2005. The Principal of his school asked him to
bring his ID book or a study permit before he was allowed to
write his matric examinations.
According to this Principal, a refugee permit will not allow
Mrs Sabwe's son to study in SA. Sabwe found this decision unfair and reported
the case to the DHA, which provided her son with a letter stating that he was
legal in SA and had the right to write his matric examination (Sabwe, 2005).
Ignace Coulibaly, a 35 year old refugee from the Ivory Coast and
an electrician by profession, was also refused a job because of his refugee
permit. Here is how he described what happened
to him:
«Last year (in 2005) I applied for a job position that I
found in a newspaper, and some time later, the manager of this company called
me for an interview. During the interview, he asked me to show him my ID
book. I presented him my refugee permit, but he told me that his
company does not hire refugees and asylum seekers because they are not
permanent residents
in SA, in the sense that they can return back to their home
countries anytime; and, this can have a negative impact on his company. I
implored him to consider my application but he categorically
refused...»
(Interview with Mr Coulibaly, 2006).
Henriette Mungoma, a single mother and asylum seeker
from Uganda complained about a case of discrimination that she and other
migrant women experienced in the Yeoville African Market, where she runs a
small business in order to take care of her 2 year old boy. Mungoma came to SA
in 2002, fleeing the civil war between President Museveni's army and the
rebels
of the Lord's Resistance Arm y. When she first arrived to
Johannesburg she stayed with her
big sister, who died in 2004 leaving two children.
Mungoma now takes care of her sister's children as well as her own son. In
2003, she started a small business at the Yeoville African Market to support
her family. At the market, her table was located along the main road (called
Rocky Street) where customers could easily buy her items. At the beginning of
2005, a group
of South African women complained to the market
manager, asking him to move all foreigners who were running businesses
along the road to the inside of the market where business is slower
than along the main street. Without any consultation, the manager asked all
foreigners to move their businesses inside the market. Mungoma and
other migrant women
found this decision to be unfair, exclusionary, and
discriminatory. Fortunately, according to
her, even from within the market, she and her friends are still
running successful businesses
because they do not depend only on the location but also on the
items that they sell (Interview with Mungoma, 2006).
With regards to corruption, all of my informants
confirmed that corruption is an issue that they face, particularly at the
borders, the DHA, and at police stations. All were forced to pay Home Affairs
officials to obtain permits. Mrs Becky Kenneth, a forty year old
Nigerian asylum seeker and the mother of three boys told me her corruption
story in this way:
«I came to SA in 2002 and I obtained my permit some
months later after corrupting a Home Affairs official with some money (R 600)
under his own request, because getting a permit, at that time, was not easy...
The process was very slow... the number of people seeking asylum was high, but
the DHA could provide only twenty asylum permits per day... The majority of
people were forced to corrupt Home Affairs officials to obtain
permits. Some people used intermediaries that we (Nigerians) call
Contacts to obtain them».
(Interview with Kenneth, 2005).
Similarly, Mungoma states that, when she came to SA
in 2002, she was forced by an immigration officer, at Beit Bridge border,
to pay R 300 before getting into SA, because she did not have a South
African visa in her passport. «I also saw some people paying
more money than I did... They asked me to pay them R 300 because I told them
that I did not have enough money» (Interview with Mungoma, 2005).
Cases of corruption are also frequent among police officers. In
2005, Inspector Naidoo from
the Hillbrow Police Station, confirmed reports of
police officers who used their power in order to force refugees and
asylum seekers to give them bribes (Interview with Naidoo, 2005). According to
Mungoma, every Saturday policemen surround the Shoprite Supermarket
(in Yeoville) and the Yeoville African Market asking people for permits,
including FMs; «if you don't have it they can arrest you or force you to
give them money». She also emphasised that sometimes policemen challenge
refugee and asylum permits, especially when they look old, ignoring that
permits are printed on A4 paper, which is very fragile
(Interview with
Mungoma, 2005).
Reports of the involvement of the officers in corruption
and bribery charges were also
confirmed by the Anonymous 2 from the CoJ, who emphasised
that many FMs complained that police officers usually regard them as `mobile
ATM' where they can get money anytime that they want (Interview with Anonymous
2, 2006). The Anonymous 3, from the DHA, also recognised the responsibility of
Home Affairs officials in charges of corruption against them; that is why,
his Department decided to consider the fight against corruption as
one of its priorities this year and in the future, in order to protect FMs
and the `image of SA' (Interview with Anonymous 3, 2006).
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