Plight of Zimbabweans in South Africa alarms church officials

Published: 2005-09-02

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- The plight of Zimbabweans who have fled to neighboring South Africa to escape political and economic hardships has alarmed South African Catholic officials as well as a church delegation from Zimbabwe. Those seeking asylum complain about ill treatment by South African government officials and police, said Kabelo Selema, organizing secretary of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference justice and peace department in Pretoria. He said most of the estimated 1.5 million Zimbabweans in South Africa are economic refugees and seek work on farms in northern South Africa or in Johannesburg. A group of seven clergy representing the Harare-based Zimbabwe National Pastors' Conference said Zimbabweans living in South Africa had jumped "from the frying pan into the fire" because of the squalid conditions in which they live and the failure of South African police to offer them protection against harassment.

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