South African churches have had to give up trying to take a shipment of clothes to victims of President Mugabe's slum clearance campaign, after weeks of battling with Zimbabwe's import authorities. They are now giving the clothes to Zimbabwean migrants living in South Africa instead.
The Rev Gift Moerane, South African Council of Churches (SACC) provincial organising secretary, told ZimOnline this week about the bureaucratic hurdles which have overcome their humanitarian effort. âThe paperwork and all the procedures at the border were strenuous. In a meeting last week, we agreed that it was better to focus on Zimbabwean refugees who are based here because they are also living in dire straits,â declared Moerane, as he handed over the clothes to the migrants at Yeoville Recreational Centre in Johannesburg.
| Which will encourage more refugees. |
More than 300 Zimbabweans were at the centre to receive the clothes. Six thousand blankets and 37 tonnes of food raised by the ecumenical SACC for the slum clearance victims remained stuck at Beitbridge for several weeks.
Harare customs authorities first demanded duty for the goods, despite the fact that Zimbabwe theoretically does not charge duty on aid. When the government finally agreed to waive duty, after heavy lobbying by Zimbabwean non-governmental organizations, it still would not allow the food into the country, saying it first wanted proof that it wasnât genetically-modified.
| If you didn't know better, you'd say that Bob was trying to starve his people out. |
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