Special dispensation was meant to regularise undocumented Zimbabweans living in South Africa, but left many undocumented for years.

The South African government says it will continue to enforce immigration legislation with “full might of the law” and “no respite”.

Union says government needs to go back to the drawing board.

Scores of asylum seekers were turned away at Foreshore office in Cape Town, South Africa. The Foreshore offices turned away new refugee applicants from the DRC, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Somalia and elsewhere.

Lack of transparency and arbitrary policies fail to protect families of refugees, says civil society organisation.

Zimbabweans worry about withdrawal of refugee status.

The civil society organisation GroundUp has found that for Zimbabweans in South Africa, the cost and effort of returning the body of a deceased loved one home is almost too much to bear.

“I am sick and tired and wish I could be resettled to another country. They should not treat people like animals,” says a man trying to renew his refugee status. He is one of many complaining about the service at Home Affairs on Cape Town’s foreshore.

Zimbabweans who do not have one of the newly introduced Special Dispensation Permits risk problems on their return to South Africa from their annual holiday