Johannesburg - The US Department of State describes the landlocked country of Lesotho as a source, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking in South Africa.
But that could soon be a thing of the past. A special dispensation between Lesotho and South Africa will allow undocumented Basothos to live in South Africa for four years, on condition that they provide proof they’re working, studying or running a business.
And those in possession of fraudulent South African travel documents will not be prosecuted, thanks to the Lesotho Special Permit (LSP).
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said the permit was aimed at regularising the stay of Basothos in the country to ensure they did not become victims of “unscrupulous treatment” from dodgy or underhanded employers.
Gigaba was addressing the media at the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp on Friday, after touring the facility with his Lesotho counterpart, Lekhetho Rakuoane.
He said visa facilitation centres would be opened in all nine provinces “to assist Lesotho nationals wanting to apply for the permit”. It was estimated that 500 000 people would come and apply for the permit, according to Gigaba.
He said the LSP would be of benefit as those running enterprises could pay tax. The permit, he added, was run in similar fashion to the Zimbabwe Special Project which saw the stay of millions of undocumented Zimbabweans in the country regularised.
Rakuoane said: “We are appealing to domestic employers of Basotho nationals to issue them with letters of employment for them to qualify for this permit.”
He was hopeful the issue of human trafficking would be addressed through the LSP.
Tumisang Mokoai, vice-consul at the Lesotho Consulate General office in Braamfontein, told The Star there were about 800 000 Basothos in the country.
He called the LSP a “good, mutually beneficial step”.
“Through this process we will be in a position to know the exact number of our people in South Africa. Given that there are a number of them working as domestics and in mines, we have noticed that they have not been treated very fairly by their employers,” said Mokoai.
He said the process would also stem the tide of hundreds of Basotho women who jump the porous border into South Africa under the pretext that they have secured a job, only to be forced into prostitution.
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The Star