By Sipiwe Nyoni
CAPE TOWN — In a major humanitarian intervention, Barmlo Construction Company, led by philanthropist Dr BarnabasMarambire, has provided essential food assistance to hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals camped outside the Zimbabwe Consulate in Cape Town while awaiting repatriation.
The initiative comes as Zimbabwe battles to repatriate thousands of citizens from South Africa amid rising xenophobic tensions and an unofficial deadline issued by anti-immigrant groups for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.
As of June 26, the Zimbabwean government confirmed it had repatriated 3 624 nationals from South Africa. The operation intensified after more than 500 Zimbabweans began gathering outside the Cape Town consulate in District Six seeking government-assisted return.
Many, including women and children spent nights in the rain and cold before the City of Cape Town, Department of Home Affairs and the Zimbabwean Consulate began relocating them to the Home Affairs Repatriation Site in Epping on June 28.
The Epping site is now the “sole official site for processing before residents are transported to Beitbridge”.
Deputy Director of Home Affairs, Almien van der Berg said over 2 500 Zimbabweans had been processed at Epping in two days.
Despite this, about 1000 Zimbabweans remained at the Epping centre as of late June, awaiting documentation and buses.
Information Minister Zhemu Soda said President Emmerson Mnangagwa had “directed resources towards ensuring the safe and dignified return of every Zimbabwean who wishes to come back home”. Delays have been attributed to mandatory profiling by South African authorities to check for criminal records.
To ease reintegration, Treasury has extended a duty-free rebate to returnees, covering one motor vehicle and household goods purchased before December 31 2022.
Against this backdrop, Dr Marambire’s Barmlow Construction delivered food parcels to those camped at the consulate. Marambire, founder and CEO of Barmlo Group of Companies, is known for philanthropy rooted in his own past as a herdboy who lost his parents at 13. His firm, with interests in construction and brick moulding across Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Rwanda, has previously paid school fees for underprivileged children.
“I feel honoured to get such recognition for the work that I am doing in helping others,” Marambire has said of his philanthropic work.
Barmlow was not alone in responding to the crisis as the Tagwirei family donated US$1 million through Bridging the Gap Foundation while Special Advisor to the President Dr Paul Tungwarara provided 50 buses through Zanu PF Manicaland Province.
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