People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression, and Poverty

People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression, and Poverty, commonly known as PASSOP, is a community-based, grassroots non-profit organisation headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. Its work focuses on refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants, and people whose access to legal status, public services, safety, employment rights, and political representation is limited. Rather than functioning as a conventional commercial brand, PASSOP operates as an advocacy and support organisation whose public identity is associated with migrant rights, anti-xenophobia activism, community organising, and practical assistance. PASSOP was established in 2007 by a group of Zimbabweans and was spearheaded by Braam Hanekom. Its formation responded to rising tensions between Zimbabwean nationals arriving in South Africa and South African communities that often blamed foreign nationals for crime, unemployment, and pressure on public services. The organisation’s name is also an Afrikaans expression meaning “beware,” giving the acronym an activist and cautionary character. From its early focus on Zimbabwean migrants, PASSOP broadened its constituency to include people from other African communities and undocumented migrants who lacked effective representation in civil society or government. The organisation combines direct assistance with public advocacy. Its activities have included help desks providing paralegal guidance, support with immigration and documentation problems, assistance involving Zimbabwean Dispensation Permits and appeals, integration events, educational workshops, monitoring of camps for people displaced by xenophobic violence, and projects supporting disabled children. PASSOP has also described or supported African solidarity education and community-based initiatives designed to help refugees understand their rights and participate in South African society. A central part of PASSOP’s public profile has been its criticism of failures at refugee reception facilities operated by the Department of Home Affairs. The organisation documented long queues, alleged corruption, inadequate administration, and insufficient capacity. Its advocacy intensified after the 2007 death of Adonis Musati, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker who died while waiting for documentation outside the Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre. PASSOP complained to the South African Human Rights Commission, helped raise funds to repatriate Musati’s body to Zimbabwe, organised demonstrations, and lobbied Parliament. The organisation attributed subsequent increases in daily processing capacity at the Cape Town office partly to this pressure. PASSOP became particularly visible during and after South Africa’s xenophobic violence in 2008 and 2009. It participated in the Civil Society Task Team established by the South African Human Rights Commission after attacks displaced tens of thousands of foreign nationals. Working with South African residents as well as Zimbabwean, Congolese, Somali, and other migrant community leaders, PASSOP sought peaceful reintegration, public attention to camp conditions, and protection against further attacks. It has argued that people forced to leave Zimbabwe because they cannot meet basic subsistence needs should not be understood solely through narrow legal categories of migration, and has used the term “breadline refugees” to describe this condition. PASSOP is primarily volunteer-driven and funded through donations. University of Cape Town students have supported its daily work, while cultural events such as the Cape Town Zimfest have helped raise funds and public awareness. The organisation’s positioning is that of a rights-based, community-rooted intermediary: it gives marginalised migrants a platform, provides practical navigation of official systems, and uses protests, media statements, education, and coalition work to press for institutional change. Public information does not establish a commercial parent, owner, listed status, or conventional executive structure.

PASSOP was founded in Cape Town in 2007 by Zimbabweans, with Braam Hanekom serving as the principal founding activist. The organisation emerged during a period of strained relations between South African communities and Zimbabwean nationals who had crossed the border because of political repression, economic collapse, and deteriorating living conditions in Zimbabwe. Foreign nationals were frequently blamed for crime, unemployment, and pressure on public resources. PASSOP initially concentrated on this Zimbabwean migrant population but developed into a broader organisation serving refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants, and undocumented people from several African countries. Its first major area of intervention was the Cape Town Refugee Reception Centre. Applicants reportedly faced extremely long queues, poor administrative systems, alleged corruption, and limited daily processing capacity. In November 2007, the death of Adonis Musati, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker who had been waiting for documentation, became a catalyst for public action. PASSOP submitted a complaint to the South African Human Rights Commission, helped arrange financial support for the return of Musati’s body to Zimbabwe, held demonstrations at the reception centre, and lobbied Parliament. The organisation later stated that the office’s daily processing capacity rose substantially after sustained pressure and public scrutiny. During the xenophobic attacks of 2008, PASSOP became an active participant in civil-society responses. Violence across South Africa killed immigrants and forced large numbers of people from their homes. In the Western Cape and Gauteng, displaced people were moved into temporary camps or other insecure accommodation. PASSOP joined the Civil Society Task Team convened by the South African Human Rights Commission and worked to improve conditions, document abuses, and support peaceful reintegration into communities. Its approach brought together foreign nationals and South Africans, while relying on community leaders in Zimbabwean, Congolese, Somali, and other migrant networks. The organisation has argued that South African immigration and refugee categories do not adequately capture people who leave their countries because they cannot obtain basic food or subsistence. In discussions about Zimbabwe, PASSOP used the concept of “breadline refugees” to draw attention to people whose displacement was driven by extreme economic hardship rather than by a narrowly defined individual persecution claim. This advocacy formed part of its wider criticism of South African foreign policy and of inadequate services for documented and undocumented migrants. PASSOP’s operating model combines volunteer assistance, donations, public protest, rights education, media engagement, and community partnerships. Its help desks have offered paralegal guidance and assistance with documentation, Zimbabwean Dispensation Permits, and appeals. Other activities have included integration events, educational workshops, disabled children support, African solidarity education, and monitoring of camps for internally displaced people. Students from the University of Cape Town have contributed volunteer labour, and the Cape Town Zimfest music festival has supported the organisation financially and helped bring migrant issues to a wider audience. The organisation’s public identity is closely associated with the phrase “voice for the voiceless,” reflecting its effort to give politically under-represented migrants a platform. PASSOP is unusual among South African non-profits in drawing many members and volunteers from refugee communities while combining service provision with direct activism. Available reference material does not provide a complete account of its later organisational structure, funding levels, current leadership, or present programme scale. Its legal and operational status should therefore be checked against current organisational sources.

• 2008

  Response to nationwide xenophobic attacks

  [1]PASSOPen.wikipedia.org

  PASSOP joins civil-society efforts addressing displacement, camp conditions, and the reintegration of foreign nationals affected by xenophobic violence.

• 2008

  Cape Town Zimfest supports PASSOP

  [1]PASSOPen.wikipedia.org

  The Cape Town Zimfest music festival, first held at the Good Hope Centre, becomes a fundraising and awareness-supporting event for PASSOP.

• 2007

  PASSOP is founded in Cape Town

  [1]PASSOPen.wikipedia.org

  A group of Zimbabweans establishes PASSOP, spearheaded by Braam Hanekom, in response to migrant vulnerability and growing tensions around Zimbabwean arrivals in South Africa.

• 2007

  Campaign over Refugee Reception Centre queues

  [1]PASSOPen.wikipedia.org

  After the death of asylum seeker Adonis Musati, PASSOP protests reception-centre conditions, contacts the South African Human Rights Commission, and lobbies Parliament.

A grassroots, refugee-led and community-oriented South African rights organisation combining practical migrant assistance with activism, public education, anti-xenophobia work, and institutional advocacy.

• Legal and community support

  Refugee and migrant help desks

  PASSOP’s help desks provide practical and paralegal guidance to asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants, and undocumented people. Support has included navigating official procedures, understanding rights, addressing documentation problems, and identifying routes for appeals or further assistance. These services connect the organisation’s grassroots community presence with its broader advocacy against administrative barriers.

• Immigration support

  Documentation and ZDP permit assistance

  The organisation has assisted Zimbabwean nationals with documentation matters, including Zimbabwean Dispensation Permits and related appeals. This work responds to the vulnerability created when people cannot prove lawful status or obtain access to South African administrative systems.

• Community education

  Integration events and workshops

  PASSOP organises or supports integration activities, workshops, and educational projects intended to improve understanding between migrants and South African communities. These programmes form part of its anti-xenophobia and social-inclusion work and encourage refugees to participate in community life.

• Social support

  Disabled Children Support Project

  The Disabled Children Support Project is listed among PASSOP’s programmes. Reference material identifies it as a support initiative but does not provide enough detail to establish its precise services, beneficiary numbers, or current operating status.

• Education and advocacy

  African Solidarity Education Project

  This project reflects PASSOP’s effort to build solidarity across African migrant and host communities through education and rights awareness. Available material does not specify its curriculum, delivery model, or current scope.

• 2008Anti-xenophobia and displacement response

  South Africa

  PASSOP worked with the South African Human Rights Commission’s Civil Society Task Team and migrant and host-community leaders after xenophobic attacks displaced foreign nationals.

  Outcome. The organisation supported camp monitoring, public advocacy, and efforts to reintegrate displaced people peacefully into their communities.

  Source
• 2008Breadline refugee advocacy

  South Africa · Zimbabwe

  PASSOP argued that people leaving Zimbabwe because they could not obtain food or basic subsistence should be considered within a broader humanitarian understanding of forced migration.

  Outcome. The campaign contributed to public debate about the limits of conventional refugee categories and the humanitarian dimensions of economic displacement.

  Source
• 2008Cape Town Zimfest partnership

  Cape Town

  PASSOP benefited from the Cape Town Zimfest music festival, which combined performances with fundraising and awareness of Zimbabwean migrant issues.

  Outcome. The event broadened public visibility and provided support to PASSOP, but detailed financial results are not available.

  Source
• 2007Refugee Reception Centre advocacy

  Cape Town

  PASSOP challenged severe queues, low processing capacity, and alleged corruption at the Cape Town Department of Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre, following the death of Adonis Musati.

  Outcome. PASSOP reported that daily processing subsequently increased from roughly 20 applications to approximately 180–300, although the available material does not independently quantify the organisation’s contribution.

  Source

• 2008

  Expand coalition work during xenophobic displacementStrategy

  Background

  Attacks forced foreign nationals into temporary camps and increased tensions between migrant and South African communities.

  Action taken

  PASSOP worked through the Civil Society Task Team and community structures representing Zimbabwean, Congolese, Somali, and other migrant groups.

  Aftermath

  Its role expanded from Zimbabwean migrant advocacy to broader anti-xenophobia and refugee-protection work.

  Source

• 2007

  Combine direct assistance with protest advocacyStrategy

  Background

  PASSOP faced administrative barriers affecting asylum seekers and a lack of political representation for undocumented migrants.

  Action taken

  It paired help-desk and documentation support with demonstrations, complaints to the South African Human Rights Commission, parliamentary lobbying, and media advocacy.

  Aftermath

  The organisation became a visible public advocate on reception-centre administration and migrant rights.

  Source

1. 1PASSOPen.wikipedia.org
2. 2PASSOP official websitepassop.co.za