Gwanda, Zimbabwe – A Toyota Hilux with South African license plates parks on the side of the road in Nkwana village in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland South province and honks its horn. An elderly woman walks to her car, where the driver hands her packages containing supplies, a blanket and a small envelope with an undisclosed amount of money.
The driver, Thulani Ncube, 42, whose real name we are not using to protect his identity, is “oMalaicha”, an Ndebele word for cross-border drivers who transport goods between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Every fortnight, he makes deliveries to residents of the border region – most of them smuggled.
“There are goods that we declare, but some we smuggle in and out,” Ncube told Al Jazeera. “With the majority of our clients in low-paying jobs in South Africa and in the villages of Zimbabwe, we do not want to add additional fees included in the declaration of assets, so bribes come into play at border controls.”
Zimbabweans have been fleeing across the border to South Africa for decades – most as a result of political crises, difficult economic conditions and chronic underdevelopment in their country.
There are more than a million Zimbabweans living in South Africa, according to data from the country’s census and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which also finds that many entered the country without proper documentation.
The situation has created business opportunities for Malaicha, who not only smuggles goods but also people who want to enter South Africa illegally.
Ncube, who has been Malaicha for 11 years, said he charges “one animal” – a cattle, or the equivalent cost of 300 to 400 dollars – per person he transports.
But now, with South Africa’s upcoming general election on May 29, a vote expected to be the most competitive since the end of apartheid 30 years ago, Ncube is worried about what the result could mean for business. .
What he is certain of, he said, is that even if the next government tightens South Africa’s immigration policy, it will not stop his work but will move it further underground.
Connected beyond borders
In the village of Gohole, 161 km (100 miles) from the Beitbridge border with South Africa, the village chief, Courage Moyo, 64, remains glued to the television these days, closely following the election debates and developments in the neighbouring country.
Despite xenophobia and outbreaks of violent attacks against foreign citizens in South Africa, Zimbabweans still head there to provide themselves and their families with a better life.
“I lost seven head of cattle paying OMalaicha to transport my children to South Africa,” Moyo told Al Jazeera. “They didn’t have documents, I couldn’t pay for their passports, so they had to cross illegally.
“Every month I receive supplies and money from South Africa to support ourselves. I pray for them every day,” he said.
Now he is worried that any unfavorable outcome in South Africa’s immigration policy will affect the Zimbabweans who live there, as well as the millions of people in their country who depend on them for remittances and support.
Moyo is in a local WhatsApp chat group with other parents and neighbors who have children in South Africa. The 310 members, including family members across the border, use the platform to analyze the elections.
Some of South Africa’s members are considering rethinking their immigration plans if a new party comes to power, with some considering moving to Botswana.
But for many in Matabeleland South, the links to South Africa are stronger. The border province is even in favor of using the South African rand, which people prefer over the local currency or the US dollar, which is popular in other parts of Zimbabwe.
“Our families are part of this country,” Moyo said of how interconnected people are. “These days, elections in South Africa are the issue of the moment.”
The issue of immigration
In April, representatives from five of South Africa’s main political parties participated in a televised panel discussion at City Hall on immigration, which Moyo watched excerpts of on Elections 360. Among the millions of immigrants in South Africa, Zimbabweans ranked the center of attention as a case. to study.
Speaking on the panel, South African Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the African National Congress (ANC) would “restructure the entire immigration system” to deal with the issue of irregular and illegal migration.
The ANC has proposed repealing existing legislation to introduce a unified law for citizens, refugees and migration.
Last month, the government also published a Final White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection. Among other things, it proposes a review and possible withdrawal of some international treaties, including the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol, which obliged South Africa to accommodate migrants and refugees without many restrictions.
Motsoaledi said at the time that when the treaties were joined in the 1990s, it was done “without the government having developed a clear policy on migration, including the protection of refugees”.
South Africa now “does not have the resources” to comply with all the requirements of the 1951 Convention, the minister added.
On the Elections 360 panel, Motsoaledi said the overhaul of the immigration system would solve employment problems among locals, which Zimbabweans and other nationals have been accused of taking on, and would help bring skilled labor into the country .
However, Adrian Roos, a member of the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), said the problem was not the laws, but that they were not being implemented effectively.
Gayton Mackenzie of the right-wing Patriotic Alliance (AP) blamed Zimbabweans for taking jobs while 60 percent of young South Africans were unemployed.
“It’s very difficult to go to any restaurant and find a South African working there. It is very difficult to enter the security industry and find a South African… Every house has illegal foreigners working there,” he said, calling for the “mass deportation” of people.
Funzi Ngobeni of the right-wing political party ActionSA pointed to the root of the issue, saying the ANC government was “supporting” the ZANU-PF government in Zimbabwe, which was the cause of people fleeing across the border to begin with. with.
Mzwanele Manyi of the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) took a more positive stance on migration, saying a government under his rule would look at Africa as a whole, beyond “the borders of the UN Conference imperialists. Berlin” – with a passport for Africa and all Africans are welcome.
“I’m happy that there are diverse voices on this issue, which makes us a little hopeful and hopeful that the parties with friendly immigration policies will win,” Moyo told Al Jazeera of what he heard.
ZEP Licenses
Not all Zimbabweans in South Africa are undocumented.
In 2009, South Africa granted a special dispensation to Zimbabweans affected by the neighboring crisis. Over the years this evolved into what is now called the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP).
In 2021, the Department of Home Affairs decided to end the special dispensation, but Minister Motsoaledi has since faced a litany of litigation from civil society organizations challenging the decision to end it by 2023. Following court orders and mounting pressure, the The ministry extended the authorizations until November 2025.
ZEP holders are authorized to work, seek employment and conduct business. But they cannot apply for permanent residence and the new authorizations will not be renewable. The license holder also cannot change their status in the country and must register all their children born and resident in South Africa.
Outside the courts, the hope of the approximately 178 thousand ZEP holders lies in the result of this election.
Delight Mpala, 36, who initially crossed the border into South Africa without documents in 2012, was deported a year later. After three years at home, she got a passport and was able to return. While in South Africa, she obtained a ZEP. However, her fears remain high.
“Under the ANC government, we were able to stay in the country. But it is a fight, not a gesture by the government party. We believe these are parties that, if South Africans vote for, it will be better for us. But if [it] if it goes the other way, we will be doomed and our families will return home,” Mpala told Al Jazeera.
In a recent GroundUp survey on immigration – which members of the Moyo community WhatsApp group in Gohole village also discussed – different political parties shared their views on the ZEP.
Although the ANC did not respond to inquiry questions, the opposition prosecutor said it would allow current ZEP holders to apply for alternative visas for which they qualify, including permanent residency for some, but the provisions would not immediately include the right to work.
The right-leaning Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) said it supported Motsoaledi’s decision to close the ZEP. Regarding the future of Zimbabweans in South Africa, he said: “Ideally, they will return to their country of origin unless they apply for and obtain alternative visa categories that allow them to remain.”
ActionSA expressed concern about the extension of the ZEP, saying it was essentially opposed to the license and that its extension was “a mockery of our constitutional democracy”.
‘Border Jumpers’
While South African politicians debate immigration, the Zimbabwean government has tried to discourage emigration, for example, by setting prohibitive prices for issuing passports.
The cost of obtaining a passport in Zimbabwe is around US$200 – with fees paid in US dollars only and no provision for local currency. However, the average Zimbabwean earns between $200 and $250 a month, making travel documents quite unaffordable.
In this context, irregular migration to South Africa continues.
Although Beitbridge is the only formal land border between the two countries, the border region is more than 200 km (124 mi) long.
When crossing illegally, some Zimbabweans cross the official border with the help of smugglers and bribes, while others choose the more precarious route, “border jumping” across the Limpopo River; many migrants lost their lives this way.
In the village of Nkwana, where Ncube works, there are five Malaicha serving the route, and more serving other routes in the Matabeleland region.
Ncube said that on average, each smuggles one to two people a month, while other migrants find their way on their own.
If, after the elections, South Africa’s immigration policy becomes more restrictive, he will only smuggle people through the Limpopo River, he said, despite it being unsustainable and more dangerous than his current business.
“Despite xenophobic attacks and risks of deportation, young people are eager to move to South Africa,” he told Al Jazeera. “These are uneducated people, in informal spaces, who do not have the right to ZEP and permanent residence permits.
“We often see our youth roaming in no man’s land near the Beitbridge border post. They want to go,” Ncube said.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
