Zimbabweans dodge crocs for SA dream

BEIT BRIDGE BORDER – Editor Mafema peers over the bridge linking Zimbabwe to South Africa, points to a gap in the barbed wire fence and plots his escape.

“I tried it last week – over the river and through the fence. I dodged the crocodiles and police, but they arrested me at a roadblock,” the 27-year-old Zimbabwean said, loitering in the no-man’s land at the border with South Africa.”I’ll keep trying until I get there.I have no choice.”Like thousands of other Zimbabweans, Mafema dreams of sneaking into South Africa and earning money to send home, where his family is struggling to survive an economic meltdown.”If I could just get a job that pays a few rand, it would be worth a fortune when I convert it back to Zim dollars,” he said, gazing wistfully at the immigration control just metres away.Zimbabweans are battling the world’s fastest shrinking economy outside a war zone.Inflation has topped 1 700 per cent, 80 per cent of the population is jobless and food shortages are rampant, forcing thousands to flee in search of a better life.The exodus began in 2000 and accelerated in 2002 as Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis deepened.Today some two million Zimbabweans live in South Africa, according to media reports, with many more in Britain and Botswana, although no one at the immigration service could be reached to confirm the figure, despite repeated calls.Zimbabweans jokingly call Johannesburg “Harare South”, in reference to their country’s capital, while London is “Harare North”.The flood of migrants into South Africa is expected to rise after brutal beatings of opposition leaders in Zimbabwe this month stoked political unrest.Analysts say the growing crisis threatens economy stability in the region and the exodus from Zimbabwe is worrying South Africa, which has maintained a policy of quiet diplomacy concerning its neighbour.THUGS AND CROCODILES Every night thousands like Mafema risk crocodiles and thieves to get into South Africa.They swim across the Limpopo river, scramble through holes in the fence and use their final few pennies to pay drivers for the trip to the nearest town.Those with no money walk the 520 km to Johannesburg, where the lucky ones find jobs as gardeners or construction workers.Many are caught.Police and army trucks crammed with Zimbabweans, some of them children and all of them exhausted and crumpled after a night in the bush, rumble across the Beit Bridge border every morning.South Africa has deported about 20 000 Zimbabweans a month this year – almost double the monthly average in 2006 – according to aid group International Organisation for Migration.”The numbers have been rising every day since December with as many as 1 600 people being deported some days,” IOM’s chief of mission in Zimbabwe, Mohammed Abdikar, told Reuters.Dickson Samson, 24, snuck through the fence two years ago after six failed attempts, and managed to find work on a game farm not far from the border.He makes N$50 a day – about half as much as his South African colleagues.”My boss says I’m not from here so why should he pay me much?” he said with a shrug.”It’s tough but people are starving back home.At least I have a job.”Many from Zimbabwe’s middle class have also left the country in search of work.Even menial jobs abroad pay better than a professional salary at home and it is not uncommon to meet trained accountants peddling goods on the streets of Johannesburg.David Kudzai, 36, once worked as a senior manager on a large farm in Zimbabwe.Now he lives in the South African border town Musina and earns a living shuttling groceries across the border.”I get more in one day doing this than I would working for two months at home,” he said as he packed boxes of cooking oil into his truck.”I was a manager before.There is so much talent and education going to waste in our country.”Nampa-ReutersI dodged the crocodiles and police, but they arrested me at a roadblock,” the 27-year-old Zimbabwean said, loitering in the no-man’s land at the border with South Africa.”I’ll keep trying until I get there.I have no choice.”Like thousands of other Zimbabweans, Mafema dreams of sneaking into South Africa and earning money to send home, where his family is struggling to survive an economic meltdown.”If I could just get a job that pays a few rand, it would be worth a fortune when I convert it back to Zim dollars,” he said, gazing wistfully at the immigration control just metres away.Zimbabweans are battling the world’s fastest shrinking economy outside a war zone.Inflation has topped 1 700 per cent, 80 per cent of the population is jobless and food shortages are rampant, forcing thousands to flee in search of a better life.The exodus began in 2000 and accelerated in 2002 as Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis deepened.Today some two million Zimbabweans live in South Africa, according to media reports, with many more in Britain and Botswana, although no one at the immigration service could be reached to confirm the figure, despite repeated calls.Zimbabweans jokingly call Johannesburg “Harare South”, in reference to their country’s capital, while London is “Harare North”.The flood of migrants into South Africa is expected to rise after brutal beatings of opposition leaders in Zimbabwe this month stoked political unrest.Analysts say the growing crisis threatens economy stability in the region and the exodus from Zimbabwe is worrying South Africa, which has maintained a policy of quiet diplomacy concerning its neighbour.THUGS AND CROCODILES Every night thousands like Mafema risk crocodiles and thieves to get into South Africa.They swim across the Limpopo river, scramble through holes in the fence and use their final few pennies to pay drivers for the trip to the nearest town.Those with no money walk the 520 km to Johannesburg, where the lucky ones find jobs as gardeners or construction workers.Many are caught.Police and army trucks crammed with Zimbabweans, some of them children and all of them exhausted and crumpled after a night in the bush, rumble across the Beit Bridge border every morning.South Africa has deported about 20 000 Zimbabweans a month this year – almost double the monthly average in 2006 – according to aid group International Organisation for Migration.”The numbers have been rising every day since December with as many as 1 600 people being deported some days,” IOM’s chief of mission in Zimbabwe, Mohammed Abdikar, told Reuters.Dickson Samson, 24, snuck through the fence two years ago after six failed attempts, and managed to find work on a game farm not far from the border.He makes N$50 a day – about half as much as his South African colleagues.”My boss says I’m not from here so why should he pay me much?” he said with a shrug.”It’s tough but people are starving back home.At least I have a job.”Many from Zimbabwe’s middle class have also left the country in search of work.Even menial jobs abroad pay better than a professional salary at home and it is not uncommon to meet trained accountants peddling goods on the streets of Johannesburg.David Kudzai, 36, once worked as a senior manager on a large farm in Zimbabwe.Now he lives in the South African border town Musina and earns a living shuttling groceries across the border.”I get more in one day doing this than I would working for two months at home,” he said as he packed boxes of cooking oil into his truck.”I was a manager before.There is so much talent and education going to waste in our country.”Nampa-Reuters