Countless impoverished migrants from Zimbabwe commute a dangerous journey to South Africa in search for a better livelihood. This unprecedented influx of Zimbabweans has alarmed the South African government to intervene and secure its borders.
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in Southern Africa with a population of 16.3 million. The agricultural sector is the main benefactor of Zimbabwe’s economy contributing extensively in the country’s total GDP and employing some 70% of its people.
For an agriculturally oriented country, dependency on climate is inevitable. Zimbabwe has declared national disaster over a drought caused by a climate event known as El Nino. This event ruptures the climatic situation of a nation, increasing global temperatures and catalyzing food insecurity.
On ground, there are many who have steeped in a state of perpetual poverty and starvation. This inflating deprivation has forced many to flee the borders so to be able to sustain for a little longer. Their journey to safety is filled with danger, uncertainty and crime.
For few the journey is only a 5 minutes walk. Limpopo River is an unguarded, open doorway for numerous Zimbabweans to enter South Africa. The closest Zimbabwe village is a 5 minute walk to Limpopo River.
Under sweltering heat, a cadre of emotionally frustrated Zimbabweans cross Limpopo River in hope for employment and better standard of living.
Keeping the dangers of border-crossing in their bag-pockets, they trail together, carrying heavy bulks of suitcases and bundles of packaged goods, loading them in carts and unloading them in Musina – a town in South Africa – their first stop.
But the trek to Musina is a notorious one, it is an unforgiving territory dominated under the command of wild animals and criminals. Constant threat of getting attacked by a wild perpetrator or worse – caught red-handed by a criminal – lures around. Melting themselves in the bushes is the only strategy for a safe trip.
South Africa under political influence takes charge
The forthcoming South African elections in May has awakened the administration after a nationwide outcry to seal the unguarded borders which have over-the-years become a beacon of haven for numerous Zimbabwe citizens, who despite the dangers of it all crosses the borders to protect themselves from extinction.
The last survey found that over 3% of the country’s population was attributed to undocumented resident-ship amounting to an astounding 2.4 million foreigners – nearly 45.5% of those were Zimbabweans.
The South African Minister of Home Affairs, last year, announced plans to toughen asylum and immigration laws to decelerate the rapid growth of illegal foreigners in the country. Despite the stringent reforms, the country witnessed a continues flow of Zimbabweans who one could infer have accepted their fate to get caught in a foreign land more satisfying than to remain poor and helpless in their home country.
But the South African government under the electoral influence have reinstated their wish to take back control of their borders. As a measure to cease illegal influx, 400 new trained officers, military drones, body cams and motorbikes have been deployed on borders to maintain high-security surveillance.
The country’s governing party – African National Congress (ANC) in its official statement has interpreted the criticality of the situation. The party ministered the varying steps it is taking to fortify the borders. Despite the plethora of assurances, poll readers have pronounced that ANC’s failure to lurch the country and its people towards development will have an unpreventable impact on the impending elections.
Anti – migrant party Operation Dudula has blamed illegal immigration as a catalyst for social and economic exacerbation in the country. These opposition parties have demanded government for stronger border control which will have a spiraling consequence on numerable Zimbabwean lives.
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