Huge surge of Zimbabweans fleeing into South Africa

Refugees from Zimbabwe wade across the crocodile-infested Limpopo river
in search of safety on the South African side.
Ten days after President Robert Mugabe re-elected himself, there has been a huge surge in the number of impoverished Zimbabweans fleeing their country. Farmers and human traffickers have confirmed that hundreds are braving the crocodile-infested Limpopo river daily and cutting through three razor-wire fences that spanning 200km on the South African side.

'For the Beit Bridge area alone we're now talking of 400 people every 24 hours,' said Ronnie, a former border fence repairer who turned to human trafficking last year. 'For myself, I barely have time to bring one group over and another 30 people are waiting for me on the Zimbabwean side.' The standard charge for each 'jumper' is 40 rands (£2.50).

Among Ronnie's latest crop, Mkhumbuleni Sibanda, 30, emerged bruised and scruffy from a tunnel under the South African fence with a huge smile on his face. 'I'm so relieved to be out of there,' he said. 'Until last week I was one of the people saying, "We have to stay, never mind if we eat roots. The first round of the election went all right, it will soon be over." But now there is no reason to remain in Zimbabwe.'

After bribing Zimbabwean officials and braving the river, the 'jumpers' know they face the worst of what South Africa can offer. The 'guma-guma' - criminals who prey on the newly arrived - scour the length of the border fence to rob them of their meagre belongings and rape the women.

'We have heard all the stories. But if I have to die, I might as well die in South Africa,' said Sipho Mujuru, 40, who had come through unscathed, except for losing a shoe.

The xenophobic attacks that claimed 62 lives in South Africa in May had not deterred the group. 'More people died in the Zimbabwean elections - at the hands of their own people,' said Mujuru who was crossing for the second time after being deported four days ago.

In the first five months of this year, South Africa officially deported 20,397 Zimbabweans. But the International Organisation for Migration says the real figure is closer to 17,000 every month.

Médecins Sans Frontières is critical of South Africa for continuing to treat the Zimbabweans as illegal immigrants, rather than as refugees. Spokeswoman Suné Kitshoff said: 'Last week we visited the warehouse in the army barracks where people are taken before being deported. We found 465 men, women and children there, in deplorable conditions. When we returned with our mobile clinic the next day, they had all been deported.'

Entire families are arriving in South Africa

The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum said on Friday the South African government needs to take responsibility not only for the number of Zimbabweans fleeing into the country, but also for the growing number of displaced Zimbabweans - a figure that is now estimated at a quarter of a million since the March elections.

The forum's Gabriel Shumba told Newsreel the figure, while merely an estimate, is "extremely worrying" and indicative of how bad the situation in Zimbabwe has become. He said the bare minimum of these refugees have shelter and food, but tens of thousands more are left "homeless and defenceless".

Shumba said he is deeply concerned that the trend of Zimbabweans entering South Africa illegally has changed. He said individuals used to cross the border, to provide for their families back home, but now Shumba said "entire families are arriving in South Africa, with nowhere else to go, because their homes and homestead have been burnt and their lives threatened".

Shumba added that there are fears among refugees in South Africa that Zimbabwean government thugs are "pretending to be victims of violence to get help in South Africa, merely to track down real victims". He said the situation is "critical and so overwhelming".

Shumba said the South African government now has a responsibility to protect not only the Zimbabweans in exile in its country, but also the thousands of people displaced by politically motivated violence in Zimbabwe. He said it is "self evident that South Africa has as much to do with the crisis as Mugabe" and it is time for them to step in.