New novel captures migrant workers’ agony

THE untold suffering of Zimbabwean migrant workers, whose sacrifices sustain families back home while often destroying their own lives, takes centre stage in Shelton Mununuri’s thought-provoking novel, The Unsung Hero and a Conwoman.

Through the fictional character of Thomas Makoni, Mununuri explores the physical, emotional and psychological costs of labour migration, exposing the exploitation, betrayal and institutional failures that have shaped generations of Southern African families.

Thomas, an educated lawyer forced by economic circumstances to seek employment in South Africa’s gold mines, represents countless professionals whose qualifications have become meaningless in the face of unemployment and economic instability.

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