Thirty-six-year-old Thantabantu Dumani looks lost in thought as he finds his way into a Zimbabwe Red Cross (ZRCS) office in Beitbridge town.
Dumani is among the “early birds” that have been frequenting this office for the past week hoping to be connected with their loved ones.
For Dumani, who was among hundreds of undocumented migrants deported from South Africa a week before, life at the border town had not been a stroll in the park.
“When I was deported on March 12, I only had 10 rand in my pocket,” he said.
“I have been sleeping in the open for almost seven days hoping that I might get help from my relatives in Plumtree and Pretoria (South Africa), but to no avail.
“I would like to thank the Red Cross for affording me the opportunity to link me with my relatives after I was deported.
“For the past seven days, I have been here I had not bathed and was surviving on water and scavenging for food at some food eateries here in Beitbridge.”
Every cloud has a silver lining, so after making several telephone calls, courtesy of the ZRCS’s Restoring Family Links (RFL) programme, Dumani was able to connect with some of his relatives on both sides of the Limpopo River.
“I was deported from Lindela [Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp] along with several other Zimbabweans after I had served a three-month jail term for overstaying in South Africa,” Dumani said.
“We were dropped here in Beitbridge and we were referred to the Red Cross office to try to reconnect with our relatives.
“I left an unemployed wife and three kids in South Africa and my relatives here in Zimbabwe have promised that I can only get help from March 25, which is an extra 10 days here.
“I just need 600 rand [US$30 equivalent] to travel back to South Africa and reunite with my family.”
This publication has established that hundreds of Zimbabweans are being deported from South Africa every week.
Last Tuesday Zimbabwean authorities at Beitbridge Border Post received 280 migrants deported from South Africa.
Those deported would have either breached immigration laws such as overstaying resulting in the cancellation of their permits or crossing borders without valid travel documents.
Mzwakhe Moyo (27) had been in confinement for almost six weeks at Lindela Repatriation Centre before he was deported alongside hundreds other undocumented migrants.
“I was arrested in Jo’burg in October for failing to produce a valid passport and I was sent to prison for three months before I was moved to Lindela,” Moyo said.
“I stayed here in Beitbridge hoping to get help until someone referred me to the Red Cross where I finally reconnected with my relatives in South Africa.
“I am from Entumbane in Bulawayo, but I don’t think I will go there.
“I left my daughter and my property in South Africa, so I want to go back.”
A motor mechanic by profession, Moyo, who has been in South Africa since 2013 feels there is need for South African authorities to review their immigration laws, saying several Zimbabweans were now economic refugees in that country.
Due to its proximity to Zimbabwe and being Africa’s biggest economy, South Africa hosts the largest Zimbabwean migrant population in the region.
An estimated 1,5 million Zimbabweans are among foreign workers in South Africa with most of them employed in agriculture, construction, education, health and manufacturing, financial services, among other sectors.
With Zimbabwe and other countries in the region’s economic situation on the downturn, many people, the majority who are undocumented have found themselves in South Africa.
These are the people who on a daily basis evade authorities and face exploitation at the hands of South Africans. In most cases they are deported.
As such, the ZRCS is currently implementing a RFL programme with technical and financial support from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
“This programme aims to prevent the separation of families, facilitate the restoration and maintenance of family connections, reunite families, and shed light on the fate of missing persons,” said ZRCS secretary-general Elias Hwenga.
“The programme operates in various regions including Beitbridge, Tongogara Refugee Camp and in Harare.
“In addition to the RFL programme, in 2021, the ZRCS, in collaboration with the ICRC, launched the Red Safe project whose initiative complements the traditional RFL services by providing migrants with access to timely and reliable humanitarian assistance information.
“The Red Safe application also enables individuals to securely store digital copies of important documents and maintain contact details, thereby mitigating the risk of disappearances and family separations.”
Hwenga said due to the huge demand for the service, ZRCS has begun implementing the GSM phone at its Beitbridge reception centre.
“This programme which started this year in February was done to ease the pressure on one volunteer (at a time) who is serving the deportees by providing phone calls, phone charging, facial tracing, among other vital RFL services,” he said.
He said RFL services extend beyond just adult deportees to include other vulnerable groups whose protection is very vital.
“These include unaccompanied minors who are frequently smuggled into South Africa,” he said.
“These vulnerable minors are in dire need of support and assistance.”
Last year the ZRCS in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare facilitated the reconnection of a total of 43 minors with their parents or guardians through the phone call service.
“This vital initiative not only helps reunite families but also provides crucial care and protection for these vulnerable children,” Hwenga said.
After making several call attempts at the ZRCS RFL office, Moyo managed to reconnect with his brother, who promised to send him money.
“I have spoken to my brother and I have given him details where he can send money,” he said.
“When the money comes, I will decide what next, either to go to Bulawayo or Jo’burg, but my livelihood is on the other side of Limpopo,” he said.
Ndabezihle Ncube, a ZRCS volunteer manning the reception centre in Beitbridge, conceded that the RFL had been helpful to a myriad of migrants.
“We assist migrants who would want to reconnect with their families,” he said.
“We offer phone call services and other communication means through social media platforms.
“We have had numerous undocumented migrants coming here on daily basis and we have helped many of them including reconnecting unaccompanied minors.”