Zimbabweans flock to South Africa despite xenophobic attacks

While hundreds flee deadly anti-immigrant attacks in South Africa, many Zimbabweans continue to travel to the so-called "rainbow nation."

The Anadolu Agency visited Roadport, a regional transport hub from which buses ferry people to South Africa.

Within the space of 30 minutes, AA saw at least five buses set out for Johannesburg.

Inspectors from different operators were busy checking tickets as porters loaded goods, vendors sold airtime coupons and South African mobile lines, and the only food outlet - a Chicken Inn - buzzed with activity.

Luxury buses, meanwhile, with destination boards reading "Harare-Johannesburg" were preparing for their respective journeys.

"I sell different South African mobile lines to people going to South Africa," 22-year-old Hassan Abdul told AA.

"It's business as usual," he said when asked if recent attacks on foreigners in South Africa had deterred Zimbabweans from travelling southward.

In recent weeks, South Africa has seen mounting anti-immigrant violence that has mostly targeted migrants from other African countries.

The violence began earlier this month in Durban, where mobs descended on the homes and shops of a number of foreign migrants.

The victims were accused of stealing jobs from native South Africans, committing crimes, and putting a burden on the country's social services.

At least seven people have been killed so far in the violence, which has since spread to parts of Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city.

When news of the attacks began trickling into Zimbabwean communities, fear and anguish briefly gripped the nation.

Life has not been the same for many Zimbabweans whose relatives migrated to South Africa long ago.

The Zimbabwean government has hired six South African buses to ferry its nationals from South Africa.

Hundreds have already crossed the border and are now staying at a Social Welfare holding center in Beitbridge, a border town in Zimbabwe's southern Matabeleland province.

But barely a fortnight since the start of the violence, many Zimbabweans continue to travel to South Africa.

"I am not allowed to comment; all I can say is business has remained normal," one security guard, insisting on anonymity, told AA.

Within the space of 30 minutes, AA saw at least five buses set out for Johannesburg.

With the help of Roadport security guards and conductors, AA was allowed to interview some of the bus passengers.

"It's risky travelling to South Africa with these reports of xenophobic attacks, but that country has always been risky," Roselyn Zvita, a widowed mother four, told AA on a Greyhound bus.

"But I have to go to sell my knitwear," she added.

Garikai Maite, a science graduate, hopes to find a job in Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city.

"I was supposed to have gone for an interview at a chemical company in South Africa, but I had to postpone," 25-year-old Maite told AA.

"But I got a call Monday morning asking me to attend the interview this Friday," he added.

Tonderai Mutero, a 42-year-old Harare man, said he was a truck driver about to return to work following vacation.

"I had come back home to see my family and have since been assured by my employers that I can go back to work," he told AA while boarding a bus.

"I also have to receive my monthly salary while in South Africa," added Mutero.

Some claim there are as many as 5 million foreign migrants in South Africa, including 3 million Zimbabweans.

But according to the African Institute for Migration and Society (formerly known as the Forced Migration Studies program), there are between 1.6 and 2 million documented and undocumented migrants living in South Africa.

Most of these are accounted for by migrants from states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), especially Zimbabwe.