We are both from Harare. We grew up together. We are both 26 years old. We were supposed to do “A” levels but had no finance. We traveled together to South Africa. It is our first time in South Africa. We came at the beginning of the month. We crossed the river together. We do not have permits. We were also on Mr. [name provided] farm [in Doreen]. We got diarrhea and were beaten by [name provided] the South African foremen. We were staying on the farm three days. We were also staying in the compound until expelled. The compound was not good. We were sharing a room—ten in the same room. No bed, no mattress, no nothing; just a floor and a roof. We were drinking water from the canal, and using the same water for washing and bathing. No toilets, no electricity—just the bush. There are permanent workers—all South Africans, about 50 of them. They live better. Their houses are better. Most Zimbabweans are living in a single big room. South Africans have their own personal rooms and water taps, but no toilets or electricity. Food is given. We were given sadza [a thick porridge made from maize meal]. The relish—we don’t understand what it was. We got diarrhea, which led to our expulsion. We are hoping to get to Pretoria and find something better there in construction or gardening. Some of the guys at the farm claim to have been in Pretoria. They got deported. So they are only at [name of farm provided] on their way back to Pretoria. —Human Rights Watch interview with two undocumented Zimbabweans, Mopane train station, April 23, 2006 The black small-scale commercial farmer near Tshipise whom we interviewed acknowledged the poor housing and living conditions of his two South African workers: “I built the houses. It’s not good. Just mkhukhu [a Zulu word for an informal dwelling].”168 There were no toilets and the only available water was from the river. Human Rights Watch visited a black farmer who had a 15-hectare plot on a 100 hectare farm in the former Venda homeland. The accommodation for the nine Zimbabwean farm workers was atrocious; the accommodation for the farmer was only marginally better. Eight of the nine workers shared a small room; the oldest, a 52-year-old, had his own room. The cardboard walls were wet and crumbling, the roof was of corrugated sheeting, and the window openings were filled in with scrap paper. The workers were destitute: they had no blankets and kept themselves warm at night with a fire in the room. According to the farmer, the workers used his toilet when he was absent. The farmer continued: “There was one common one. It’s not in good condition. Even people passing by, they were using it. You can’t get in. It’s terrible.”169 Of all the Zimbabweans to whom Human Rights Watch talked during the research for this report, 168 169 Human Rights Watch interview with a black small-scale commercial farmer, on Tshipise road, April 30, 2006. Human Rights Watch interview with a black commercial farmer, Nwanedi, April 30, 2006. 47 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOLUME 18. NO. 6(A)