APPENDIX ONE: Case examples of Zimbabweans in South Africa A few detailed case histories have been chosen for this section, to illustrate different aspects of life in Zimbabwe and what drives people to leave, and to illustrate the problems faced in South Africa by Zimbabweans. One case is in the form of an affidavit, the others are based on first hand interviews by the authors. Not all cases chosen are of political refugees, to acknowledge the existence of economic migrants, and the problems faced by them (cases 5 to 7). Apart from Gabriel Shumba, all names have been changed to protect informants. Case One: “Thoko” Interviewee: Eighteen year old girl from Matabeleland South, who was abducted and raped in a youth militia camp. She was a sixteen year old school girl at the time of the incident she related. She had never been to South Africa prior to January 2004. Comment from interviewer: Thoko had been in South Africa for around a month at the time of the interview in March 2004. She was in hiding in her aunt’s house some distance from Johannesburg, and was reported to be in a very bad emotional state. Her aunt knew she had been raped, but she was not prepared to talk about it in the family, and the aunt had asked for help. Thoko took around three hours to relate her story, and for long periods of time, she cried uncontrollably and could not talk. She had not talked about these events before, although they had happened more than a year earlier. She presented as suicidally depressed, and said repeatedly that she wished she was dead. She had a suicide plan – she was thinking of hanging herself from a tree. She was agoraphobic and could not leave the house without her aunt. She was afraid of walking to the shops nearby in case she was picked up and deported. She was afraid of travelling in public transport because she was afraid of men. She was incapable of doing basic household chores. Thoko’s story: Thoko, together with two friends, was walking home from school in her rural district in Matabeleland, during October 2002. There was an election planned for around that time, and the area was overrun with youth militia and war veterans, campaigning for ZANU PF. The girls had to pass near the camp set up by the youth militia, and as they approached, the 3 of them were seized by a group of 8 youth militia, who abducted them into the camp. The three girls were taken to the tent shared by these 8 boys. They were stripped naked, had their hands tied behind their backs, and were repeatedly raped. All three were raped together, then one at a time so that the other girls were forced to watch what happened to their friends. They were raped by one militia at a time and were also gang raped. They were left naked and mostly tied up for three days, and were repeatedly raped during this time. They had no food and no water for three days. Their mouths were cracked and aching from screaming. 83