Durban: Cross border traders Being a Zimbabwean in South Africa is by and large a joyless existence; many of the traders we met in Durban were from Harare and travel over 3,000 km return on a monthly basis, often crossing the border illegally, using public transport and dealing with harassment from officials, in order to make a living. They spend most of their lives separated from their spouses and children. Even those who would be considered to be in South Africa for primarily economic reasons by officials, view their decision to leave as political. In their own eyes, the collapse of the economy and the loss of livelihoods in Zimbabwe is the result of political mismanagement; with good governance in Zimbabwe, they would not be in South Africa. While this will not win them refugee status with officials in terms of international criteria for what makes a refugee, it should be noted that individuals do see it this way - political decisions made in the last four years in Zimbabwe are what have driven them over the border to take up tough lives in a foreign land. Cross border traders are neither eligible for asylum seeker status, nor are many interested in acquiring it. The fact that they regularly re-cross the border indicates that they are not on the run and do not consider themselves likely to come to harm in Zimbabwe. Although this group is not part of the main refugee focus of this report, they are a sizeable community, and it seems relevant to comment briefly on their existence. Some cross border traders enter South Africa with passports and one-month or three-month visas. They conduct their informal trading and then return to Zimbabwe to acquire further visas. However, while some have business visas, and declare their goods for resale at customs in South Africa, many of them do not have visas allowing them to conduct business, so they are violating visa conditions by vending, and are therefore subject to deportation. Many have no visa or passport. Obtaining a passport is an arduous procedure in Zimbabwe that can take a year or more, and most Zimbabweans do not have passports. Receiving a visa is also problematic, with the South African Embassy predictably swamped with applications and processing around 20,000 a month.143 Visa conditions have been made tougher, with any prospective visitor having to include R 1,000 in travellers cheques with their visa application, as well as name and ID number of a South African and other supporting documentation. Many visas are still refused. Cross border traders have formed informal, semi permanent groups in South Africa. They often travel together and live together, in very tough conditions. The authors visited several such groups. The groupings we saw have informal leaders, who oversee rent and at times apply rules to living conditions. For example, one group of around 40 female traders in Durban living in three large rooms, does not allow any men onto their premises, and has a lock-up time for the front door of around 9 pm. Conditions are makeshift and harsh, with people sleeping head to toe without mattresses and using small paraffin stoves for cooking. Privacy is nil. As little as possible is spent on rent and food in South Africa, as the main intention of these migrants is to save money to take back to Zimbabwe for their extended families. As few possessions as possible are kept with them, for ease of packing up and moving back to Zimbabwe every few weeks to acquire more crafts for reselling, and in the case of those with passports, new visas. There is a high level of fear and suspicion of strangers in all of these groups, who keep a low profile and try to stay out of trouble with officials in order to avoid deportation, or being blacklisted for visas in future. Members of one of these groups of informal traders were sure 143 The Mail and Guardian, Zim scores badly in Amnesty report, 26 May 2004. 61