Consistent with research by human rights organizations on the patterns of violence and human rights violations in Zimbabwe and their increases in the face of political events, Zimbabweans assisted by the ZTVP came into South Africa following important key political events in Zimbabwe. In particular, the figure above shows an increase in arrivals into South Africa in the months building up to the March 2005 general parliamentary election, peaking in July 2005 following the launch of Operation Murambatsvina. Analysed in relation to their experiences of torture, the table below shows that almost two fifths of Zimbabweans (38%) arrived in South Africa within six months of their reported first incident of torture. Prior to first reported incident Within 3 months of first reported incident Within 4-6 months of first reported incident Within 7-9 months of first reported incident Within 10-12 months of first reported incident Within 13-24 months of first reported incident More than 2 years after first reported incident Total N 12 63 28 15 19 % 5 26 12 6 8 31 75 243 13 31 100 Table 4: Time of arrival in South Africa in relation to first reported torture incident For this report details on subsequent experiences of organized violence and torture were not provided. However, the data show that 75% of Zimbabweans who took seven months or longer to arrive in South Africa (after their first torture incident) experienced additional incidents of torture beyond the first reported incident. In other words, it would seem that a number of Zimbabweans remained in Zimbabwe despite having experienced a first incident of torture and were later the subjects of additional incidents, including Operation Murambatsvina – a factor that illustrates the resilience of Zimbabweans against ongoing violence and an unwillingness to flee the country and undergo a massive disruption in their livelihoods. The findings would seem to suggest that ongoing attacks influenced Zimbabweans to make the difficult decision to eventually leave their countries. 9