my way from work to my uncle’s place, I was arrested. I was working at a construction company with a Zimbabwean friend with whom I’d crossed [the border]. We were not paid. They were to pay us in a fortnight. My friend was also arrested. He’s with me.”127 The 29-year-old Zimbabwean from Bulawayo, awaiting deportation at Musina police station, had been working illegally since 2000 for a construction company in Johannesburg. He got paid R80 (US$11.34) per day—slightly under half the daily pay rate of his South African co-workers, even though “usually we are the ones who know the job.” The company owed him about R400 (US$57) for the week he had worked. “If I get back, maybe I can get that money,” he remarked.128 He noted that when he had been arrested following a shoot-out in Johannesburg, “They [the police] didn’t give me time to collect my belongings at home.” From the Makhado (Louis Trichardt) police cell for detainees awaiting deportation, a Zimbabwean man said: “We were working. Now Monday and Tuesday people will be paid and we won’t be paid. I was working at the towing company in Louis Trichardt. They were paying me R950 [US$135] per month.”129 At Makhado police station, two of the approximately 20 people in the police cell said they had personal savings they were not given an opportunity to collect. A Zimbabwean said he had saved R600 (US$85) from doing “piece jobs” such as gardening.130 A Zimbabwean farm worker, who said he had a work permit, claimed to have R700 (US$99) at home. Migrants’ vulnerability to arrest and deportation arising from government deficiencies in documenting corporate workers The Immigration Act does not provide for the protection of migrants who, through no fault of their own, lose their legal status. Consequently, migrants are vulnerable to arrest and deportation if they do not have valid emergency travel documents (ETDs) and temporary residence permits. The government of Zimbabwe issues or renews Zimbabwean migrants’ ETDs; the South Africa government then issues or renews the migrants’ temporary residence permits. Employers, the corporate permit holders, are 127 Human Rights Watch interview with an undocumented Zimbabwean awaiting deportation, Musina police station, Musina, April 26, 2006. 128 Human Rights Watch interview with an undocumented Zimbabwean detainee awaiting deportation, Musina police station, Musina, April 28, 2006. 129 Human Rights Watch interview with an undocumented Zimbabwean detainee awaiting deportation, Makhado police station, Makhado, April 29, 2006. 130 Human Rights Watch interviews with Zimbabweans awaiting deportation, Makhado police station, Makhado, April 29, 2006. 35 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOLUME 18. NO. 6(A)