The police report that it is the role of the army and not the police to patrol the border and prevent people entering through undesignated points, but the army is also under resourced which means that there is very little to prevent Zimbabweans walking in to South Africa in their thousands every month. The police in Musina do not have the resources to deal with the hundreds of Zimbabweans they pick up for deportation every week. Zimbabwean deportees are held in an area by the police station, fenced with chicken wire. This “cage” has no toilets or tap within its perimeter, and deportees are held there in very hot weather: the temperatures in Musina are above 35 degrees for much of the year. The fence is not an impenetrable barrier, and particularly if deportees are held there overnight or over the weekend, then they can escape by scaling the fence.167 Zimbabweans may be deported the same day, or they may be held for up to seven days. It was reported to us that the police only register those in “the cage” just before they are deported. This prevents them having to explain the missing ones who escaped. But if you are not registered, then you are not provided with food, so that over the weekend, deportees can end up not being fed for days and not having adequate access to water, because they are not registered. The police in Musina apparently know full well that their holding conditions do not meet the minimum criteria that deportees are entitled to in terms of the law. However, they have been made responsible for deportees when it should be Home Affairs resourcing this. Police there reported that they have raised the issue of needing more resources with their Headquarters in Johannesburg, so that they could improve holding conditions and cover the costs of feeding deportees properly. However, they have not received any increase in their budgets so far, which leaves them with no option but to continue to hold Zimbabweans in illegal conditions. It is to be hoped that the Musina RRO opens within the shortest possible time. Police approach to deportees in Musina On 20 October 2004, there was a one-day health summit in Musina, in which interested parties could raise any health issue of concern to them.168 The Commissioner of Police raised the issue of deportations. He told participants that they deport around 4 truck loads of Zimbabweans a week. He felt that this was a pointless process, because those that are deported are back in Musina within a few hours. He said that some weeks they deport the same individuals three times. He commented that those who are deported know how to get back quickly, and what is more, they therefore bring with them a whole new group of Zimbabweans each time, showing them the holes in the fence! Senior police seemed to have an empathetic approach to Zimbabweans in Musina, which must be applauded. The approach was that the border is a comparatively recent historical event, and it has ruled out the Limpopo River as an effective resource for both countries. The police would be in favour of a more pragmatic approach to the problem, of acknowledging in informal or formal ways that Zimbabweans are suffering and need to be shown neighbourliness at this time of great hardship. 167 Descriptions of the process of deportation from Musina are consistent whether by human rights lawyers, by Zimbabwean deportees, or by the Centre for Positive Care. The authors were given the same descriptions from Zimbabweans in Musina who had been through deportation.: see Appendix One, Case Seven. 168 The authors sent a participant to this meeting. 73