he put his head down on his arms and cried for quite some time. He apologised afterwards for having cried. On repeated occasions, he said “What can I do? What must I do?” The questions were rhetorical. He feels entirely trapped in his current life and sees no way out as long as things stay as they are in Zimbabwe. James’ story: James was in the MDC structures in a district in Mashonaland Central. This is a part of Zimbabwe that is very strongly ZANU PF, and where there have been many farm invasions. He related that things had been very tough in his area for MDC activists, with multiple incidents of assaults, houses being burnt and even deaths. He decided nonetheless to campaign for Morgan Tsvangirai ahead of the election in March 2002. Things became very rough in November 2001, and he was manhandled by war veterans on several occasions, who threatened to kill him, harm his family and burn his house. He felt the threats were very serious, as they had indeed done those things to other MDC activists he knew. He heard via an informer that they were coming to abduct him to a base on a particular night, so he fled first to Harare to get a visa in his passport, which took two days, and then to South Africa, in November 2001. At the time he left, he thought he would be gone only a few months, because his expectation was that Tsvangirai would win the election. However, he did not, and James has therefore been in exile for almost three years, which was not what he had thought would happen. At the time he left home, his wife was pregnant with their third child: she gave birth to a little boy, who is now more than two years old, and has never seen his father. James cried for a long time when he said this. When he arrived in Johannesburg, James was completely disoriented. He speaks Shona and not Ndebele, so was unable to understand any of the South African languages. He lived as a vagrant on the streets, sleeping on cardboard, competing with South African vagrants for space in storm drains at night, being called a “makwerekwere”. Eventually he connected with a few Zimbabweans who agreed to help him get out of Johannesburg to Kwazulu Natal, where it is easier to survive. He made his way from Durban down the South Coast, and eventually a white farmer took him onto his cane farm. He does occasional work for this man, for extortionist wages, but is grateful to have a roof over his head. He barely earns enough to survive, and not enough to send money home, which he feels very bad about. Somebody told him about his right to seek asylum, so with the help of a local NGO, in April 2004, he went to the Refugee Reception Office in Durban. On presenting there for an ASP, he was asked if he had a passport. When he presented his passport, the official said that as he had entered the country prior to June 2002, he was not eligible for asylum. He was told that his visa was long expired, he was illegally in the country and he should be deported. He literally ran away from the office at hearing this, and has not been back. James had heard the day before our interview that his brother in Zimbabwe had died. It was his brother that owned the garage that James had worked in, and he was very close to him. He was very upset both that his brother was dead, and that he would not be able to go to his funeral. He had no plans except to try to avoid deportation until there was political change and he could go back to his wife and family. 85