Zimbabweans in South Africa: what does their future hold?

In January 2008, Zimbabwean native Themba Phiri, 48, left his home and his teaching job of 13 years to move to South Africa. Moving was not something he wanted to do, but something he said he felt he had to do.

“When I came here, I thought I would work for five years and then go back home,” Phiri said.

The Zimbabwean economy had failed. Decades of mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe and the government led the country into a spiral of food shortages, hyperinflation and soaring unemployment.

By 2009, Zimbabwe abandoned its currency in favor of the U.S. dollar, the South African Rand and seven other currencies.

Now, one decade later, Phiri has lost hope that he will ever return to his home.

“In the years that I’ve been here, I’ve been trying to build a good house and I’ve been trying to send good property, but I’ve never used those things,” Phiri said. “It has broken my heart.”

Themba Piri, 48, uses some of his spare time to write novels and poetry of his experiences in Zimbabwe to help preserve the culture for younger generations.

Phiri said he has watched his friends and colleagues in South Africa continue to send money and goods to Zimbabwe in anticipation of returning and ultimately, many of them never see it again.

“Some die here without using those things,” he said.

“That has affected me to say I’ve changed completely, to say I can’t have my foot here and my other foot the other side. I would rather go back home now or live here forever. So, I’ve decided to stay.”

Phiri added that while his decision to stay is painful, he believes it will be better for him to invest in his life in South Africa so that he can enjoy the rest of his days instead of remitting it all back to Zimbabwe for an unlikely return.

Phiri is part of the estimated one to three million Zimbabwean immigrants currently living in South Africa. His story — and those of all the other immigrants — is particularly pertinent now as Zimbabwe faces a shift in political leadership following the end of the nearly four-decade reign of Mugabe in November.

As the new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa takes the lead and late summer elections loom, Zimbabwean immigrants are starting to contemplate if a return to home is possible.

“It’s something you end up doing, something that you didn’t intend to but you end up just wondering ‘how did I become here?’” said Zimbabwean native Mercy Mvundla, 34, about her move to South Africa.

Mvundla emigrated from Zimbabwe in 2004, leaving behind her only child at the time with her mother. Just like Phiri, the Zimbabwean economy failed Mvundla and she could no longer meet the needs of her family with her then-current job.

Once she arrived in South Africa, she said she struggled to settle down, but eventually found employment as a domestic worker. Now, a mother of four, Mvundla is a writer in her spare time and sends remittances back to Zimbabwe to take care of the family that remains there.

Mercy Mvundla, 34, is the chairwoman of Abalobi Bakithi, a group of artists that create works preserving Zimbabwean culture.

Although she believes it may not happen in the near future, Mvundla is hopeful for her return to Zimbabwe and to be reunited with her children.
“It is my most wish,” she said. “I wish that in maybe 10 years, I will be sitting on my couch with my kids.”

While Phiri and Mvundla’s stories are not uncommon, Zimbabweans living in South Africa face a wide-range of realities and perspectives on returning home.

In 2009, Tino Gwenyaya, 24, immigrated illegally to South Africa. He was 15 years old and was joined by his mother and siblings, with his father having migrated the year before.

“So, you can say it was for greener pastures, the same reason so many millions of Zimbabweans have left the country: to look for economic prosperity, economic opportunities, to look for better living conditions, for better livelihoods,” he said.

Tino Gwenyaya, 24, played an active role in organizing the #ZimSolidarityMarch in 2016 at Wits University. Now, he's using his penchant for activism as a lawyer for a workers' union in South Africa.

Gwenyaya first legalized his status by becoming an asylum seeker and was later granted a passport through the Zimbabwean dispensation permit program. While in South Africa, Tino earned his undergraduate degree in law and is now working on his post-graduate studies.

Despite spending some of his formative years outside of Zimbabwe, Tino says that there is hope for his return to his home.

“We’ve never really left Zimbabwe, you can put it that way,” he said, laughing. “Because my parents are always making plans for us to go back home. Even myself — the challenges that I’m facing getting access to work — I’ve also been considering moving back to Zimbabwe.”

Challenges aside, Tino said the dream for his family and many others is to return.

“I think for most Zimbabweans… they want to go back home, you know? To work, to be able to be back with their families and work in their home country and contribute to its development,” he said. “So, there’s still a yearning among Zimbabweans that you know, they want to return home.”

For some Zimbabwean immigrants, South Africa has remained a land of opportunity, encouraging them to put down roots. Although they still feel connected to their homeland, those immigrants plan to stay in South Africa regardless of the changes that may take place in Zimbabwe.

That is the case with Elijah Chiwota, a communications and research officer for the Sub Saharan Africa regional office of a global union company.

Chiwota immigrated to South Africa in 2008, in search of economic opportunity to provide more for his family.

“At that time my daughter was in primary school,” he said. “So she wanted something, so she came the first time to say ‘Dad, I would like this,’ and so on. So, I say to her ‘No I don’t have money’… So the third time she came again with the same requests and I said ‘I don’t have money.’ And she said ‘Why do keep on giving me the same answer? What is your plan?… So it got me thinking like ‘Ah, OK.’”

Elijah Chiwota said hearing questions from his young daughter about how he planned to provide for his family prompted him to look for work in South Africa.

It was after his daughter’s questioning that he made the tough decision to leave his family in Zimbabwe in hopes of providing a better life for them.
“I wouldn’t say it was a happy moment,” he said. “Leaving one’s country is very hard. You are attached to it, it’s what you know, and you’ve got friends, you’ve got relatives. You are leaving your whole life behind and then you are going into the unknown.”

Chiwota now has a permanent resident status in South Africa and is looking forward to the time when he can bring his wife and children to live with him in Johannesburg.

Although he still feels the pull of his home in Zimbabwe, Chiwota said the reality of Zimbabweans returning is grim.

“One message that you get consistently from relatives is that you must never come back,” he said. “Because things are not okay. It’s better for you to remain where you are if you’ve got income and are able to live there, better to remain there then to come to Zimbabwe, because things are not stable.”

Similar to Chiwota, Beverley Kambarami, 35, is in a position where returning to Zimbabwe is not a strong prospect because of the roots she has established in South Africa.

Kambarami moved to South Africa in 2009 to join her then-fiance Kushinga, who had migrated a year earlier. While she moved to South Africa largely to be with Kushinga, Kambarami said it was good timing because of the financial meltdown that was happening in Zimbabwe and said her emigration would have happened eventually.

“I probably would’ve stuck it out for about five years or so and then probably then moved out to see what opportunities there would be out there,” Kambarami said.

Almost ten years later, the couple has established roots in South Africa with their two South African-born sons and their growing business, a building projects company that Kambarami co-owns with her husband. Like Chiwota, although she says it’s hard for her to be away from her family, the prospect of moving back home is unlikely for their family and for many others.

“In terms of coming back home, a lot of people that I’ve spoken to have said physically going back would be very difficult,” she said. “People have established themselves here, their roots are here.”

Beverley Kambarami, 35, said she often tries to import Zimbabwean food to hand out to immigrants in the community to help carry on tradition and make them feel more at home.

However, Kambarami added that whatever the reality of returning home may be, every Zimbabwean — regardless of location — has a role to play in shaping its future.

“Zimbabwe is not a private company, it’s not a sole proprietor, it’s not somebody holding it; we all have a role to play,” she said. “We are all shareholders, so if this country goes down, we have something to lose.”

While some migrants are starting to deliberate about a future in their homeland, a successful return still faces some economic and administrative challenges left behind by the last administration.

In December, the newly-elected Mnangagwa visited Pretoria, South Africa where he urged Zimbabweans to return and invest in the country.

“I wish to say, may we together agree that bygones be bygones and look into the future with hope,” he said during his speech.

“From now on, Zimbabwe is open for business.”

Mnangagwa went on to detail how the new administration is hoping to revise legislation that is restrictive and scaring off investors. He also told the crowd of investment opportunities in various service industries, agriculture and infrastructure.

Some agencies, such as the International Organization for Migration are hoping to assist Zimbabwe in recouping some of the talent and economic opportunities that left with migrants.

According to its website, the IOM has assisted in the sequenced return of 71 skilled medical professionals, created a website to share job and investment opportunities and helped with the reintegration of more than 600 households into Zimbabwe through a revolving livestock scheme.

Additionally, between 2006 and 2008, the IOM established two support centers for migrants returning from South Africa and Botswana to provide food, advice, medical care, counseling services, protection assistance and transport assistance. In 2015, the centers were handed over to the Zimbabwean government.

Although the future of Zimbabwe is a hopeful sight for many, and programs like those created through the IOM are aiding in efforts to rebuild, the security of the Zimbabwean population is still unsure. According to the 2015 annual report by the IOM, nearly 1 million people in Zimbabwe are still highly vulnerable to displacement.

Regardless of the actions being taken by the new administration and aid organizations, Zimbabwe still has a long way to go in the eyes of those watching from afar.

“So, people are not only thinking ‘Ah, I’ll just go back to Zimbabwe,’” Chiwota said.

“But, they’re also thinking like, ‘If I go back, what happens?’”