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From The Times

August 6, 2007

White farmers patrol border to stem the exodus from Zimbabwe

Jonathan Clayton in Musina

Enoch Hungwe’s long walk to what he thought would be a better life ended in the arms of burly white South African farmers. After five days of walking from Zimbabwe, he tried to make a run for it close to the border but his exhausted body failed to respond.

Instead, as he dropped a plastic bag containing all his worldly possessions, he was caught by members of the volunteer border patrol force. “Don’t run away, there’s no point, we’ll just get you next time,” said Andre Nienaber, who runs a game hunting farm for wealthy European tourists, as he marched the 23-year-old illegal immigrant off to a pickup truck to join half a dozen of his compatriots.

Enoch meekly held out his wrists to be bound with plastic cable ties. They were then threaded through a hoop on the back of the pickup to prevent him making a run for it.

Tired, hungry, demoralised, he sat disconsolately and watched as two of the group of four “illegals” that he had been walking with scampered over a barbed wire perimeter fence and made off into the veld [bush].

“They will wait until we have gone and then come back to the road,” shrugged Marie Helm, regional organiser of the local farmers’ union. “We only apprehend a tiny fraction, but the name of the game is visibility. Everyone supports us – the local black population the most, they are affected by the insecurity created by this influx.”

As conditions in Zimbabwe – where inflation is about 5,000 per cent and unemployment 80 per cent – reach meltdown, the daily influx into South Africa, the continent’s wealthiest country, has reached proportions described as a “human tsunami”.

No one knows exactly how many come each day, estimates vary widely from hundreds to several thousand. But one thing is certain: the authorities are completely overwhelmed. Most try to get work on local farms, others turn to crime and petty theft to survive. A handful makes it to the big cities to join an estimated three million Zimbabweans now living in South Africa.

All tell the same story of unbearable hardship back home and vow to return if deported. “I have been walking for five days. In Zimbabwe things are very bad, so I was coming here to look for work. I just want food and work,” Enoch said. Others crammed on to the back of the pickup. “We are running from hunger. We have no money to buy food, no jobs, and things are getting worse every day. Our children are crying, Zimbabwe is crying. I was praying to find a better life here,” said Goodwill Maposa, 35.

The farmers, all of them white and wearing the telltale uniform of the Afrikaner farmer – tight shorts and khaki shirts, pistols at the waist – are members of the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU).

They have formed military-style units, known as Plaaswag [farm patrols], to police the border. They say that they are there to protect themselves from crime but critics say that they are little more than white vigilante groups trying to reassert their dominance. “We are not a vigilante group, we are not here to take away the rights of people just to protect ourselves. The TAU looks after our members because we feel that the security forces are not [doing] the job,” said Ms Helm.

The farmers blame the Zimbabwean influx for at least 30 per cent of the crimes which take place in the area and say that in the absence of government action they have no choice but to make citizen’s arrests and protect their interests. In two days at the border, The Times saw only two police vans and no official border patrols, but several dozen illegal immigrants.

“We are here because the state has no political will to sort out this problem. I don’t want to do this, I am a farmer, I want to farm,” said Gideon Meiling, the head of the TAU’s security and safety unit. Statistics of attacks on white farmers in the Limpopo border area trip off his tongue.

“Zimbabweans were responsible for the death of Sue Bristow a few months ago, she was killed with a pitchfork. I live on a farm 39 kilometres (24 miles) from the nearest police station. If I call them, they don’t even come, but the other farmers do,” he said.

The farmers hand over their daily catch to the local police who deport them – most of whom simply slip over the border again a few days later. The farmers often sympathise with their plight and buy them milk and bread before handing them over.

“This is a human tragedy, they are not criminals just illegals, but we cannot just sit back and do nothing. We are filling a void created by the state’s irresponsibility,” explained Ms Helm.

The Government admits that more needs to be done to thwart the influx. Aziz Pahad, the Deputy Foreign Minister, said: “If we don’t begin to assist the Zimbabweans to solve their own problems the flow will increase.” he said.

Human rights groups are enraged by the farmers’ actions, which technically fall under the Government’s own description of community policing. Only 13 years after the end of apartheid, the sight of white Boer farmers speeding around the country arresting black people touches a raw nerve.

Jody Kollapen, of the South African Human Rights Commission, said that the farm watch initiative was little more than a paramilitary organisation behaving in a racist manner.

But one police officer, who happily took possession of seven Zimbabweans, told The Times: “This is very good, this is community policing at its very best, we can’t do this on our own.”

Troublesome neighbour

— A loaf of bread costs 50 times more in Zimbabwe than it did a year ago

— Zimbabwe’s GDP shrank by an estimated 42 per cent between 1998 and 2006

— It is estimated that 3.4 million Zimbabweans – a quarter of the population – have now fled the country

— South Africa sends more than 4,000 illegal migrants back to Zimbabwe every week

Sources: CIA World Factbook; avert.org; hungercenter.org; capetown-online.de

Sorry about Enoch, but hereâ€™s the thing. These are not asylum seekers and we as SA citizens who carry the entire burden of having them here are putting the economic and physical security of the country at serious risk and making worse an already dire situation for the millions of genuine SA unemployed people, particularly in the squalid inner cities. The statement that the SA Home Affairs Minister has repeatedly made, supported by the President without any noticeable and sustained condemnation by the official opposition, is that she has decided that she is going to do nothing about it and/or can't do anything about it. She and the considerable resources at her disposal have not made the slightest attempt in any case to take effective action in stemming this flow, either at a diplomatic level or a physical level. In short, she has announced to the nation that she has "decided not to do her job". Against the backdrop of the numerous glaring reports aired by the media of a department consumed by corruption, ineptitude and ingrained laziness, this situation is an outrage which will have the direst consequences. The matter is infinitely more serious than the current focus on the SA Health Minister who is merely incompetent and a petty thief, making her an ideal ideological match for an ANC cabinet post. Therefore SA citizens have a duty to repel invading fence-jumpers and send them packing. Remember, Enoch probably voted for Mr Mugabe â€“ but thats the price of freedom.

Marc, Bloemfontein, South Africa

Economics has no colour.

A country of relative prosperity, bordered by a country of millions who are hungry, cannot be expected to employee and feed those millions and survive themselves.

But every country that has to protect its economy from such a neighbor is labled racisit - what I don't understand is how it is deemed racisit to return the black Zimbabweans to their black leader.

JS, Washington, DC,

Robert Ocala... You are not helping by saying such remarks. I am sure that the blacks were happy living as they did before the the white settlers came. As you say, they were vacant lands... You cannot miss what you never had.
Perhaps the coming of the white settlers unsettled things for the blacks, who knows. Yes, things have gone sour in Zimbabwe, but lets not forget that before Mugabe went "schizo" the country enjoyed plenty of harmony, both black and white. You seem to be implying that whites are superior than blacks, that is so racist and in a civalised society we live in, people like you should never be given a platform to air views that do not build broken nations but incite hatred and destroy peopl'es dreams of living in harmony.
Yes, Mugabe messed up big time but dont rejoice in the suffering of others, after all, what Mugabe has done, has affected black, white and asian communities in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe yesterday, UK today, Canada tomorrow and back to Zimbabwe

Rae, London,

To Eddie, Bulawayo, these are not racist white farmers. They are farmers who are doing the job that the SA police are supposed to be doing, but as usual, are not. These farmers are having fences damaged and stock lost, so while they sympathise with the refugees, they cannot just ignore it. They apprehend the refugees and then hand them straight to the SA police, who take over from there and return the refugees to Zimbabwe.

In passing, 'racist' is an overworked word; it often says more about the person using the term than the person or people to whom it is directed.

Think about that!

Rod, Cape Town, South Africa

South Africa cannot step up to the plate and put Mugabe back in his place because they plan the same type of "land reform" that has caused these problems in Zimbabwe.

At some point one must allow failure and self discovery instead of artificial support from an outside source.

Barbara, Cleveland, USA / Georgia

Not one post have I read that makes reference to the racist disposession of land once legitimately owned by white farmers.

Not one post I read makes reference to the outrageous black on white racism against whites in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. Nothing refers to the fact that Rhodesia was the breadbasket of Africa, but since Mugabe took legitimately owned white land and gave it to black squatters the country has imploded and is starving.

Good. That's the one reward we have available to give to the politically correct bastards in a Western World gone mad with cultural Marxist political correcness.

Whites settled Rhodesia and South Africa when they were nothing more than vacant land, and like all white societies they succeeded and grew into a first class civilization. Blacks converged to the areas en masse to get jobs and handouts. With the help of white liberals, they stole the land.

Zimbabwe today; S.A. tomorrow. America and the UK

Robert, Ocala, Florida

Zim is the consequence of the one man one vote one time anti-colonialism of the 60s and 70s. The breadbasket of Africa has become the beggar, and the charge of racism paralizes any first world government from hanging a few rascals and returning their Swiss bank accounts to the treasurys they looted, then develop native talent to rule, not rape.

Walter E. Wallis, Palo Alto, Ca, USA

If only Mugabi were white, then there would be outrage - and action. Too bad it doesn't matter.

Jane Fonda, Santa Montica, CA

The picture of 2 fat white men apprehending an emaciated hungry refugee is a poor choice to show the world if SA wants any support at all from the rest of the world!!!

SA has a moral and ethical responsibility, but then it is rare for the well fed to help the hungry in Africa, isn't it? They depend on the Europeans and Americans to do that so they can scream later on.

Bjarne, Kristiansund , Norway

The last thing we need is to have this turn into another racial snuffoo.. Southern Africa has had enough of that scourge. People need to realise that short term(ist) solutions may result in greater trouble in the future. South Africa is a democratic nation, the government is accountable to its people. Its time the people pressured their elected officials to to heed what everybody has been saying for nearly too long now. Sheltering Mugabe is hurting us all.

Bogang Dumani, Clare, Ireland

Kind of reminds one of what living here on the US/Mexican border is like. The government of Mexico is just as corrupt as that of Mugabe but they play ball with sweet Georgie and get to keep the spoils as long as the illegals work cheap. Keep in mind that uprising against a well fortified tyrannical government when the population is starving and unarmed is not possible. So, what to do? Run!

Mike from tucson, tucson, az. USA

Robert Mugabi has destroyed a beautiful, prosperous and exporting country... but he has not done it alone. Seizing land from White farmers without compensation and without legal authority, doling it back to Black mobs for political advantage... this was very popular in Zimbabwe, and even hailed as "land reform" ...what are these farms producing today? Nothing. The West likes to fault White rule, and I agree the right of all people to have self-determination, but laws and government must be respected, what happened here was not land reform. It is what is wrong with "Black Rule" in Africa, where bribery and tribal mobsterism trump law and good governance. Africa needs to include Whites, Coloureds and Blacks in all aspects of their government, and most of all law and order maintained. I hate to say this, I have little sympathy for people who brought this on themselves, Mugabi didn't do it alone. Its not the TAU that has race hatred, its the black mob that ruined Zimbabwe .

Alan Vaughn, Pineville, USA

These racist white farmers will have it coming if they want war with africans.

Eddie, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

I remember when Zimbabwe was a very prosperous country, of course it was called Rhodesia and the government was white. The world could not tolerate this kind of treatment of the blacks so the UN pressured the white government to allow the blacks the right to vote. They finally did and Mugabe was elected President. He is still President, and each year the economy of the country has declined further. Conditions are apalling but the UN is no longer interested in Zimbabwe. They did their good deed by destroying aparteid. It doesn't matter if everyone is destitute and voting doesn't mean anything when the elections are rigged. Everyone wants to forget about Rhodesia.

Don Holland, Del City, , Oklahoma

truly,this is tragic.But i would want to agree that the South African government is not doing enough to solve the Zimbabwean crisis.Im a Zimbabwean living in South Africa and believe me,all i want is to go home.Nobody wants to live in a foreign land.Would the S.A. authorities rise up to the occassion and tell Gabriel the truth?Or maybe the S.A government has a lot to gain?What with all the groceries being bought by Zimbos and of course the skilled manpower?

Maureen Kay, George, Western Cape

The focus should shift to the problem and not the symptom of the problem. People honestly dont realize how bad the situation is in Zimbabwe, but South Africa cannot pay for it nor its people. Indipendance means exactly what it says. For all out there the South African government asked the public to support and do something about crime. Having farmers helping the police catch illigal immigrants is a tell tale sign at how far we as a country developed in our relationships with each other, we've gone forwards and not backwards. Another point is that South Africa with an ever crumbling infastructure doesn't have the means to support an extra few million people in such a short time and for that matter not a lot of countries will have that amount of spare money laying around to support an influx of people of this proportion

Natie Rautenbach, Pretoria, South Africa

Why are South Africans responding with such punitive measures against obviously desperate people? Why instead are they not putting concerted pressure on the South African government to end support for the Mugabe regime- responsible for the situation so many Zimbabweans find themselves in. The emphasis seems to be on rounding up people rather than resolving the cause of their flight across the border. Talk about blaming the victims! Of all nations South Africa is best placed to find solutions to what is happening in Zimbabwe, yet the impression is that most only care about the 'instability' created, sending refugees back to more suffering.

Kate, Melbourne , Australia

A crime against humanity,the World sits back and does nothing,while Mugabi destroys one of the most beutiful countries and people in Southern Africa. I wonder who is profiting out of this humanitarian disaster, besides Mugabe and his cronies?

David Nigel BRaham, Milan, Italy.

The west should tell Mbeki that when Mugabe's days are over ( which ofcourse will happen one day) South Africa must pay the bill to get Zim back on its feet and not we in Europe and America. Put your money where your mouth is, mbeki. The great Nelson Mandela would have sorted out Mugabe long ago.

Marty, Amsterdam, Netherlands

According to our police these frmers have no authority to make "citizens' arrests".
They are wasting their time. South Africa will just have to endure the influx of unfortunate starving Z imbabweans.
If our President did something concrete about the situation by placing restrictions on Mugabe and his cronies maybe things would get better,
God help Zimbabwe.

Brian O Cinneide, Durban, South Africa

Many people here in South Africa now believe that our government has a hidden agenda to allow the total economic and political collapse of Zimbabwe. When Mugabe goes South Africa will then annexe Zimbabwe.

Doris Mlangeni, Durban, South Afica

People should be able to protect their property, not? Why isn't the SA government doing anything.

Mitch Lamee, Amsterdam,

It's time the South African government took it's head out of the sand and helped find a solution to the Zimbabwean situation.
On the other hand why should SA do anything? They are benefiting greatly from the turmoil in Zimbabwe. What with an influx of skilled labour, teachers and accountants to name but a few. Now SA truly does'nt have competition in Southern Africa. It looks to me that the pros far outweigh the cons.

chenayi, NJ, USA

About time the South Africans stared putting pressure on Mugabe to end this. Their government is useless but the people aren't. its down to the people. The Zims need your help - 60 years ago it was France that need next-door's Britains help, 90 years ago it was Belguim. Time for South Africa to rise up and be counted....

Graham, Washington DC,

It is believed that there are nearly 3 million Zimbabweans in South Africa coming in at a rate of 6000 a day with present troubles. It's killing our economy and we have a huge problem with foreigners commiting horrendous farm killings. The police are overstretched so we have to do something. If this help in some way then I'm all for it. Treat the people with dignity and I am sure the guys will. Obviously you always get a rogue character but you always get one. As a minority people with heavy murders by other Africans people are paranoid.
To see the full extend go to Youtube and type in 'Farm murders south africa'

H, Cape Town,