HARARE, ZIMBABWE — A group of 61 repatriated Zimbabweans has arrived in Harare after fleeing targeted violence in South Africa. The migrants were transported back home with the assistance of the Zimbabwe Citizens Coalition, which provided the bus for the journey.
The group, which includes men, women, and children, departed from Osizweni in Newcastle. Among the returnees is a 45-year-old carpenter and father of three, who described the events leading to their sudden departure as horrific.
Despite being a legal resident under the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) and having lived in South Africa for nine years, the carpenter’s family was targeted by locals. He recounted that armed groups gave them an ultimatum to leave by the 30th. Because the families lacked the funds to travel and feared the attackers, they were unable to resist as their property was looted.
“They took my TV. They took my fridge. They took my gadgets,” the carpenter said, expressing his deep distress over the ordeal. “My heart is bleeding right now.”
Now staying at his parents’ home in Chitungwiza, just outside the capital, he stated that the severe trauma has permanently altered his family’s outlook. He declared he would never set foot in South Africa again, noting that his children are so deeply affected they refuse to even discuss the country or speak to friends still living there over the phone.
“If I’m going to die with hunger in Zimbabwe, let it be,” he asserted, preferring to face Zimbabwe’s ongoing economic meltdown rather than return to the hostility he faced across the border.
Driven by severe economic challenges at home, an estimated two million Zimbabweans are believed to be living and working in South Africa, with additional diaspora communities settled in Botswana, the United Kingdom, and other nations.
