Author: TSA Press

A large number of children are regularly transported across Zimbabwe’s borders by women who are not their mothers. Courtesy: Michelle Chifamba

Elton Ndumiso*, a bus-conductor who works the route from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, to neighbouring South Africa, sees it all the time: Zimbabwean women travelling with three or four children, who are clearly not their own kids, and taking them across the border.

It’s a crime that most bus drivers or conductors either turn a blind eye to, or become accomplices in by assisting the women. 

Ndumiso told IPS that in many cases some bus drivers and conductors go as far as “talking to” or even bribing border officials, to allow them to let the children and women enter neighbouring countries without regular migration documents.

The practice is not a new one.

“A number of children have been transported by female smugglers to cross the border. Some of the women will be in possession of signed affidavits that claim they are the legal guardians of the children. It is difficult to prove what the intensions of the smugglers would be once they have crossed the border to South Africa,” Ndumiso told IPS.

• The Parliament of Zimbabwe notes that child trafficking is one of the greatest challenges the country is facing as a result of the prevailing economic conditions.
• And according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) — an intergovernmental United Nations agency that provides services and oversights around migration — there are a number of cases of Zimbabwean parents living in neighbouring countries who pay smugglers to reunite them with their children in their new country.

Ndumiso may not know what risks await the children after they cross the border, but he’s seen cases of children being at risk during the journey as well. He remembered a recent case of a woman who was smuggling four children across the border into South Africa and had lost one of the kids when the bus stopped for a break.

“The young child was eight years old and disappeared in the small mining town of Mvuma in Midlands Province were the bus had stopped for recess. We searched for the child but could not find her. We had to leave the woman at the nearest police and a police report was made,” Ndumiso told IPS, explaining that the woman had claimed she was transporting the children to join their parents in South Africa.

IOM told IPS that despite there being a large number of instances of child smuggling and trafficking across Zimbabwe’s porous borders, these cases still remain unknown and unreported because of the nature of the crime. 

IOM-Zimbabwe head of programmes Ana Medeiros told IPS that this was largely due to the fact that in many cases victims were afraid to speak out and tell their stories.

• The 2018 Zimbabwe Parliament Committee on Human Rights’ report states that figures about this illicit crime are unavailable.
• In the report, parliament recorded that in Zimbabwe the crime of child trafficking is difficult to establish as large amounts of money is gathered in the illegal trade to create networks around the world.
• “These are calculative syndicates who create links within the government and … world to recruit unsuspecting victims who are lured by the need to improve their lives,” read the report.

Head of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, an independent rights body in this southern African nation, Virginia Muwanigwa, told IPS that very few cases of child trafficking are addressed each year in Zimbabwe as they are difficult to trace.

“In most cases, the traffickers who pay the smugglers to transport the children along the borders are close family members who may have … affidavits and consent from parents or guardians of the children for transportation and may also pay a bribe to border officials,” she explained. 

According to IOM, smuggling is mostly prevalent on the borders of South Africa and Botswana because documents can be forged and people bribed to allow entry without proper documents.

Medeiros, however, was careful to point out that, “smugglers are not traffickers because in most cases they are paid for their service to facilitate the process of smuggling. However, in some cases they may be linked to the traffickers.” The easily porous borders means that the trafficking of children is also prevalent.

“Child trafficking cases are difficult to trace because minors are not responsible for their actions and there is a thin line between smuggling and trafficking. Trafficking is not always clear as many trafficked people may be recorded as migrants in the country of destination,” Medeiros told IPS.

And Medeiros told IPS that when it comes to cases of child trafficking, usually trusted people like church and family members recruited children with promised work or education outside the country where they either ended up in domestic servitude or as sex salves.

“As a result of the nature of the crime, the component of confidentiality when investigating the issues of child trafficking and lack of knowledge on the crime of human trafficking, many families and children fall victim to trafficking, particularly with people who are close to them who are paid by traffickers to recruit young children,” Medeiros told IPS.

IOM is currently supporting Zimbabwe with capacity building and training programmes to educate people on the crime of human trafficking.

“IOM has supported the government through the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare and Civil Society Organisations in providing information through promotional materials such as flyers, banners, T-shirts, road-shows throughout the country’s provinces to educate people on trafficking,” Medeiros told IPS.

In addition, the U.N. agency also shelters victims of trafficking, also providing them counselling.

“At the shelters victims receive counselling and share their stories on how they ended up being smuggled or trafficked,” Medeiros added.

The United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons in Zimbabwe says it also provided more than $ 750,000 in assistance for anti-trafficking programmes covering victim services, awareness and referrals, aligning legislation and building mutual capacity.

The Global Sustainability Network ( GSN ), which actively supports the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 8 of decent work and economic growth, has focused much of its work on eliminating modern slavery. It, however, acknowledges that globally the legal system has failed to put an end to trafficking and that new laws are needed to protect citizens from this.

“The legal system can be the driver for change — so let’s use the instruments already in place — the law firms that are willing to drive change. Initiate any new laws/programmes not as a marketing add-on but a business norm and a business imperative. We need rule of law and safety of citizens in place — civilised society cannot exist without the rule of law in place,” GSN states on its website.

Muwanigwa too wants to see stronger laws in place to protect Zimbabwe’s children.

“There is need for legislation reform as very few cases of child-smuggling or trafficking in persons are investigated. Resource constraints are also the major drawback when it comes to issues of human trafficking in Zimbabwe,” Muwanigwa told IPS.

This is part of a series of features from across the globe on human trafficking. IPS coverage is supported by the Airways Aviation Group.

The Global Sustainability Network ( GSN ) is pursuing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 8 with a special emphasis on Goal 8.7 which ‘takes immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms’.

The origins of the GSN come from the endeavours of the Joint Declaration of Religious Leaders signed on 2 December 2014. Religious leaders of various faiths, gathered to work together “to defend the dignity and freedom of the human being against the extreme forms of the globalisation of indifference, such us exploitation, forced labour, prostitution, human trafficking” and so forth.

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The airline, which in Oct. 2018 was placed under administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, received expressions of interest from 10 international investors and had short-listed three bidders.

“A process to solicit for a strategic partner or investor was undertaken, but none of the parties that expressed interest and submitted bids were successful,” the airline’s administrator, Reggie Saruchera, said in an emailed statement on Thursday, without identifying the bidders.

Restructuring of state-owned enterprises is a cornerstone of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reform agenda to revive an economy that has halved in size since 2000, and alleviate a crippling shortage of foreign currency.

The airline has outstanding debt of about $370 million, and Saruchera recommended this be settled before seeking fresh investment. It will lease out two Boeing 777 jetliners it bought from Malaysia Airlines in 2018 and has received nine bids for them, he said.

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“Being involved in an accident is quite traumatic. We want to help our clients and relieve some of their stress and not add to it,” said Zimnat General Insurance chief executive Stanley Mazorodze.

To achieve this, one of the measures Zimnat has taken is to invest in a tow truck and a fleet of courtesy cars, which those involved in a road accident can take advantage of.

The claims process has been simplified to make it as simple and convenient as possible. If involved in an accident, the policyholder can dial a 24-hour toll-free call centre number, 08080063/4/6  where he or she will be assisted with the claims process and offered the tow service and a courtesy car, if the client’s vehicle needs towing.

The new measures are intended to offer immediate relief to the client, those attending the launch at a Harare hotel were told.

The client will have the use of the courtesy car free of charge for three days, during which he or she can make the necessary arrangements for alternative transport.

The new claims process is activated immediately when the client calls the 24-hour call centre from the scene of the accident.

After recording the claim and allocating it a claim number, the call centre sends the policyholder via e‑mail or WhatsApp a police report form for submission to the police.

After police clearance has been obtained, the policyholder sends the completed police report and a copy of the driver’s licence to the call centre via e-mail or WhatsApp.

The policyholder receives back a list of preferred garages for repair quotations. Three quotations are required.  These are then sent to the call centre in the same way. There is no need to visit a Zimnat office.

Explaining the rationale for the new claims process and the introduction of a courtesy car and tow service, Mr Mazorodze said the best insurance brands in the world stood out because they provided the best customer experience.

He said that eight out of 10 clients rate their claims experience as one of the key drivers of customer satisfaction.

In line with this, Zimnat was continually looking at ways of improving its clients’ experience, at making life better for them.

“Accidents happen to even the most careful drivers. We want to ensure, therefore, that our claims process is as simple and stress-free as possible and do everything we can to make life easier for our clients,” he said.

After the launch presentation, clients attending the launch were invited to view the Zimnat tow truck and some of the courtesy cars.

The tow truck and courtesy cars displayed at the launch were branded Shumba Car Hire, which, clients were told, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zimnat.

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The financial services provider on Tuesday issued a statement indicating it plans to oppose the urgent court application lodged by Moyo at the Johannesburg High Court on Friday, February 14, 2020.

“Old Mutual’s lawyers have reviewed Mr Moyo’s latest application and have confirmed that the application is based on a mistaken understanding of the legal position.

“Old Mutual will oppose the application and has been advised that there is no reason why it should not continue with the process to recruit a permanent CEO in the interim. It intends to do so,” the statement read.

“Mr Moyo is entitled to raise his arguments in court. Old Mutual will deal with those arguments in court and will not litigate through the media,” Old Mutual said.

The matter is to be heard on March 10, 2020 and Old Mutual has until February 20 to file a notice of opposition.

According to his court papers, Moyo claims that he would suffer further reputational harm if a new CEO is appointed at Old Mutual. “My reputational rights will also be severely affected should a new CEO be appointed while I am in court to be reinstated to the same position,” he said.

“If the relief sought is not granted and Old Mutual goes ahead and hires a CEO, then the harm of permanently losing my employment is irreversible,” he said. “My right to work, dignity and self-worth cannot be replaced by money,” he added.

Moyo further asserted that the matter would not only prejudice him but other Old Mutual stakeholders such as employees and policyholders.

Old Mutual, however, has hit back at this allegation and said it will continue to act responsibly and remain focused on its core business and protecting the interests of the company and its stakeholders.

Moyo had been suspended from the company in May 2019 and was dismissed in June 2019, over a breakdown in trust and a conflict of interest related to NMT Capital – a boutique investment firm he co-founded. Moyo has challenged his dismissal through the courts and the matter has been ongoing for months.

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Caritas Zimbabwe working in collaboration with Caritas Internationalis and the World Food Programme (WFP) have distributed food to 300 000 drought-affected persons.

Mining is the biggest earner of foreign exchange in the southern African nation, which hopes the sector will help anchor a revival from the worst economic crisis in a decade, marked by shortages of foreign exchange, food, fuel, electricity and medicines.

Zimbabwe holds the second-largest known reserves of platinum and large deposits of lithium, gold and chrome but has struggled to attract new investors who fret over power shortages and whether they can take their money out.

Mines Minister Winston Chitando, who has previously accused some companies of holding mining concessions for speculative purposes, said the government was owed at least 200 million Zimbabwe dollar (US$11 million) in annual fees as of Jan. 30.

Under Zimbabwe’s laws, companies have to pay an annual fee to keep their concessions.

“The 200 million (Zimbabwe dollar) relates to that mining title where the owners or holders have not been observing or are in arrears as far as payment of the mining title is concerned,” Chitando told reporters during a post-cabinet briefing.

He did not give any details on which mines or companies were in arrears.

But Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said that “those who owe money are being given until April 30 to pay up, failing which the mining title will be lost”.

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Zimbabwe is struggling through its worst economic crisis in a decade, with prices of basic goods soaring and shortages of medicine, fuel and electricity worsening. Hopes of a quick recovery under President Emmerson Mnangagwa are fading.

The worsening poverty is upsetting the fragile calm that’s prevailed since the 2017 coup that toppled long-time ruler Robert Mugabe.

After suspending publication of annual inflation data, which economic analysts put at 525% in December, authorities will resume printing the figures next month.

Governor John Mangudya was bullish on inflation, projecting that annual price growth would dip below 50% by the end of the year. Monthly inflation fell in January to 2.23%

“Our task is we stabilize inflation and stabilize the exchange rate. We expect month-on-month inflation will continue to come down until the end of the year,” Mangudya said.

“Most of the inflation is caused by non-monetary factors. That is expectations – that ‘I lost money in 2008’,” Mangudya said. “This is a once-beaten, twice-shy scenario. These are things that shape inflation in Zimbabwe.”

Zimbabweans have little confidence in monetary policy after pensions and savings were wiped out at the height of hyperinflation, which reached 500 billion% in 2008 and forced the country to dump its local currency.

Last year in June, Zimbabwe ended a decade of dollarisation, which fuelled inflation. Mangudya said it would take up to five years to completely wean Zimbabwe from using the U.S. dollar in local transactions.

Seeking to reassure investors, the governor said foreign currency accounts held by companies, donors and individuals were safe, while businesses like mines would continue to receive a portion of their export earnings in dollars.

To ease shortages of cash, the bank will feed higher- denomination Zimbabwe dollar notes into the economy while increasing transparency on foreign currency trading to stabilise the exchange rate.

The central bank governor said he still saw economic growth at 3% in 2020, citing improved rainfall since mid January. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, writing by Mfuneko Toyana; editing by William Maclean, Larry King)

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Settlement of the verified foreign debt will be amortized over an extended period, “with forex-denominated savings bonds” being issued to some of the creditors, the central bank said in its monetary policy statement Monday.

The southern African nation owes foreign entities, including airlines, and fuel and grain suppliers, about $2.6 billion in legacy debt since it dropped the 1:1 peg of its local dollar to the U.S. unit a year ago, but hasn’t been able to meet payment obligations due to the severe shortage of foreign currency.

Another 350 transactions valued at $457 million will be finalized by Feb. 29, the bank said.

Zimbabwe is teetering on the edge of a large-scale humanitarian crisis and South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) cannot afford to ignore it. Half the population (7.7 million) is at risk of starvation, making this the country’s worst food insecurity in a decade.

Maize meal is disappearing from shop shelves and the country is setting up a maize meal committee to preside over the procurement and distribution of the staple. Establishing committees has been the Zimbabwe government’s strategy when it is left without answers. Too often, such committees and commissions of inquiry merely lead to more opportunities for patronage – for example the Motlanthe Commission.

While Zimbabwe, like most parts of Southern Africa, has experienced recurrent drought in the past three seasons, its crisis goes beyond the vagaries of weather and climate change. A drought doesn’t necessarily translate into food insecurity. Zimbabwe’s crisis is largely due to policy and infrastructure failure. The country has less than a month’s supply of grain in the national reserves. How did Zimbabwe get to this point?

Corruption, policy distortions, inconsistencies and outright elitist and partisan policies have been the bane of the agricultural sector and are indicative of how the country has been managed. Investment in agriculture has been low since the advent of fast-track land reform. Both the current and previous administrations failed to provide security for land tenure or make the guaranteeing of property rights a priority.

Although the number of farmers has risen, grain production has plunged to its lowest in years

The government issued 99-year leases for all land appropriated under fast-track land reform. The lease is neither transferrable nor bankable. The lease can be revoked at will by the state. Recent cases of threats to withdraw 99-year leases to people who have fallen out with the establishment serve only to scare away would-be investors. This has made agricultural land a dead asset.

Chasing away white commercial farmers during land reform has seen an increase in the use of land as a tool for electioneering. While a considerable number of landless peasants benefited from the process, land was also parcelled out as an instrument of patronage.

Almost every senior civil servant, military top brass and ruling party functionary has become a farmer. These ‘cellphone farmers’ (who direct farm operations remotely via cellphones) have access to government inputs including fuel, which they trade instead of using it for farming.

In addition, many taxpayer-funded agriculture support schemes have been churned out, including the infamous command agriculture which saw the treasury part with US$3 billion. The government has failed to account for these schemes.

A month after scrapping maize subsidies, the government was forced to reverse its decision

It was also recently revealed that part of the command agriculture money was used to procure top-of-the-range vehicles for ‘monitoring’ the scheme. Notwithstanding the increase in the number of farmers and the money invested, grain production has plunged, and the country cannot feed itself. Grain production is at its lowest for years.

The government in the past year has issued contradictory policies and public pronouncements in relation to grain. Maize has for decades been subsidised, with grain millers procuring maize for a song at the Grain Marketing Board (GMB). The GMB has the monopoly over grain and by law all farmers must sell their produce to it.

The maize producer price has been capped way below what would make economic sense for a smallholder farmer. At present a ton of maize is pegged at Z$1 400 which would translate to just below US$80. The producer prices and GBM monopoly have become a disincentive for grain farmers. Grain production has become less viable as a business, hence production levels remain supressed, affecting the country’s grain reserves.

During his 2020 budget speech Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced the scrapping of maize subsidies among a host of other measures to reduce government’s unsustainable expenditure budget. One month later the government was forced to reverse its decision as maize prices spiked beyond the reach of many.

No one is getting maize at the gazetted price and the commodity has become scarce

The continued subsidies have created an opportunity for arbitrage for a few select companies. The gazetted retail price for a 10kg bag of maize meal in Zimbabwe is currently pegged at Z$70. This is below the market price of Z$90 and less than half of the going price on the black market.

Seven companies have been granted access to government-subsidised grain at less than half the price of importation and market price. Because the system is created to be porous, the same companies with access to subsidised grain allegedly engage in inside marketing and the product finds its way onto the black market. Ultimately no one is getting maize at the gazetted price and the commodity has become scarce.

Zimbabwe has been a victim of successive droughts, but poor policies with anti-market economics, abuse of state resources and corruption have affected the country’s capacity to prepare and stock up reserves for the drought seasons.

In the absence of political conflict and violence, the humanitarian crisis is escaping the radar of regional leaders’ attention. Given the scale of the disaster, South Africa and SADC cannot afford to ignore it. Already millions of Zimbabweans are in South Africa as economic migrants. With the crisis looming there, millions more hungry Zimbabweans are bound to join them.

Since the last South Africa-Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission, South Africa’s government hasn’t been visible regarding the unfolding events in Zimbabwe. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government should use the 2020 Bi-National Commission to be upfront with Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration regarding the link between food insecurity and macro-political and economic instability.

As South Africa and regional leaders continue to pamper the Mnangagwa administration instead of nudging it towards reforms, Zimbabwe moves closer to a fully-fledged humanitarian emergency with ripple effects across the region. A collaborative approach is urgently needed as the implications run across SADC.

Ringisai Chikohomero, Researcher, Peace Operations and Peace Building Programme, Pretoria

This article is written as part of a project funded by UK Aid. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.

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