Musina: Late at night, a handful of South African soldiers sit under a tent near a crocodile-covered pool on the banks of the dry Limpopo River, which separates their country from Zimbabwe.
They are assigned to patrol miles of wilderness for cigarette smugglers, stolen cars and most people.
The African National Congress (ANC) government, which is fighting the election ahead of its most competitive election in decades, has said it will crack down on illegal immigration amid rising xenophobia.
According to local residents, border guards are losing ground compared to smugglers who fly drones to spy on unmanned crossings.
The ruler agreed.
Mike Masiapato, head of the Border Management Agency (BMA), which works with the military, said: ‘Do we have full strength? “We don’t have that,” he said.
Zimbabwe, which has suffered years of economic crisis with hyperinflation and widespread poverty, has led to an influx of migrants to Africa’s most developed country.
According to the latest census, about half of the approximately 2.4 million foreigners living in South Africa are Zimbabweans.
In recent years, hostility against South Africans has grown as they grow weary of persistent unemployment, inequality and poor economic prospects.
Politicians trick foreigners into high marks and big cuts to public services.
Most parties, including the ANC and the main opposition Democratic Union, have pledged to protect the country’s borders ahead of the May 29 election.
Some have complicated his main selling point about immigration.
One of them is led by the former mayor of Johannesburg, who recently described himself to AFP as a proud xenophobe. Others promised to build a border wall.
With the threat of losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years, the ANC has tried to make business sense.
Once the banner of pan-Africanism, the government announced an overhaul of immigration laws that would tighten deportations and exclude them from several international refugee agreements.
In October, President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the BMA, which rationalized work previously carried out by various departments.
Illegal migration has worsened “the country’s social and economic problems,” he said, visiting the border town of Musina.
Avoiding this is no easy task.
BMA’s Masiapato said the 200 kilometers (120 miles) that separate Zimbabwe from South Africa’s six land borders are the most difficult.
This allows security forces to play games with smugglers, he said.
Drones purchased by BMA have not yet been deployed.
Up to 18,000 people a day, including shopkeepers and day laborers, pass through the irregular Beitbridge border post, the only official crossing point.
Informal border trade flourished around him.
Some merchants use donkey carts and small boats to cross the river to avoid queues, questions and debts.
They bring vegetables and other goods and take back what they can get for a higher price in Zimbabwe.
The barbed wire fence erected in 2020 was dug up, torn down and looted for scrap metal.
Residents of Alserli recommend riding unarmed along the river.
Migrants reported that there is a group of predators hiding in the low vegetation in the pass.
“Bandits are everywhere,” said Sayiguli, 36, a Zimbabwean who lives in a church shelter in a town near Musina.
Ten years ago, he first took everything from the gun. He said his wife and other women were raped.
Her boyfriend has been kicked out three times, only to return and be sent back the same day.
“I came to South Africa to find greener pastures,” he said, sitting under the iron roof.
Dozens of others sleep on wooden boards while waiting for occasional work in the garden, or hoping to send money home or pay for a bus ride to Johannesburg.
“Everything is difficult. We have ups and downs,” said Asih, who asked not to be named.
The BMA said more than 281,000 people had been prevented from “illegal entry” into the country in the past year.
However, some residents of Musina say little has changed.
“Security forces shouldn’t be like this,” said Conrad Young, a private security contractor.
Some farmers say they regularly inspect and repair fences cut by trespassers.
Others have learned to live with it.
“I let them. It’s not our responsibility. It doesn’t bother us, they don’t bother us,” said the farmer who did not want to be named. “Sweat.”
How S.Africa’s border became a hot election issue
