education

Zim traders accuse SA border officers of beating them, burning their stalls

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GroundUp

Informal traders are accusing Border Management Authority (BMA) officials at Beitbridge Border in Limpopo of beating them and burning their belongings.
BMA has denied the allegations.
The Zimbabwean traders acknowledge that they were undocumented at the time.
Lawyers for Human Rights condemned the actions by BMA officers, calling it unlawful and a violation of basic human rights.

Informal traders are accusing Border Management Authority (BMA) officials at Beitbridge Border in Limpopo of beating them and burning their belongings. The Zimbabwean traders acknowledge that they were undocumented at the time.

Lawyers for Human Rights condemned the actions by BMA officers against the hawkers at the Beitbridge border, calling it unlawful and a violation of basic human rights.

We spoke to traders who sell sweets and fruit at the port of entry. They claim that a week before Easter weekend, BMA officers came to their stalls, demanding to see their documents. When they could not produce them, they were hit, forced to lay face-down on the ground and their small wooden stalls were set alight.

The traders have been selling their goods at the border from a few months to as long as five years.

“This sort of treatment is very different from what police and soldiers do. They do not beat us or burn our stuff. Instead, we are bundled and taken to Musina police station then later deported,” said a 37-year-old trader who also takes goods from South Africa to Zimbabwe for a fee.

Another trader, who only identified herself as Chiedza, said she was one of the people beaten and arrested then later deported to Zimbabwe. Chiedza has been coming to Beitbridge, on the South African side, since 2020 to sell assorted fruit.

She has two children who live alone and attend school in Zimbabwe on the days she sells her produce at the border. “To be honest I quickly informed them that I had no passport. A female BMA slapped and beat me using her black boots. Several of us were taken to an office at the border. We were all ordered to stand with hands grabbing our heads. They came again beating us then bundled us into a police van to Musina Police station,” she said.

Chiedza told GroundUp that she was among 20 people arrested and deported that day. “The money I make from selling food, pays for school fees and rent.”

Mmemme Mogotsi, deputy assistant commissioner and spokesman for the BMA, denied the allegations.

Border Management Authority officials checking the documents of traders at Beitbridge Border in Limpopo last month. Photo supplied

Mogotsi told GroundUp that the traders needed to prove that it was in fact the BMA authorities who conducted the raid. GroundUp was sent a photograph from a witness clearly showing BMA officers standing around a group of men on the ground, face down, with their hands behind their backs.

“The BMA has and continues to uphold the fundamental human rights that apply to every traveller through our ports, regardless of their nationality or immigration status. Our staff and Border Guards are well trained and sensitive to human rights and protocols,” said Mogotsi.

She added that it was the responsibility of the traders to “be in the country legally and uphold the laws of the country”.

But Tumelo Mogale, a legal counsellor at Lawyers for Human Rights, told GroundUp that BMA does not have the powers “to assault nor burn properties of any person within the Republic of South Africa”.

“The correct procedure must be followed by BMA officials, as one of their responsibilities is immigration control. They can ask any person to identify themselves or ask for their documentation. If the person is undocumented, then the BMA officials are authorised to arrest that person and hand them to Immigration officers or to SAPS,” he said.

“Nowhere in the law are SAPS, Immigration officers and BMA officials allowed to assault any person regardless of whether the person is documented or undocumented,” he said.

Beitbridge economy

The informal traders are an essential part of the Beitbridge economy. They are selling vital goods for low-income people, many of whom are crossing the border one way or another, and have to wait for hours. The border is also loosely guarded. So some of the traders, like the Zimbabwean woman whose children go to school in Zimbabwe, possibly crosses the border regularly without documents, quite easily.

This has been going on for years. To suddenly use strong-arm tactics against the traders ignores the facts that they are a critical part of the economy and that the border is, through no fault of theirs, porous.

education

Suspect nabbed for poaching Zebra in wildlife ranch

29th April 2024

Courts & Crime

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By Staff Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has confirmed the arrest of a Chiredzi villager in the Lowveld for allegedly killing a Zebra.

The 23-year-old suspect, who is expected to appear in court, was found in possession of 15 kilogrammes of dried meat of the Zebra.

“On April 27, 2024, police in Chiredzi arrested Digital Dhliwayo (23) in connection with a case of poaching a Zebra at Humani Ranch.

“The suspect was found with 15 kilogrammes of semi dried Zebra meat at Mabhiza Village, Humani and he confessed to the police that he killed the Zebra at the ranch on April 25, 2024,” said police through a social media post.

education

Kenya delays schools reopening due to El Nino-induced floods

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By ENCA

KENYA said Monday that it would postpone the reopening of schools by one week due to “ongoing heavy rains” that have triggered deadly floods in the East African nation.

Schools were originally scheduled to reopen on Monday, following mid-term holidays, but the torrential monsoon downpours have affected many educational facilities, prompting the education ministry to delay the resumption of classes.

“The devastating effects of the rains in some of the schools is so severe that it will be imprudent to risk the lives of learners and staff before water-tight measures are put in place to ensure adequate safety,” Education Minister Ezekiel Machogu said.

“Based on this assessment, the Ministry of Education has resolved to postpone the reopening of all primary and secondary schools by one week, to Monday, May 6, 2024,” he said in a statement.

Seventy-six people have lost their lives in Kenya since March, as heavier than usual rains batter East Africa, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern.

Flash floods have submerged roads and neighbourhoods, leading to the displacement of more than 130,000 people across 24,000 households, many of them in the capital Nairobi, according to government figures released on Saturday.

Sixty-four public schools in Nairobi – nearly a third of the total number – have been “substantially affected” by the flooding, Belio Kipsang, the principal secretary for education, said Friday.

In eastern Kenya, a boat carrying “a large number of people” capsized on Sunday in flooded Tana River county, the Kenya Red Cross said on X, adding that 23 others had been rescued.

Video footage shared online and broadcast on television showed the crowded boat sinking, with people screaming as onlookers watched in horror.

The monsoons have also wreaked havoc across neighbouring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides.

In Burundi, one of the world’s poorest countries, around 96,000 people have been displaced by months of relentless rains, the United Nations and the government said this month.

Uganda has also suffered heavy storms that have caused riverbanks to burst, with two deaths confirmed and several hundred villagers displaced.

Late last year, more than 300 people died in rains and floods in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, just as the region was trying to recover from its worst drought in four decades that left millions of people hungry.

El Nino is a naturally occurring climate pattern typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.

education

Zimbabweans short-changed as ZiG new currency resistance grows

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By Mary Taruvinga / Darlington Gatsi

DESPITE the recent launch of Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency by the Reserve Bank, many Zimbabweans are finding themselves priced out of the market yet again.

ZiG is already circulating on the market electronically and the hard currency is expected to be released on the market this week.

NewZimbabwe.com has established that retailers across the country are increasingly favouring the US dollar for transactions, with some setting prices directly in line with the volatile black market exchange rate.

This trend comes as a blow to hopes that the new currency would stabilize the economy, and ease access to basic goods.

A snap survey carried out by NewZimbabwe.com revealed a mixed picture.

While some retailers are displaying prices in both USD and ZiG dollars at the official exchange rate, others are charging exorbitant mark-ups for local currency purchases by pegging prices using unjustified exchange rates.

The official interbank rate stands at US$1-ZiG1400 but some retailers are transacting using rates as high as ZiG1900

At Gain Cash and Carry, owned by National Foods, a 10 kilogramme packet of mealie meal is costing ZiG107 while in US$ it is fetching US$6.20.

The same product at TM Pick n Pay is costing US$6.97 while in local currency it has been pegged at ZiG92.70

Mohammed Mussa, displayed a signage accepting the local currency, but refused to accept the transactions at till points.

A cashier at one of the four operational tills said the system had been down since Thursday morning. Two follow-ups on Friday morning and afternoon also revealed that the system “was still down.”

An unsuspecting worker at the wholesaler, however, told NewZimbabwe.com that they are yet to accept ZiG currency transactions.

“Pafeya chaipo muno ZiG haritodiwe. Kungoisawo hedu notice incase law enforcement agents walks in. (To tell you the truth, we are only displaying as you can see but ZiG is not accepted here. But you can go to the cashiers and ask),” said the employee.

This practice leaves many Zimbabweans, who earn their salaries in local currency, at a significant disadvantage.

Forced to either forego essential goods or access USD at inflated black-market rates, their purchasing power is severely eroded.

The government has previously warned retailers against such practices, advocating for a dual pricing system that reflects the official exchange rate.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is currently carrying out a blitz to nail companies that are violating the laws.

FIU director Oliver Chiperesa recently said tough measures will be taken to send a clear message to would-be offenders.

A total of 11 entities recently had their accounts frozen for refusing to trade in ZiG.

However, enforcement appears to be lacking, leaving consumers feeling helpless.

Many retailers continue to shun local currency on pretext that they are in a process to restructure their systems.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) president, Denford Mutashu said there is need to alert authorities if any of its members are operating outside the law.

He said it has been difficult to track offenders on their side due to lack of resources.

“The issue is sometimes we don’t even have airtime to call authorities. It will be a huge sabotage if any retailers are breaching the law, it is not nice and of course, we can always tip law enforcers,” he said

“So far, I have not used ZiG myself so I’m not very sure about the situation unfolding on the ground,” he added.

Since its launch ZiG has been under constant scrutiny with economists dismissing it as one of the government’s failed attempts to resolve the economic rot.

With hard notes expected to start circulating tomorrow, April 30, confidence in the gold backed currency is low with essential goods priced in foreign currency.

RBZ Governor John Mushayavanhu recently disclosed that fuel will not be sold in the newly launched currency prompting citizens to cast aspersions on the ZiG.

Rosemary Mpofu, the chief executive officer of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, called for stiff punishment for those shortchanging consumers.

“CCZ is always in constant engagement with government especially on topical consumer issues. Our recent survey has observed that the big retail outlets have aligned with exchange rate requirements.

“However it is the small retailers and tuckshops that continue to shortchange consumers through speculative tendencies, and they have been doing this even before the introduction of ZIG.

“In that respect we continue to engage government to enhance the enforcement aspect, further to that CCZ continues to educate consumers on shopping tips and avoid service providers that use exorbitant rates. We also recommend for stiffer penalties or revoking licenses for those promoting speculative tendencies,” she said.