Cathy Buckle - Zimbabweans' exodus from SA: “We are no longer wanted here.”

A Zimbabwean writer's letter describes a devastating reversal: South Africa, long a refuge from Mugabe-then-Mnangagwa-era repression, food shortages and joblessness, has turned hostile as protesters — echoing Operation Dudula-style anti-migrant campaigns — attack documented and undocumented African migrants alike. Over 29,000 Zimbabweans were deported or self-repatriated in May-June 2026 alone, cutting remittances that total roughly $58-62 million monthly and that many Zimbabwean families depend on for food, rent and school fees. Cathy Buckle writes that returnees face a Zimbabwe with a newly extended presidential term, minimum wages as low as $90-108 a month, and living costs far exceeding those earnings — leaving little prospect of survival at home..By Cathy Buckle.Long time readers of my Letters From Zimbabwe and followers of events here, will know that South Africa has long been our safe haven.Thank you, South Africa, you have been our comfort, our refuge and our safety. For the last 25 years you were a safe place for us to run to when things were at their worst here. A country we went to when violent land invaders were evicting farmers and their workers and burning and looting our farms. A place we could go to when we were escaping political persecution, brutality, violence and torture before, during and after every rigged, contested election. When there was literally no food to buy in our shops we came to South Africa and bought our groceries there and you welcomed us. When there were, and still are, no jobs with livable wages in Zimbabwe and we could not survive, you gave us work so that we could send money home to our families in Zimbabwe to buy food and medicine, pay rent and school fees.This week everything changed.It has been unbearably painful watching our best friends turning against us this week. Not the South African government or their officials or even the police but protestors. Black South Africans attacking black people from other African countries they accuse of being undocumented. But it is not just undocumented African migrants who are running for their lives and the fear is everywhere. Many legally documented Zimbabweans have also been targeted, threatened, intimidated, attacked and had their property taken. Hearing snatches of scared, desperate voices of Zimbabweans in long queues at ‘holding centers’ trying to get away from the place that has been their home, their safety and their sanctuary for years has been heartbreaking: “They just came and chased us out of our homes;” “they didn’t even ask if we had papers;” “we were so scared, we had to run for our lives;” “we are no longer wanted here;” “I had to run, I have papers but they didn’t care,” “I had to leave all my property, I am going home with nothing.”Leaving that behind is one thing but this is what Zimbabweans are coming home to:A government that has just passed a Bill to change the Constitution which enables the President to stay in power for an extra two years and takes away the people’s right to elect a President of their choice. They are coming back to a country where the minimum monthly wage has just been raised to US$90 for Gardeners and yard workers; US$99 for Cooks and Housekeepers; US$108 for Child minders and Caregivers. Nurses will be coming home to a base salary of $250-320 a month. Teachers and public service workers to base level salaries of US$320 a month. Pensioners will be coming to a base level pension of US$70 a month if they paid into the government’s Social Security Scheme. The simple fact is that you can’t survive on these amounts in Zimbabwe and jobs are very hard to find.To put those numbers in context: Rent is US$50-75 a month for one room, without bathroom. Rent in a small cottage in someone else’s garden is US$300 – 500 a month and in a 3 bed house in Harare it is $850-1,400 a month, at least.A single person's monthly groceries are around $120 -$150 for the basics. A family of four needs $400 -$500 a month for food. Utilities and services are: Municipality US$40 - 100 a month; Electricity US$40 a month; internet & phone US$40 a month. Go anywhere by road: Fuel is US$ 2.02 a litre, compared to $1.58 in South Africa; $1.54 in Zambia; $1.53 in Botswana and $1.47 in Mozambique.All this is what awaits Zimbabweans who are coming home. The effect of their lost jobs and incomes on the people they were supporting back in Zimbabwe is incalculable. Their remittances to Zimbabwe have been paying for school fees, medicines, groceries, rent and so much more. Zimbabweans in South Africa send home roughly US$58 – 62 million every month through formal channels alone. (Bloomberg) Their remittances are so important to the Zimbabwe government that they are even factored into our national annual budget.There are a hundred opinions about the events in South Africa this week; about thousands and thousands of people desperately trying to escape South Africa, about who is to blame, about the ordinary, good, kind, decent South Africans who have only ever been our friends and tried to help us. But most importantly the question on everybody’s lips is why didn’t South Africa enforce their own regulations about undocumented migrants but instead leave it to protestors.Despite all the questions, the why’s and what ifs, our hearts are breaking for our Zimbabweans. They made the supreme sacrifice of going to the Diaspora to support their families back in Zimbabwe and this is how it ends, at the hands of men carrying sticks and running through the streets..Read more:.Cathy Buckle: Storms, struggles, and stifled voices – a letter from Zimbabwe.In May and June 2026 over 29,000 Zimbabweans have been deported or have voluntarily repatriated from South Africa. More will follow. After it all, one image haunts me: a brief video clip yesterday of young men climbing out of windows on the top floor of a multi storey hostel and sliding down drainpipes to get away from protestors who were going door to door attacking ‘migrants’ in the building. A young boy in brown shorts and a red and white striped shirt climbed out of the window. He reached for the drain pipe but could not hold on. Every time I close my eyes I see that little boy in the red and white striped shirt falling and I am bereft..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

Cathy Buckle - Zimbabweans' exodus from SA: “We are no longer wanted here.”

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