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Crisis drives the S.Africa to Zimbabwe cargo shuttle
JOHANNESBURG, March 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Towering piles of oil, tyres,
biscuits, microwaves and toilet paper filled a small and damp Johannesburg
basement — all destined for Zimbabwe.
The items are loaded onto trailers attached to minibuses which make the
550-kilometre (340-mile) journey north to the border.
Within 48 hours, each shipment is delivered to addresses in Zimbabwe after
being “couriered” over the frontier, sometimes illicitly.
As Zimbabwe’s economic situation has dramatically deteriorated, pushing
inflation above 50 percent, shortages of household essentials have become
widespread.
“When the situation is bad that side, things are better for us,” said
Charles, one of the deliverymen who makes a weekly round trip with
precariously loaded trailers.
He manages orders from individuals and small businesses via WhatsApp
before dispatching items northward.
Charles (not his real name) and hundreds like him across South Africa
offer a uniquely Zimbabwean “personal shopper” service.
Known in the local Ndebele language as “malayitsha” (transporters), they
mostly fly below the radar and do not declare their wares to Zimbabwean
customs.
“We sell and carry everything,” added Charles, who delivers in the western
Bulawayo region. Others that AFP met also deliver to the capital Harare.
Food, alcohol, sanitary products, furniture, electrical appliances,
coffins and even salt licks for livestock flow across the border daily.
Gas and fuel, in high demand since prices doubled in January, are also a
staple of the malayitshas despite the risk of explosions.
“It is dangerous. As long as they are ready to pay, I carry. If I say ‘I
don’t carry this’, my kids will go on an empty stomach,” said Charles, who
has two children in Zimbabwe but spends much of his time in South Africa
where he also has two children.
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– ‘People are very desperate’ –
Though Charles is prepared to risk flammable cargo, he won’t take
perishable goods.
But his fellow malayitsha, Precious, does and she told AFP that “the
craziest thing I had to buy was five big pizzas”.
“We bought them on a Saturday, they were delivered on Sunday. People are
very desperate,” she said.
Impromptu warehouses have sprung up in Johannesburg’s gritty Hillbrow
district where pavements serve as loading bays.
Yvonne, a Zimbabwean secretary in South Africa, arrived with an enormous
sack brimming with items for her parents and sister back home — a monthly
ritual.
Yvonne trusts the couriers and pays with an electronic transfer or cash.
Her latest shipment included toothpaste and sanitary pads, as well as
candles and matches.
“I can sleep easy knowing that they have what they need,” said the young
woman.
Prices are surging in Zimbabwe and even with shipping costs, a malayitsha
is often cheaper than buying locally.
Charles charges 5 rands ($0.34) for 20 bags of crisps, 150 rands for 20
litres of petrol, and 5,000 rands for a fridge.
“The fridge… was also bought in South Africa because if I were to buy it
here the amount would be enough to buy three,” said Emily Maphosa, a resident
of Zimbabwe’s second city, Bulawayo.
The 78-year-old grandmother had just received cooking oil, a sack of rice
and frozen chickens.
– ‘We feel we are doing good’ –
“In South Africa with 500 rands, it’s better — I can buy and afford
groceries that can last me almost a month,” she said.
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“In this country, 500 rand can only get a few items that won’t last even a
week,” she added, while cooking kale.
Fellow Bulawayo resident Nokuthaba Tshuma, a 38-year-old single mother,
had also received a delivery.
“With about 250 rand, I managed to buy all 36 (exercise) books required
for my son,” she said, adding that locally they would have cost more.
“I can even buy a bag of potatoes for them to pack in their lunchbox,” she
said.
To keep customers like Tshuma happy, malayitshas must avoid attracting
attention.
Many drive at night, avoiding Zimbabwean police roadblocks, while in South
Africa they bribe officers to ignore overloaded trailers — sometimes stacked
four metres (just over 13 feet) high.
Customs officials are bribed to ignore items that should be declared.
Charles spends “between 1,500 rands and 2,000 rands for bribes” every
trip.
“Officers in Zimbabwe are not paid enough, so it is a way for them to make
a better living,” said another deliveryman, Valentine Kembo.
Kembo and his partner, who started an officially registered company in
South Africa called Cleeka, also buy in bulk to deliver to Zimbabwe.
But their consignments are neatly packed in identical boxes intended for
an upmarket clientele that includes a former minister, according to Kembo.
As Zimbabwe’s economy floundered over the past year, their business has
grown by up to 30 percent, he said, and goes above and beyond to satisfy
customers.
“A pharmacy would not give us 10 boxes of the same medicine. So we had to
go to 10 pharmacies,” said Kembo.
“We delivered an injection at a critical time to someone suffering from
diabetes. We feel we are doing good.”
BSS/AFP/HR/0940