Zimbabwean children are being drawn to South Africa to run errands and perform piecemeal jobs for shoppers from their own country - who are heading south because of the unavailability of basic goods in their own country.
The South African border town of Musina has become a shopper's paradise for Zimbabweans; these days there appear to be more vehicles with Zimbabwean registration plates than there are with South African ones. The town is also a regional trucking hub.
The collapse of Zimbabwe's economy, with annual inflation officially estimated at 2.2 million percent, has turned Musina into a boom town.
"Don't worry mkoma [brother] I will look after your car, your small boy is here," a boy shouts to the Zimbabwean driver who has parked his car outside the supermarket.
The 14-year-old Zimbabwean boy, who declined to be identified, told IRIN: "I do not charge a fixed amount - some give me R5 [US$0.65] per car, some give me food, and some just drive away."
Polite Mpofu, 15, who gathers with other children at a South African café frequented by truckers as night falls, earns money by loading and unloading goods from taxis and buses crossing the border. Barefoot and dressed in rags, he says travellers rely on his services.
Talent Dube, 13, from Zvishavane, told IRIN his main business was collecting discarded water bottles in South Africa and then selling them in Zimbabwe, where they are in huge demand.
"I make more money in South Africa, especially when I carry the 20 litres of fuel - I am paid R10 [US$1.30]. The Zimbabweans across the border pay in Zimbabwe dollars, which cannot buy anything," he said, waiting for a driver to leave the food promised to him.
 Some of the children come in from Zimbabwe in the morning and return in the evening. They go through the border and no one seems to stop them from crossing |
"Some of the children come in from Zimbabwe in the morning and return in the evening. They go through the border and no one seems to do anything to stop them from crossing," said the guard, who declined to be identified. "I am worried about the little girls who enter the parking lot for the trucks, one wonders what happens in the dark, the girls can be raped."
Sally, 14, from Zimbabwe, earns money by running errands for street traders. She told IRIN that the South African police did not arrest or interrogate the younger children, although this was not the case with children in their late teens. "We actually sleep next to the police houses at night, we are safer there," she said.
A 2007 report by Save the Children (UK): Children on the move - Protecting unaccompanied migrant children in South Africa and the region, said the main pull factors for most of the unaccompanied migrant children living in South Africa stemmed from the belief that they had a better chance of finding work or other income-earning opportunities and going to school than if they remained in their home country.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
