Young women foreigners living perilously in South Africa

By Nomzamo Gwebu

Sipho Moyo (31) from Nketa high density Bulawayo says she left the country in 2016 after failing to get a job as a teacher in Zimbabwe. Like thousands of other young Zimbabweans, Sipho says she decided to track down to South Africa to get a job.

“I graduated from college in 2015. I had hoped that soon after recruitment, I would get I job. Unfortunately, I found myself joining the bandwagon of thousands of Zimbabweans tracking down to South Africa in search of employment. However, the situation in South Africa is perilous, especially for young women,” says Sipho.

Sipho says at college, she majored in arts. She says after graduation, she applied for a job in government but was told that only teachers who had majored in sciences were being recruited. She says after spending several months without a job, she realised that she had no option but to leave the country.

“After graduation, there is always pressure from family and friends for one to get a job, but the Government of Zimbabwe has frozen recruitment of various sectors. I realised that it was futile to wait for government to unfreeze posts. Although I am passionate about teaching, I told myself that I will look for any job in South Africa,” says Sipho.

In South Africa, Sipho says she was prepared to do even some menial jobs and ended up as a general hand at a restaurant. For someone who had qualified as a high school teacher, Sipho says the job was demeaning. She however says the situation in the neighbouring country has changing and foreigners are no longer welcome, even if they have the required skills.

“My work as a general hand or at times as a chef was overwhelming. There were day and night shifts. The truth is people in South Africa are fed up with foreigners, especially Zimbabweans. At work, I was treated like an outcast. My salary was meagre, compared to the salary paid to South Africans I was working with. I was called the derogatory name makwerekwere (foreigner) by my workmates. They say it point blank that I am running away from my country due to poverty and corruption,” says Sipho.

Sipho says she has witnessed cases of violence against Zimbabweans with some being killed. She says she has also met hundreds of Zimbabweans in South Africa who have been harassed and tortured.

“Since the beginning of Operation Dudula (force out or knock down), Zimbabweans in South Africa, especially in Alexandra, are living in fear and are struggling to make a living. When Operation Dudula started, South Africans became wild. They now treat foreigners as trash, demanding that we leave their country and their jobs immediately. They argue that their country was not for charity. Our boss at work has since told us to stay home for some time until the situation calm down,” says Sipho.

Sipho says her wish was that one day she would return to Zimbabwe and get a better paying job in a safe environment. The unemployment fears are of concern to many other young women who are churned out by dozens of tertiary institutions in the country every year.

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