By News24.com

• Hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals, including women and babies, are sleeping rough outside the consulate in District Six, waiting to be repatriated.
• Many fleeing South Africa have abandoned years of accumulated possessions, TVs, fridges, beds, and furniture, and are restricted to just one bag for travelling.
• A 29-year-old mother who spent eight years in South Africa told News24 she left everything behind, taking only one blanket and a bag for herself and her 9-month-old baby.

Hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals are camping outside the Zimbabwe Consulate in Cape Town, waiting to be repatriated to their country.

News24 visited the consulate in District Six on Saturday afternoon, where many of them, women and children, sat waiting to be called to join the processing queue.

Many of the people News24 spoke to said they had spent the night sleeping outside the building near the park along Fawley Street.

While some sleep on the pavement, others are crowded on a piece of land right in front of the building. Some sleep under piles of their belongings, hardly visible, while others sit watching over their possessions.

Infants and mothers could be seen sleeping as a long queue stretched outside the building.

‘We just wait’

In one corner sits 29-year-old Cynthia Gotoza, feeding her 9-month-old baby boy away from the congested crowd.

She told News24 that she had been waiting since 21:00 on Friday evening and was nowhere near being assisted.

“We just wait,” she said.

She said she left behind all the belongings that she had managed to accumulate in the eight years she had been living in South Africa.

The only thing she took was one blanket and a bag for both her and her baby.

“I used to work on a farm in Somerset, so when all the trouble with foreigners started, my employer let me go because I don’t have the correct documents,” she said.

“Looking at what we’ve been seeing on TV and social media, I’ve decided to leave. I do not want to die. I have children, and I wouldn’t know how to defend myself against any attacking groups.”

She said her landlord also advised that she leave for her safety.

“I left my TV, bed, fridge, pots…”

“I’ll see what I make of myself in Zimbabwe. I will try to do something to make my life better – maybe I can start farming chickens and start a business.”

Thanks to NGOs and church-based organisations, she and others had bread and peanut butter for breakfast as well as rice and chicken for lunch.

One bag only

Those being repatriated are restricted to just one bag for travelling, but the area near the consulate is littered with luggage, buckets, clothing, and plastic bags containing belongings.

READ | As ‘deadline’ approaches, displaced Zimbabweans in Cape Town wait for a way home

Inside the building, immigration officers move between offices carrying documents, liaising with consulate officials.

Others collect fingerprints from mothers, some of whom are carrying children on their backs. People queue restlessly, squeezing against each other as they near the front.

Officials take fingerprints, ask questions, and are seen dealing with the children.

Back outside, a bus is seen dropping off more Zimbabwean nationals who intend to go home.

‘I don’t want to see what happens’

As the numbers increase, Steven Mahofu, 29, told News24 that many people will not wait for the looming 30 June deadline.

“I wish I could stay because I could make a living in South Africa. But the tensions are rising, and I don’t want to see what happens on the day,” he said.

“I have been living in South Africa since 2017, and I worked at a citrus farm. I am leaving all that. I didn’t even tell my boss because everything is happening so fast.”

He hopes to reunite with his family in the town of Mberengwa.

With no blanket and just one bag, he hopes he will make it through the cold night if no buses arrive.

He said:

I have made my decision, and I am leaving.

Others, like Benjamin Mashuka, 38, said that while they are scared of anti-immigration groups, they are leveraging the process because they cannot afford to go home.

“Since Covid-19, things were not going right. I lost my job as a truck driver and I have been trying to make ends meet,” he said.

“While we are scared of Dudula, because they will dudula (force out) us, we also use this opportunity to return and hopefully be able to start afresh.

“It’s time to face the struggles of my country.”

Waiting for buses

By 18:15, no buses had been seen collecting any Zimbabwean nationals.

According to some of those waiting at the consulate, two buses departed on Friday evening.

The South African Weather Service has forecast a cold front over the weekend, expected to reach Cape Town on Sunday.

This is expected to bring disruptive rainfall and windy conditions.

The families waiting to be repatriated said they hope more buses will be brought so they can avoid the approaching cold.