MUSINA – Perched on weathered wooden rafts, small groups of people hauled themselves and their bundles of cargo hand over hand along a rope strung across the crocodile-infested Limpopo River.

Minutes later, they were in South Africa, having bypassed the border post at Beitbridge, a short distance away.

By the time patrol officers spotted them, the clandestine migrants had disappeared into the thorn scrub.

The short crossing is one of countless illegal passages along South Africa’s porous border with Zimbabwe, where migrants and smugglers routinely slip through efforts to seal the busy frontier.

At the official border post, streams of people moved in the opposite direction, heading across a bridge over the Limpopo and into Zimbabwe, part of a flood of foreign nationals fleeing deadly anti-immigrant protests in South Africa.

Thousands had awaited the journey home inside sprawling white tents serving as a repatriation centre 20km away for foreigners pouring in from all corners of South Africa.

South Africa, the continent’s wealthiest nation, has long been a magnet for migrants.

But for weeks, it has been swept by protests and violence against foreigners, who stand accused of taking jobs and resources.

At least four foreign nationals have been killed in attacks linked to the protests, according to police, although some African governments repatriating their citizens have put the death toll higher.

More than 21 000 people had been housed and processed at the rapidly built repatriation centre, said its manager, provincial home affairs chief Albert Matsaung.

As soon as some leave, more arrive. “This is a moving target. We will never say we’re closed, we will never say we’re finished,” he said.

Easy to cross

Inside the tents, families slept shoulder to shoulder on thin mattresses while children chased one another between bags packed for the journey north.

Zimbabwean couple Munyai Tungamirai and Patricia Nhamo were returning after paying smugglers $20 to ferry them across the river in 2024 in search of employment.

“It is risky, but I had to do it to feed my family,” Tungamirai told AFP. “During winter, there is not much water, so it’s easy to cross.”

Tungamirai (42) found work on an orange farm in Tzaneen, about 200km south of the border.

But when anti-immigrant groups began targeting undocumented migrants, his employer told him to leave, fearing labour inspections and vigilantes going door to door in search of foreign nationals.

Cradling their one-year-old son, the couple said they hoped to return within a year, this time with valid passports.

But Leonard Moyo, in his mid-20s, vowed he would never come back.

“Here in South Africa, it’s like apartheid. They don’t like us,” said the father of two, who arrived in 2010 and had been working for a construction company.

“I would rather die in my country,” he said, clutching a 14-inch computer monitor, one of the few possessions he managed to collect before fleeing his home in Limpopo province.

Open borders

For border authorities, the steady flow of departures has done little to resolve a longer-term problem of irregular immigration.

Since 7 June, more than 46 000 migrants have been repatriated and deported through Beitbridge, most of them Malawians, followed by Zimbabweans, according to Border Management Authority commissioner Michael Masiapato.

Nationally, the number of people who have left exceeds 60 000, he said, with nationals of Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya taking flights organised by their governments.

Yet officials acknowledge many could easily find their way back through informal crossing points scattered along the frontier, even with increased patrols and surveillance technology announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

“It will be a bit of an embarrassment if we do all these activities and all of a sudden people walk back into the country illegally,” said Masiapato.

South Africa has 71 ports of entry, 52 land crossings, 10 international airports and nine seaports, but vast stretches of its border remain unfenced.

“Because we do not have a physical barrier yet, you cannot guarantee a foolproof no illegal immigration,” Masiapato said.

“I suppose that is just the reality, not just for South Africa but the rest of the world.”

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Going home alive

“I am happy because I am going home alive,” said Veronica Magaya (32) at the repatriation centre with her youngest of two children, aged five, strapped to her back.

After her employer gave her two days to leave, the family spent a freezing night in the open, without blankets, before securing transport to the border.

“I have suffered a lot,” said the housekeeper, who arrived eight years ago on a valid passport that has since expired.

“I do not want to return to this country even for a day,” she said.

Away from the camp, on a dusty stretch of the frontier, officers chased and then rounded up about a dozen migrants who had been hiding in thick scrub just metres from a military checkpoint.

They had intended to use an illegal crossing even to leave South Africa.

A Malawian who gave his name only as Julius (26) said it was his first time crossing the river.

“I just want to go home,” he said.

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