At the margins of South Africa, ‘Musina’

Musina is a town on the South African side of the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is a small town, but flooded with people mostly from neighboring countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Congo Malawi etc. as well as people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and India. Already one can imagine what goes on in this little town. On one side of the coin the mixture enables people to learn about different cultures and those with businesses flourish rapidly. On the other side of the coin shocking and frustrating things are happening. I hear about and see a lot of mercilessness, brutality and inhumanity. We all are aware that today women and children are the most vulnerable group in society; as a result they are the victims of these merciless and brutal and inhuman actions.

As a social worker I work closely with some of these victims and survivors at the Catholic Women and Children Transit Shelter in Musina. One can already imagine what kind of cases I have to deal with almost on a daily basis. I work mostly with migrants from Zimbabwe and refugees from the DRC and also a few Ruanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia and other neighboring countries.

The majority of these migrants do not have documents, but they get asylum here at Home Affairs. The main push factor is the shortage of employment and economic problems at home; as a result they cross the border illegally looking for green pastures. Unfortunately, many attempt to cross through the Limpopo River where there suffer all kinds of abuse at the hands of a notorious group of lawless gangsters known as ‘Maguma-guma’.  They face rape which sometimes results in pregnancy, brutal beatings, robbery, being stripped naked, being held in captivity and custardy starved for some days. They are sometimes driven around Musina and then told that their money has finished. Apart from these abuses, some of these women and their children face abuse from their own husbands or boyfriends and the children from their fathers such as being beaten to the point of losing their teeth or an eye. Losing consciousness and waking up in hospital.

Refugees from war torn Congo have especially heartrending experiences: some have lost members of their family, while running away they take different directions thereby missing each other. Some arrive at the shelter with open blisters and wounds on their feet as a result of walking for such a long time;  Their clothes are filthy and ragged and they themselves are dirty and starving, with white dry mouths from hunger. It is indeed pathetic to look at these poor women and their children. Few of them women understand a little bit of English, some know few words of Shona – my mother tongue. Their own languages are French and Kiswahili. I am trying to learn French for their sake. So far I can speak just the basics. Body language mostly with my hands and eyes is a great help.

A listening ear and being there is vital in these cases, not forgetting the other crucial role; linking clients with resources. Besides listening to them and counselling I link them with different resources according to their different cases and needs. Thank God, Musina is really blessed with numerous NGOs which cater for different services. Among them are: Thuthuzela Centre which deals mainly with people who have been raped; Lawyers for Human Rights  assist especially those who give birth here to get some kind of documents; Doctors without Borders normally help with those who need medical attention as well as access to ARVs; The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR both work closely with refugees and migrants; The Musina Legal Advice Office (MLAO) with whom I work closely mostly in burial procedures when women lose their babies. I, myself, conduct the funeral service when no pastor is available.

In addition to these NGOs I work also with people from the Legal Resource Centre based in Johannesburg. This group frequently visits the shelter. They take some cases to court such as cases for women who were locked in a ‘Mukuku’ (Shack) for about 3 days by ‘Malaichas’ without food only water. Whilst all these are a great support to my work, of crucial importance is the support of our Catholic Diocese of Tzaneen channeled through Sr Anita O’Leary and Fr Michael Bennett, representing the Bishop, who not only provide some funding and material needs but patiently listen to my sharing and often give words of encouragement. The Provincial Leader of the Holy Cross Sisters and the Sisters in our Holy Cross Province support me in many ways.

These miseries come to the shelter on a daily basis; most of them appear at the gate with sad faces that portray little hope for the future. Within a few days, these same faces begin to slowly lighten up. This gives me inner joy as I realize that my efforts do not go in vain. As a result I indeed find joy in my work. I mostly share my experiences of the day with my Holy Cross community members and I bring all to the Lord in my prayers where I drew strength from Him for the next day:  he was also the friend of the marginalized.

Sister Rudo