Postcard from South Africa
It is that time of the year when families that had been separated for various reasons come back and celebrate Christmas and New Year as a family. Like most people Christmas time is the time when I want to be with my family enjoying the long missed mom’s Christmas recipes. Every parent wants to be with his/her children during this time of the year. This time of the year reminds of the long trips I used to take a few years ago going to down South Africa or Botswana to buy groceries and goodies for Christmas. If you did not experience this time maybe you were not in Zimbabwe during that time or you were okay (sic). I never enjoyed the travelling but I had to do it so that I could enjoy Christmas.
To those in the transport sector that’s when it will be all smiles because its time to make a killing from those poor guys coming back home to meet loved ones. At least this year there won’t be much money to make since some of the basic products are now back in the shops. When the Home Affairs department went down to South Africa to issue travel documents a lot of noise was made about the process but after chatting with my friend who is in South Africa he said some only got promises of getting the papers in December. With the South Immigration singing the deportation chorus, and here it is the chorus of elections next year, it’s now a situation of being caught between a rock and hard place that is if you are Zimbabwean without a permit and a passport in South Africa.
The exodus of Zimbabweans to the Diaspora in the past few years is mainly due to political and economic challenges and many hoped that things would get better after the signing of the GPA. Last week I passed through Road Port in town to collect a parcel from my cousin in South Africa. At first I thought of how I was going to carry the parcel home because in my mind I was thinking of a big parcel. A year ago when you received something from SA you had to go with a taxi because it had every basic product in it. So when I met this guy (Malaicha) who had brought the package I was shocked to get a sealed khaki envelope. I asked, “Is that all?” He replied, “Spend it wisely, it was hard earned”. After reading the postcard that was in the envelope, my aunt was not happy because my cousin had written saying he had decided to stay behind until he gets a work permit before the deadline. I said to my aunt, “You should be happy because at least he sent you cash for Christmas.” But still, she was not happy.
The reason I later got from my aunt was she didn’t want money but to see if my cousin is in good health. My cousin left Zimbabwe during the peak period of the election fever of 2008. I guess with a postcard stuck on the fridge door she will know that her son is alive and she will go to church on Christmas day and give praise to the Lord.