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146 Introduction Borders in the contemporary world mark independent nation-states that attempt to control movements of people and goods across them. In southern Africa these national boundaries have a profound historical importance due to the efforts by the colonial governments of what are now Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and especially South Africa to mark the division between colonial and independent Africa. The term ‘Border War’ or Grensoorlog1 in Afrikaans given to the conflicts in Angola/Namibia was ubiquitous in white South African public discourse during the 1970s and 1980s. Border war also came to include the border with Zimbabwe which was viewed as harbouring dangerous communists and African nationalists. More generally, an ideology of fortress South Africa was erected in order to protect its white citizens from the combined threat of communism and black nationalism from the north. And as Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and Namibia (South West Africa) gained their independence through armed struggle there were real threats and armed incursions while the apartheid government emphasized the swartgevaar (black peril). In addition, South African supported (and many argue created) Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (RENAMO) in Mozambique which undermined Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO) and its newly gained independence for Mozambique. On the Zimbabwean border a ‘no man’s land’ was established between the two countries consisting of two lines of barbed wire fences with a clear track between them for army patrols. During the 1980s sisal was planted in between the fences and west of Musina the fence was electrified. The African National Congress (ANC) armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (or MK) (translated ‘Spear of the Nation’), placed landmines on white border farms, labeling such places as legitimate military targets. In sum, pre6 Governing the South African/Zimbabwean Border Immigration, Criminalization and Human Rights Bill Derman 147 Governing the South African/Zimbabwean border 1994 the borders of South Africa were highly militarized and governed to keep out other Africans. In this chapter we focus on the new and profound challenges to South Africa stemming from the movement of Zimbabweans across its border from Beitbridge in Zimbabwe to Musina in South Africa. There is a bridge across the Limpopo for legal border crossers while others ford the Limpopo either east or west of the bridge. It details why and how efforts to keep Zimbabweans out of South Africa have failed. The border according to the South African and Zimbabwean governments should mark national territories and be subject to clear laws, rules and practices. However, it has become subject to a range of policies and practices that deviate from the intentions of each government, the conflicting interests of police, army and immigration personnel along with international humanitarian and human rights organizations, gangs and syndicates , tourists, business people and those seeking to enter South Africa or those seeking to leave. In Chapters 1 and 2 we focused on how the economics and politics of Zimbabwe have produced large numbers of displacements, while in Chapters 3, 4 and 5 we examined how these complex displacements have taken place in selected areas in Mozambique. In this chapter we examine how, at the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa, the various contradictory state and public interests have produced a series of temporary and unsatisfactory policies. The border has a long history which helps shape contemporary events. However, the ending of apartheid created new conditions in South Africa which have produced a series of new challenges to the foundations and legitimacy of the post-apartheid South African state.2 In a similar manner, the outbreak of xenophobic violence which saw 64 foreigners killed and thousands rendered homeless (Kupe and Worby, 2009) delegimatized the South African state internationally. It also rendered visible contesting visions of who the state should be for within South Africa. In a parallel fashion, how the border is governed renders problematic South Africa’s claims to be based upon human rights. By focusing on the border and how it is governed we hope to illuminate the central contradictions within the broad South African polity produced by the Zimbabwe crisis. The chapter is organized as follows: we begin a short account of the scale of issues involved in Zimbabwean contemporary immigration into South Africa. This is followed by a short history of migration from the region to South Africa followed by an account of the shifting policies employed to control the border. In the next section we explore the dilemmas facing the government of South [18.191.135.224] Project...

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