Situation in Zim volatile after protests erupt at Beitbridge border

What started as a mere demonstration in the morning turned ugly as the day progressed, following which Beitbridge Border Post – for the first time in over a century – had to be shut down as street protests swelled.

Beitbridge, which is 580km south of the capital Harare, borders Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The situation has been getting tense with each passing day since the Zimbabwean government announced a blanket “ban” on most import items over a week ago. Last week, cross-border traders staged a demonstration at the border after the country’s taxman, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), started confiscating their goods before the official ban date.

A Zimra staffer said two warehouses the revenue collector was using had been torched, while information was that a police detail’s house had been stoned as well as a police vehicle.

“They stoned the cop’s house alleging he was troublesome at the border. They allege he would always confiscate their goods each time they crossed the border from South Africa,” the staffer said.

In the melee, over 30 vehicles were set alight, while the town’s major roads were barricaded with burning tyres and huge stones.

Riot police were outnumbered but used tearsmoke to disperse the crowds, which stretched for more than a kilometre. Sources in the border town said heavily armed military personnel had been deployed to assist police quell the growing protests.

Police national spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the incident. "Early this morning, some people on the South African side were barricading roads and denying Zimbabweans entry into that country and exiting,” she claimed.

They were dispersed by the authorities on the South African side. On the Zimbabwean side, the same was also happening, with a

number of people being arrested after they started burning tyres. There were reports of a Zimbabwean bus driver being shot by South African police, but that could not be independently verified.

Another source said the situation resembled a war zone as the protesters were fighting running battles with police. Government last week announced Statutory Instrument (SI 64/2016) which imposed an import permit on most products, thereby putting most cross-border traders out of business. The Beitbridge Cross-Border Transporters’ Association said in a statement police had refused to sanction the demonstration.

“Police in Beitbridge have refused to clear a demonstration planned by residents to protest over the recently introduced ban of importation of a wide range of goods, including groceries and building material, from South Africa without permits,” information and publicity secretary Tapiwa Tabheni said in the statement.

“Beitbridge residents met two days ago and resolved to take to the streets to voice their anger at the move by the government, which is likely to leave thousands of families in the border town without any source of income since survival in the border town is hinged on cross-border activities. Residents have, however, resolved to defy the police and go ahead with the protest.”

Tabheni said the move was not political but a mere reaction by ordinary citizens. “The Beitbridge Taxi Association (SA), the Mussina Meter Taxi Association, and residents in Mussina have extended an invitation to the Beitbridge Cross-border Transporters’ Association and Beitbridge residents who are being refused their right to protest by the hostile and repressive state machinery (Zimbabwe Republic Police) to join them on the SA side,” the statement said.

It said the association represented over 500 cross-border transporters in Beitbridge.

President Robert Mugabe’s government has recently faced growing discontent with pockets of protests swelling all over the

country against his rule amid an unprecedented economic crisis. Last year during the governing Zanu-PF’s conference in the resort town of Victoria Falls, pastor Patrick Mugadza led a solo demo against Mugabe.

Another pastor Evan Mawarire is also leading his #ThisFlag campaign denouncing the Zanu-PF regime. National Vendors’ Union of Zimbabwe chairperson Stern Zvorwadza is also leading a campaign against Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko, demanding that he vacate the luxury Rainbow Towers Hotel with immediate effect, where the former ambassador to South Africa has spent over 550 days since his elevation to the presidium in December 2014.

Mphoko has turned down three government houses in plush suburbs of the capital, saying they do not fit a person of his stature as VP. Also, Patson Dzamara is leading the Occupy Africa Unity Square campaign, where another group has been spending night vigils in a park next to the Parliament of Zimbabwe. Patson is the older brother of journalist-cum-human rights activist Itai Dzamara, who was allegedly kidnapped from his home in March last year by suspected state agents and has not been seen since.