Beitbridge smugglers paradise: Millions milked of ...

Beitbridge smugglers paradise: Millions milked of out Zim into SA each month

Edmore Zvinonzwa

Recently in BEITBRIDGE

KalaHari Night Club is where things happen for the ordinary man in Beitbridge. It is where people knit deals in the border town.

Like the rest of the neighbourhood from outside KalaHari looks like a cheap dive. But inside it’s a different story. Some of the priciest imported alcohol bottles line the shelves.

The clientele defies demographic classification but all comers have one thing in common, apparent liquidity. This is where the hustlers spend their money after scoring dollars or the rand.

Conversations with this reporter while undercover revealed that most of them make their money from smuggling one thing or another across the border.

Investigation by Zim Now revealed that smuggling goods into South Africa from Zimbabwe is a thriving industry.

“During the first Covid-19 lockdown that started on March 31, 2020, people made money by pushing cigarettes, mainly into South Africa. Some bought houses, cars and other assets from the proceeds of smuggling cigarettes,” said *Malvern*, as a KalaHari patron who did not know he was talking to a reporter.

Contraceptive pills and footwear are some of the goods that have been impounded by authorities as smugglers tried to move them from Zimbabwe to South Africa.

Remington Gold rules

Malvern said the majority of Beitbridge residents are smugglers of one sort or another.

File image of impounded cigarettes smuggled into SA from Zimbabwe

Several sources said Remington Gold cigarettes are the premium product. Smuggler kingpins engage couriers who carry the stuff across the Limpopo River.

A few beers later, Malvern invited this writer to join a group crossing over that night. Malvern had some undisclosed business with someone on the other side.

The less than 3km walk from Beitbridge across the river into Musina outskirts is a tense experience where a lifetime passes yet the clock only counts some 30 to 40 minutes as this writer found out.

Joining a courier gang of about 20 men, we trekked across the border in the dead of the night. Fifteen or 16 of the men carried cigarettes boxes tied up in the wrapper cloth mostly worn by women at traditional funerals (amalembu/mazambiya).

Most of the men carried two boxes each with a couple of the stronger ones adding an extra box. Each box weighs about 15kg.

There was no word uttered on the walk. With no torch light to alleviate the darkness, the smugglers rely on their intimate knowledge of the terrain and a highly developed sense of danger.

Every little sound sent shivers of dread down the spine. It could be wild animals especially the dreaded crocodiles at the river. It could be security forces patrolling. Or it could be rival gangs setting up an ambush - especially on the South African side.

The four armed guards who did not carry anything themselves gave us some sense of security, but it was with a sigh of relief that we finally reached the rendezvous on the other side.

The couriers were paid according to their load and packed the cargo on waiting trucks while Malvern kept his appointment with some shady characters. It might or might not have been a drug transaction as he handed over some money and received a wrapped parcel in return.

Within five minutes we were back on the road to our side of the border. Although the silence remained, it was a better journey, with the worst part presumably over.

Malvern said some of the cigarettes are not consumed in South Africa but set for other destinations. But he had no idea as to the specifics.

Gems, gold, chrome and lithium

Beitbridge has long been a corridor for smuggling minerals out of Zimbabwe into South Africa, another source revealed.

Emeralds from Mberengwa, gold from panners in the southern parts of the country, diamonds from Chiadzwa, they have all been passing through this point for years.

“The white people used Beitbridge for a long time. There was a story some time back that a dog was caught with emeralds in its collar. Apparently, it was trained to cross the border to South Africa where the gem would be removed,” said *Tino*.

Tino makes his living as a day time smuggler carrying parcels for various clients across the border. While he mostly carries groceries, clothes and such article from the South African side to Zimbabwe, he says occasionally he also takes stuff from the Zimbabwe. Usually it is agricultural produce like groundnuts, peanuts, dehydrated vegetables that are sold in Musina and the nearby areas.

The sources said that it is believed that whites are not as rigorously searched at the border. Others said that whites do their smuggling through small aircraft which seems to zoom in and out at will.

Tino offered to help this writer cross through the border post without a passport.

Smugglers can take humans and cargo without requisite papers through the official crossing points by paying corrupt officials in both countries.

He said high-level smuggling requires connivance with Immigration and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority officials, the police and other security officials operating at the border post.

“Zimborders has transformed the whole border post from what it was years back. Trucks go through that entry point from the roundabout and then they go to the scanners if they are containers or tankers. If the haulage truck is covered with a tent, they actually open physically and check the contents, before bringing in sniffer dogs to ascertain that there are no dangerous substances or drugs.

“I have heard that people also take gold out of Zimbabwe into South Africa where they say it fetches more but these, I hear, are small amounts that can be taken via Spillway, Malindi, Mai Maria, Dite, River Ranch, Dulivhadzimo Gorge, Spillway, Panda Mine and Tshivhara. These are the major crossing points on the Limpopo River,” said Tino.

Recently, Beitbridge border police busted a smuggling syndicate following their interception of three haulage trucks that were carrying chrome ore estimated to be worth millions of dollars but had been falsified as chrome concentrate.

Lately, Tino said, there have been reports of lithium being taken out but how this happens everybody still has no idea because those involved cover their tracks.

Chimunhu- human trafficking into SA

This writer used the Malindi Car Shed illegal crossing point to get into Musina and back into Beitbridge with a group of others, including women, who were prepared to pay their way through because they did not have the requisite papers or had “hot” goods, including dagga, into South Africa.

During the day, pedestrians openly use countless trails to cross between the two countries smuggling all manner of contraband.

From conversations with fellow travellers, the writer learnt that Beitbridge is an established transit point, into SA for diverse nationalities especially Ethiopians, Somalis and Pakistanis.

Over 500 Malawians are currently in detention in Zimbabwe after being caught in Beitbridge bound buses, where they were intending to cross into South Africa illegally.

Bodies of four men believed to be Somalis were discovered dumped along the Nyamapanda- Harare highway in 2022 and it has been theorised that they suffocated in a haulage truck cargo trailer.

“The foreigners get assistance from specific point persons who will facilitate their movement into SA. The bulk of them have contact persons in SA who will pay as much as R50 000 for safe delivery of one ‘chimunhu’ (foreign national). It is said some of these (illegal immigrants) actually ingest drugs, precious minerals and other stuff which will be taken out when they reach their destination,” he said.

Maguma-guma, omalayitsha, and corrupt state officials

In Beitbridge, the syndicates that are chiefly responsible for aiding in the smuggling of goods and border jumping are the maguma-guma, mainly young men of Zimbabwean origin who live on the Zimbabwean side of the border. They move easily between the two countries and are involved in the illegal crossing of people and goods through Beitbridge.

They work in conjunction with South Africa-based cross-border transport operators, also known as omalayitsha who carry illegal migrants into South Africa as well as smuggle contraband on behalf of their clients.

They are well-networked and very knowledgeable of the routes, timing and corrupt state authorities within the borderlands and have large spheres of influence stretching as far as Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare among others in Zimbabwe and Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth on the South African side.

Tino said while the foot couriers have an industry that runs into millions of US dollars a year, the lion share of smuggled goods go into SA is through the official crossing points.

He said customs officials and security forces form an enabling mafia as they are paid handsomely to look the other way.

Seven police South African Police Service officials are currently facing trial after being caught in a sting operation which implicated them as enablers of the rampant cigarette smuggling operation.

How much is being siphoned out of Zim?

Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe last year said the country is losing about US$100 million worth of gold every month through rampant smuggling through the country’s porous ports of entry and exit. What percentage of that goes through the Beitbridge border is not known.

Centre for Natural Resource Governance founding Director, Farai Maguwu said it is difficult to quantify the revenue the country was losing through to the leakage of minerals - particularly gold, chrome, lithium and diamonds.

“The total figure lost will never be known since this is an illicit activity. However, a lot can be done. With regard to gold leakages government must put in place a competitive pricing regime to attract local producers.

Based on reports of about 21 gangs carrying about 600kgs of cigarettes each, estimates by this writer show that about 12 tonnes of cigarettes are smuggled out each night through the Illegal crossing points. Add the amounts that go through the official crossing points and the total is probably double or treble that amount.

Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has said that proper accounting of all captured smuggled goods will enable quantification of the goods involved and the revenues lost.

Based on the captured goods, some economic analysts estimate that Zimbabwe is losing over US$100 million in unpaid taxes and duties each year through SA bound or transitioned goods.

Can the borders be closed?

Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said the police were all out against smuggling, warning: “We will not hesitate to arrest anyone involved in crime, especially smuggling or corrupt activities.

“Our targets are individuals, syndicates, security personnel, companies and transporters engaging in the illegal movement of goods across the borders,” he said.

He said police had recorded an increase in inter-city and cross-border buses as purveyors of smuggled goods.

According to talk on the streets, a named long established bus company is the biggest smuggler’s mode of transport as the buses move with very few passengers and large loads of cargo.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi has said the ZRP is ready to deal with criminals, regardless of their standing in society and advised anyone wishing to import or export goods through the borders to do so within the confines of the existing Customs and Excise laws. He said the laws need to be more punitive on convicted smugglers if they are to act as deterrents.

“However, Zimra and other law enforcement agencies have, in the past, intercepted some travellers who attempted to smuggle cigarettes out of the country without going through the formal processes.”

The tax authority has said “Zimra cannot fight the smuggling scourge alone. It requires the assistance of all stakeholders, including the media,” he said.

South African police and their Zimbabwean counterparts last year carried out a joint operation in the Beitbridge border area which was aimed at reducing goods smuggling with Limpopo Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe saying: “These roadblocks are aimed at curbing the illegal crossing that is happening from us to Zimbabwe and from Zimbabwe to us. There is an illegal crossing of all stolen vehicles that cross the river, and there is a lot of illegal cigarettes traffic on this particular road,” she said.

The joint police patrols used helicopters, drones, army and police mounted units and canine sections to deal with the over 200 illegal crossing points along the Limpopo River used to enter or leave as well as smuggle goods into Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Although current figures were not readily available from the police, in March last year, 15 buses carrying thousands of dollars’ worth of contraband intercepted by National Security Taskforce in Beitbridge during an operation in the border town.

About 5 000 people were arrested in July 2022 for cross-border crimes while the ZRP seized 11 floating boats from various smuggling points while a joint operation involving SA border control guards and Zimbabwean security officials in August destroyed an illegal bridge made of logs, metal poles and sand bags near Beitbridge along the Limpopo River.

On its part, Zimra is automating its processes to improve the monitoring and control of goods at the ports of entry. The tax body, which has acquired modern scanners to assist in speed inspection of incoming and outgoing cargo, is also in the process of procuring anti-smuggling drone surveillance systems to curb smuggling of goods through the ports of entry and illegal crossing points.

Support investigation: Philemon Jambaya

Support Research: Monica Cheru

Editing: Monica Cheru

This is a Zim Now team article was produced after an investigation with support from the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) Investigative Journalism fund on transnational crimes