On Borders and the Liminality of Undocumented Zimbabwean Migrants in South Africa

Abstract

The historical continuities of the Zimbabwe–South Africa crossborder migrations provide a context in which such movements have continued, despite securitized borders, in post-apartheid South Africa. Based on a qualitative study of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in three places; namely, the Beitbridge border, South African border town of Musina and the city of Johannesburg, between December 2014 and March 2015, I argue that, securitizing the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe leads to human smuggling, which places smuggled migrants in liminality and marginality, which in turn militates against the goal of free human mobility in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).