Nimble-footed Zimbabwean migrants: (im)mobility and the porousness of borders between South Africa and Zimbabwe during the Covid-19 national lockdown

Abstract

This ethnographic study highlights the impact of Covid-19 border closures on the migration patterns of Zimbabwean cross-border migrants. Data in this study were collected using qualitative techniques, one-on-one telephonic interviews and social media platforms from 20 participants over a period of five months. The data were analysed using the theoretical framework of conviviality. Our findings indicate that Zimbabwean cross-border migrants managed to cross into South Africa and back despite restrictions, which suggests that border closures had a limited impact on migration. By drawing on the narratives of Zimbabwean cross-border migrants, we illustrate how migrants, goods and remittances managed to move and how social networks such as hushamwari [friendship] played a significant role in facilitating illegal border jumping, revealing the permeability and porousness of state borders to many diverse types of incursions. The closure of national borders during lockdowns highlights the differences between migrants and border jumpers, the latter of which chose to smuggle goods in novel ways, even though they possess legal documentation and economic status.