BY FARAI SHAWN MATIASHE

Primrose Dube owes the existence of her newly built family house in Gwanda, Matabeleland South, to a caterpillar.

The mopane worm, may be quite large as caterpillars go – it can grow up to 80mm long – but it is still a very small creature to have such a big impact on a country.

In Zimbabwe, it has sparked much-needed economic activity in a poverty-stricken nation and, offered a valuable source of protein.

But now its success as a commodity has become an environmental threat.

The cigar-sized caterpillars, known as amacimbi  in the local isiNdebele language, are the larval form of the Gonimbrasia belina species of emperor moths.

They eat the leaves of mopane trees and in Zimbabwe are usually found in southern parts of the country such as Gwanda, which lies about 130km south-east of Bulawayo, the country’s second city.

“I started harvesting amacimbi in 2018,” Ms Dube, 54, told i.

“In a good season, I harvest about 15 buckets, each weighing 20kg.

“We sell some in the capital Harare and to truck drivers who are en route to neighbouring South Africa.”

Gwanda’s location along the highway that connects Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa through the busy Beitbridge Border Post, makes it a prime spot for such business.

“We have built a family house with money from harvesting and selling amacimbi,” the mother of six said.

“It is almost complete. We just have a few basics left, like floor tiles.”

Mopane worms are harvested in summer after they hatch. A good rainy season means a yield.

People pick them from the trees, remove water from inside them and dry them in firewood ashes as a way of preserving them.

“We used to harvest from the trees, but we later discovered that when you pick those that are still hanging in the trees, there is too much labour involved in preparing them,” said Ms Dube.

“So, these days we harvest those that are down the trees and ready to go back under the soil. These will be clean and big. That is first grade.”

Statistics on income generated by the mopane trade in Zimbabwe are hard to come by, as it is highly informalised, but industry players estimate it at $500,000 (£400,000) a year.

During harvesting season, makeshift markets are created along the highway that leads to South Africa, where people trade the worms for cash and groceries.

Buyers come to areas such as Gwanda to buy the worms, but offer low prices there, forcing some locals to travel as far as Bulawayo and Harare to sell at a higher price.

In Gwanda, 20kg of mopane worms sell at about $20; in other parts of the country, the same 20kg fetch as much as $40.

However, environmentalists are now concerned that the trade is becoming a threat to biodiversity.

A recent rise in demand for the caterpillars has led people to come from as far away as Harare to cut down trees to harvest the caterpillars.

This not only leaves the land barren, it also threatens the livelihoods of locals.

Climate change has also affected the availability of the worms: experts believe caterpillars are declining in the region, due to rising temperatures.

Another local woman who is in the business of harvesting and selling the larvae, Nomsa Ncube, says they have been doing so for decades without harming the environment.

“When harvesting madora, we conserve our environment by not cutting down any trees,” she says. “We pick only those hanging on branches we can reach and wait for those hanging on tall trees to come down so we can pick them. This is done to avoid cutting down trees.”

The 43-year-old mother of three adds: “We also use only dry logs as firewood for the ashes we use to dry out the worms during the preservation process.”

It is people from other places, says Ms Ncube, who cutting down the trees and burning the forest.

Indeed, mopane worm harvesting is a major contributor to the rate of deforestation in areas such as Gwanda, Beitbridge and Plumtree, according to Violet Makoto, from Zimbabwe’s Forestry Commission.

A canning and processing facility has been established in the border town of Beitbridge, about 195km from Gwanda.

Women are using this amenity to prepare the worms for sale in supermarkets and for export, says Joram Gumbo, minister of state for presidential affairs in charge of implementation and monitoring, who recently toured the facility.

“Those women involved make a good living out of the project and supplement their husband’s incomes,” he told i. “They can improve their standards of living.”

Ms Makoto says she is aware of what is at stake. “Local communities should be able to utilise their natural resources to improve their lives, and mopane worm harvesting and sale is a vibrant livelihood option.

“We, however, are seeking to create awareness through training programmes on the importance of following conservation principles, especially at harvest period, so that it becomes both ecologically and economically sustainable.” – iNews

BY KB MPOFU

“Everyone finds selling on the streets the easiest way to survive, but you have to be creative.”

Noel Ngwenya (44), from Chivi District of Masvingo Province spends his working days in downtown Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city, with a loudhailer advertising a unique service.

He collects torn or soiled foreign currency notes that have been rejected by supermarkets and other traders – mostly US dollars or South African rand, which are both legal tender in Zimbabwe.

Ngwenya pays his clients 50 percent of the value of whichever note they bring – so they get US$1 for a torn US$2 note or 100 rand for a torn 200 rand note.

“Things are worse after Covid-19, it’s like everyone is now on the road selling something since there is almost no formal employment in the industries,” he says.

Zimbabwe’s rate of inflation has been falling since August 2022 when it hit a staggering 285 percent.

However, in March this year it was still running at 87.6%, forcing Zimbabweans to find creative ways to survive.

A recent International Labour Organization Harare report says 76 percent of employment in Zimbabwe is now in the informal sector, in other words, selling goods or services without registering with the authorities.

The informal economy, massive bank charges and distrust of the banking sector mean Zimbabweans prefer to deal in cash or mobile money.

Ngwenya describes himself as an agent for middlemen who have contacts in the US, South Africa or local banks, where they exchange the torn or soiled cash for good notes.

They provide him with an operating float each time they pick up the torn notes and pay him a commission.

A married father-of-five,  Ngwenya supplements his unpredictable trade by selling fruit and roasted corn on the side.

“Things used to be good but these days business is slow,” he says.

“Sometimes you can be lucky and have someone bring you a torn U$100, some days you have to make do with the US$1 and US$2 notes.”

Decades of corruption and economic woes have led to the deterioration of the national and inner city road infrastructure.

This presents an opportunity for Mayibongwe Khumalo (25), from Cowdray Park, a sprawling suburb about 25km west of Bulawayo central business district.

He is one of many people who patch up potholes around the city in return for small change from grateful or sympathetic motorists.

“We fill up potholes because we see them inconveniencing drivers. I’m broke and I wish I could get money but I don’t want to beg like a blind man,” Khumalo explains.

“We have so many blind people in Bulawayo that motorists are no longer touched by their plight.

“I am an able-bodied person and no one is going to throw money at me.

“I believe by fixing the roads, those who see value in what I’m doing will give me something. On a good day, like today, I’ve made US$9 (£7) and 100 rand ($6; £4) and hundreds of Zimbabwe dollars (ZWL$).

“It means I won’t go back home to my family empty-handed. My three children and wife are able to get by and tomorrow is another day.”

Khumalo has worked as a minibus driver and a tout and occasionally dabbles in music as a backing dancer for a popular musician who performs tjibilika – fast-paced music influenced by Congolese rumba, accompanying songs about social issues.

Of Zimbabwe’s estimated 5.2 million traders in the informal economy, 65 percent are women.

The government wants to formalise this growing sector of the economy as part of a national strategy to increase tax revenues.

It is clamping down on small businesses, sending law enforcement officers to inspect trading licences and fine those who are non-compliant.

Sukoluhle Christine Malima (36), runs a restaurant in an old caravan trailer at a public transport terminus in Bulawayo.

She says it’s impossible to save enough money to register as a business, so she is often forced to pay US$4 fines.

“My plan is to raise money for my trading licence but the constant arrests and increased competition have made things harder.

“Each time you set aside some cash, the police come to check for licences and you have to pay the inevitable fine.”

Malima sells Sadza, porridge made from maize “mealie meal” or millet, and a piece of chicken stew for $1 per plate to minibus drivers and other vendors.

“I buy a broiler chicken for US$6 and cut into 12 pieces which produces 12 plates of Sadza and chicken, giving me $12 per day. From there I deduct US$1 for mealie meal, US$1.50 for cooking oil and another $1.50 for tomatoes and onions, so my profit is around US$2 or US$1.50 per day, which I try and save for my licence. But then the police come again and I am back to square one.”

Malima’s frustrations are shared by Mercy Tafirenyika (51), who has been designing and sewing nurses’ uniforms in Bulawayo’s central business district since 1999.

She says competition is increasing as other people turn to tailoring to earn extra money.

The country’s worsening power cuts are reducing the number of hours she can work and the cost of raw materials is increasing.

Tafirenyika operates out of a block of flats that has been converted into offices and shops for small businesses and sole traders.

She says her business is registered and tax compliant, but Bulawayo City Council has told her shop licences are not valid in a flat, and she can’t afford to relocate.

“Earlier today, I was away at a funeral and the police picked up one of the ladies that I work with and demanded a ZWL$28,000 (US$28; £22) fine in lieu of the shop licence.

“What bothers me is that they do not co-operate.

“Last time they were here I asked them to tell me what licence exactly they wanted, but instead of answering me they became aggressive and took me to the police station where I paid another fine.

“I am not trying to disobey the law, I simply want clarity on the licence issue but no one seems to give us satisfactory answers.”

Tafirenyika doesn’t know what the future holds.

As the struggle to survive gets harder, driven by sky-high inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and widespread unemployment, many Zimbabweans are increasingly despairing.

As the popular saying on Zimbabwean social media puts it: “The Zimbabwean dream is to leave Zimbabwe.” – BBC

BY CRYSTAL ORDERSON

Thousands of Zimbabweans living in South Africa face an uncertain future and possible deportation before a June 2023 expiration of their work permits, following an announcement by the home government last year that there will be no extension.

*Matilda Tebogo (not her real name), a 35-year-old shopkeeper, says she is stressed and nervous about what lies ahead for her and her family. The Zimbabwean national has been living and working in Cape Town for more than 10 years under the Zimbabwe Extension Permit (ZEP) scheme.

Her two children are settled in school and South Africa is home for them, she told Al Jazeera.

“Everything is unclear and we don’t know what to do,” she said. “My children know nothing about Zimbabwe. It will be difficult to leave.”

She and thousands of others are beneficiaries of the Zimbabwean Extension Permit (ZEP) scheme instituted in 2017.

The Zimbabwean Exemption Permit Holders Association (ZEPHA) says the number of permit holders is about 160,000, but each person has an average of three to four dependents, effectively putting the numbers of those affected at an estimated figure of close to two million Zimbabweans.

What is ZEP?

Circa 2008, thousands of Zimbabweans migrated to South Africa in search of better opportunities due to economic woes in the country of their birth.

Thousands of supporters of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, also said their lives were in danger for voting against Zimbabwe’s governing party ZANU-PF – which has been in power since independence in 1980 – and sought asylum in the country.

The surge in immigration led to South Africa introducing the Dispensation of Zimbabwean Permit, DZP, to legalise Zimbabweans living and working in the country in 2009.
In 2014, the DZP was renamed to the Zimbabwe Special Permit. The name changed again three years later to Zimbabwe Exemption Permit or ZEP.

In September 2022, the Department of Home Affairs extended the permit which was due to expire on December 31, for a further six months to June 30, 2023.

This was after groups like ZEPHA challenged this decision and the government granted a 12-month grace period.

What have the reactions been so far?
Advocate Simba Chitando, ZEPHA’s legal representative, filed court papers in October 2022. “If the permits expire, it will be “a disaster for the country’s economy”, he told Al Jazeera.
Another human rights organisation, the Helen Suzman Foundation, HSF, also challenged the government’s decision not to renew the permit, saying, “Those who have scrupulously observed South Africa’s laws in order to live and work here under the ZEP cannot have such permits terminated without fair process, good reason and a meaningful opportunity to regularise their status.”

HSF and the Zimbabwe Immigration Federation Consortium for Refugees will be joining ZEPHA at the Pretoria High Court.

The hospitality sector is one of the largest employers of ZEP permit holders in the country. In a statement, the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (FEDHASA), the sector’s largest trade union, said the non-renewal of permits would have negative consequences for the industry and “cause trauma and pain to people whose only sin was to legally look for a better life for themselves and their families”.
David vs Goliath battle as the Pretoria High Court in Gauteng will have different legal experts from several migrant organisations battle it out with the South African government.

A ruling will be given on Tuesday. “We trust the court process, we put our faith in the courts,” Chitando said.

In December, Motsoaledi told local media that 10,000 people have actually applied to legalise their stay in the country under a new scheme that is yet to be introduced.

The government has also been under pressure from anti-migration vigilante groups like Operation Dudula and right-wing political parties like the Patriotic Alliance who want illegal migrants to return to their countries of birth.