The fear that follows migrants returning to Zimbabwe from South Africa

Key Takeaways

• At the Beitbridge Reception Centre on the South Africa and Zimbabwe border, families returning after anti-migrant hostility in South Africa include children who had been born in South Africa and had never set foot in Zimbabwe.
• By 16 August 2026, government figures recorded 155,264 Zimbabweans returning through Beitbridge from South Africa, as well as 86,300 Malawian nationals repatriated through Zimbabwe.
• MSF began supporting health services for returning migrants about a month before the author’s July 2026 visit, working alongside the Ministry of Health and Child Care, including at Beitbridge District Hospital and a clinic near the border.
• Returnees described health consequences of the violence and displacement, including dangerously high blood pressure, antiretroviral treatment interrupted for three months, and burns.
• Some returnees arrived hungry, exhausted and without enough money to complete their journeys, and the fear, grief and displacement can take a heavy emotional toll, particularly on children.

Arriving at Beitbridge Reception Centre: Children Playing at the Border

Children Born in South Africa Arriving in an Unfamiliar Country

When I arrived at the Beitbridge Reception Centre at the South African and Zimbabwean Border, in July 2026, the children were playing. They chased one another, laughing and switching between English and South African languages. For a moment, it was easy to forget why they were there.

They did not look like children forced to leave their homes. Some had been born in South Africa and had never set foot in Zimbabwe. For them, this was not a return home. It was a journey into a country they knew only through their parents’ stories.

I watched them play and wondered what awaited them. How would they adjust to new schools, unfamiliar surroundings and friendships left behind? What would happen when they began to understand why their families fled?

Parents Carrying the Weight of Starting Again

Nearby, women sat quietly beside their belongings, carrying the little they had managed to salvage. The contrast stayed with me: children excited by the prospect of discovering a new place, and parents burdened by the uncertainty of starting again.

MSF’s Support for Returning Migrants at Beitbridge

I visited the Beitbridge Reception Centre about a month after Doctors Without Borders (MSF) began supporting health services for returning migrants, working alongside the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

By then, anti-migrant hostility in South Africa had left many people feeling unsafe. Some told me they feared for their lives. Others described difficulties accessing essential services.

When home is the only option left

A Mother Travelling to Tsholotsho With Her Three Children

One woman was travelling with her three children to Tsholotsho, in northwestern Zimbabwe, where her parents live. The house they had occupied in South Africa had been burnt down. Their belongings were gone, including birth certificates, educational certificates, the money they kept and the furniture. The clothes they wore were all they had left.

At an MSF-supported clinic near the South Africa / Zimbabwe border, health workers found that her blood pressure was dangerously high.

I kept thinking about everything she carried: three children to get to safety, a journey still to complete, and a life to rebuild from nothing. Even as she tried to protect her family, her body showed signs of strain.

Her children had never been to Zimbabwe.

When I asked what she planned to do once she arrived, she had no clear answer. Like many others I spoke to, her focus was on getting home first. What came after that was uncertain.

Nomalanga’s Story: Why Her Family Left South Africa

I also met Nomalanga*, who moved to South Africa in 2010 when the country offered more employment opportunities during the World Cup. She raised all her three children there. She left South Africa after her 13-year-old daughter returned from school shaken. Her classmates had begun shouting “Abahambe”, meaning “they must go”, at Zimbabwean children. A longtime friend stopped speaking to her daughter after learning she was Zimbabwean.

As the widely circulated 30 June deadline by anti-migration groups for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa approached, the family stayed indoors. The following day, Nomalanga went to hospital with a toothache. She said a doctor told her it was unsafe for her to be there amid the anti-migrant violence, and she could not receive treatment

Uncertainty About Where the Family Will Go

Throughout our conversation, she seemed worried about what lay ahead. She did not know how her children would adapt to Zimbabwe, a country none of them had lived in. When I asked where they would go, she answered uncertainly. She would take things as they came.

The Cost of Returning: Independence, Friendships and Imagined Futures

I found myself thinking about my own relatives living in South Africa. I remembered my sister leaving Zimbabwe in 2017, hopeful she could find opportunities she couldn’t at home. What would happen if she, too, had to leave everything behind?

For many migrants, returning is not simply a journey towards safety. It can also mean losing independence, familiar surroundings, friendships and the future they had imagined.

When fear interrupts treatment

Gift*: Antiretroviral Treatment Interrupted for Three Months

Gift*, 46, had worked as an electrician and plumber in South Africa since 2009. He told me that hostility towards migrants had interrupted his antiretroviral treatment for three months.

By the time I met him, he had been hospitalised at Beitbridge District Hospital for four days. He had lost weight, his legs were swollen and he looked frail. He received a month’s supply of medication and a referral to a clinic near his final destination.

What stayed with me was his hopelessness. He had lost his appetite and was deeply worried about his future.

He told me it was better to die at home than in a foreign land.

His words were difficult to forget. Behind them was a man who had spent years working and building a life, only to flee when he needed care and safety most.

The wounds that cannot be bandaged

Malvern Pedzisai, 25: Burns After Anti-Migrant Protests Around 30 June

Then there was Malvern Pedzisai, 25. When anti-migrant protests intensified around 30 June, he and his friends fled the scene with 10 other migrants. After protesters discovered their hiding place in the bush, they set it alight.

Malvern and eight others suffered burns of varying degrees. “Two other colleagues could not make it,” he told me.  

Malvern returned to Zimbabwe and sought care at Beitbridge District Hospital, where MSF supports services.

As I followed his recovery, I learnt that he was happy to be at his parents' home but worried about no longer being able to contribute financially. His mother had depended on the money he sent home while he worked in South Africa.

His burns were visible. The fear, loss, and uncertainty about his future were harder to see.
 

Recovery at Beitbridge District Hospital and Worry About the Future

Malvern returned to Zimbabwe and sought care at Beitbridge District Hospital, where MSF supports services.

As I followed his recovery, I learnt that he was happy to be at his parents’ home but worried about no longer being able to contribute financially. His mother had depended on the money he sent home while he worked in South Africa.

His burns were visible. The fear, loss, and uncertainty about his future were harder to see.

The journey does not end at the border

Government Figures: 155,264 Zimbabweans Returning Through Beitbridge

By 16 August 2026, government figures recorded 155,264 Zimbabweans returning through Beitbridge from South Africa, both independently and with government assistance. The figures also recorded 86,300 Malawian nationals repatriated through Zimbabwe.

Hunger, Uncertainty and the Emotional Toll on Children

Some returnees arrived hungry, exhausted and without enough money to complete their journeys. For families already struggling to cope, uncertainty over food, shelter, healthcare and livelihoods added to the burden of starting over. The fear, grief and displacement caused by anti-migrant violence can take a heavy emotional toll, particularly on children adjusting to unfamiliar surroundings while their parents struggle to rebuild their lives.

Beyond the Immediate Danger: Finding Safety Again

I witnessed how the impact of anti-migrant violence extends beyond the immediate danger. I keep thinking about the children I saw playing at the reception centre, wondering how they have settled into a country many had never known.

They had made it home. But for many, finding safety again was only beginning.

Names marked with an asterisk have been changed to protect identities.