Migrant Job Seekers Play 'Cat & Mouse' With SA Police
Scores of Zimbabwean nationals are among hundreds of migrants who throng street corners and shopping complexes in the uptown commercial and residential areas of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs daily, looking for jobs.
The immigrants, some from Malawi, Lesotho, and Mozambique spends hours waiting for job offers from drivers passing by.
They have to evade police patrols constantly and also risk not being paid when they find work. Samantha Mleya from Makokoba in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe told GroundUp:
Police will not get rid of us that easy, this is like a battlefield. We will fight to look after our children.
The bad economic situation in our country does not allow us to stay there. We came to Egoli to look for money. It will not help me to stay at home. l have to come to this spot because it is my only hope to find work.
We live a difficult life here in South Africa. I came to find greener pastures, instead, life is getting harder every day. But it is better than living in Zimbabwe because with a rand l can buy a snack and eat. In Zimbabwe things are expensive.
Most of these job seekers are found at the corner of Pritchard and Post Office streets in Northriding, Fourways Builders’ Warehouse and Decor Park in Randburg.
While some migrants spend weeks and even months without finding work, others say they sometimes land big contracts which have allowed them to take care of their families.
