At a small, unregulated border crossing between Zimbabwe and Botswana, 43-year-old Juliet has become a regular presence, if not an oddity. Using a donkey-drawn cart, she operates as a scout and mule of sorts, helping people to smuggle goods.
At a small, unregulated border crossing between Zimbabwe and Botswana, 43-year-old Juliet Moheng* has become a regular presence, if not an oddity.
“I have lived here all my life; I know the stretch of the border,” Moheng says, referring to the rural border that divides the two Southern African countries. “I have not always done this, but when Covid-19 hit and borders closed, people still needed to bring in their groceries and other items into Zimbabwe, and that was when I saw an opportunity to earn a bit of money,” she says.
The smuggling of goods into the country has always been a man’s “profession”, with gangs of young men becoming a permanent presence along the bushes at the Plumtree frontier, where they can be seen in broad daylight scheming about their next move. Nyoni, a native of the border town, is a “runner”, buying groceries for neighbours and other locals in Musina, the small border town on the South African side — for a fee.
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