Zambia: Zimbabwean Girls - Traders By Day, Sex Workers At Night

Tendai Musendera (not her real name) collects a pile of dirty old rags to form a pillow as she prepares to sleep on the pavement at Intercity Bus Terminus after a hard day of walking the streets of Lusaka selling Zimbabwean chocolates, sweets and second-hand clothes.

There are many other Zimbabweans who are positioning themselves on the pavement to fit in the available space as it becomes occupied.
Unaware she is speaking to a journalist Musendera asks: "Where did you go and sell my brother? This has been a frustrating day because all my chocolates melted in this heat. I am so tired I just need to sleep but let me just give that manager my sleeping allowance for today first."

The manager in question is the one who is in charge of Intercity Bus Terminus. He asks for about K10 000 (Z$1 400 on the parallel market in old currency) from anyone who wants to sleep on the pavement.

At a guesthouse situated in the middle of the overpopulated Soweto Market, Zimbabweans of various ages sell Zimbabwean products that include concentrated fruit drink and condensed milk. The lodge has become a permanent home for many.
But it is at this guesthouse that some unscrupulous Zambian men have resorted to sexually exploiting Zimbabwean girls who, because of the strength of the Kwacha, offer their bodies in exchange for the Zambian currency.

Zimbabwean newspaer Standardplus visited the lodge at midnight recently where the same women who are traders during the day turn to commercial sex workers at night, charging anything from K15 000 to K30 000.

"Your Zimbabwean women are cheaper and they offer a better service. Sometimes even a K5 000 can do because I gather it's a lot back in Zimbabwe. We understand what you are going through and this is a form of help," said one man in between quaffs of beer.

Recently a national television news bulletin carried a story in which Zambian commercial sex workers in Livingstone in the Southern province of Zambia complained that they were running out of business because their Zimbabwean counterparts were "too cheap".

The influx of Zimbabwean traders into Zambia has created tension with some companies complaining about losing business.
However, much to their credit the Zambians in the compounds (high-density areas) have not gone the Botswana way of harassing Zimbabweans.
Mabvuto Banda of Chelstone residential area in Lusaka said: "Although Zimbabweans treated us badly when we used to come to your country to buy bread, soaps and other basics, you are our brothers. We do hope things will work for you one day."

Zimbabweans are almost everywhere in the SADC region as they seek to escape from the biting hunger back home, caused by an eight-year economic recession. There are reports that many are entering Zambia illegally.
The Zambia's Immigration Department sternly warned Zimbabweans entering the country illegally that they would be dealt with accordingly.

The Department's Public Relations Officer, Greenwell Lyempe, said they had received reports about illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe staying in the country. Lyempe said the Zambian government would not allow foreigners to stay in Zambia without proper documents.

He disclosed that many other towns and cities, such as Livingstone and Lusaka have experienced an influx of Zimbabweans, many of whom are engaged in a small-scale trading.
For Musendera and others, getting hold of the Zambian Kwacha -- a currency they used to lampoon -- is the difference between survival and abject poverty.