Begging to get off the streets

Sarah Mudzingwa does not remember the last time she had a decent meal, and it's been more than three years since she and her three children had a proper roof over their heads. A cardboard shack in an alley off Joubert Park in Johannesburg's city centre was not what she bargained for when she left Zimbabwe looking for a better life in South Africa. A blind single parent, her expectations could arguably have been a little too high but in comparison with Zimbabwe, the past three years have been extremely tough. "Life in Johannesburg has turned into a nightmare for me. I came from Harare hoping for a new life here, but all I've seen is misery and more misery. Being blind makes things even more difficult - I cannot do any other job, so I am trying to survive through begging on the streets, but there are no donations coming," Mudzingwa told IRIN. "I used to live in a disability care centre in Harare. Before the economic crisis we were very well cared for - they even taught us Braille. But hunger set in when the centre ran out of funds in 2001 - services collapsed and many people were forced out to fend for themselves through begging, but begging in Zimbabwe was so hard, so I decided to come here together with my family." Like other Zimbabweans fleeing the country's economic crisis, Mudzingwa regarded neighbouring South Africa, with its large and sophisticated economy, as the place where a hardworking person, even though disabled, could be given a chance to prosper. Instead, every morning, her 10-year-old daughter leads her and the younger siblings across the streets from Joubert Park to their begging spot 4 km away in Braamfontein. None of her children attend school. An estimated two million Zimbabweans live in South Africa, the majority of them illegal economic migrants dodging the police and immigration authorities. Disabled non-South Africans who need welfare assistance are the worst off: to access services they would be entitled to at home they are often asked to produce asylum seeker or refugee permits. Most of those IRIN spoke to said they did not even know how to go about applying. "As illegal immigrants, we cannot even report crimes against us - we are victims of daily crimes, but going to the police station to report is just like handing oneself over for deportation. Many suffer in silence because they do not have the identity papers; we need help in getting the papers, if they are the only means of gaining access to social services," said one. Johannesburg-based Zimbabwean civil society organisations have formed a coalition to provide assistance to the most vulnerable, including the disabled. "We have noted with concern the increase in the number of disabled people, mostly women with children, on the streets of Johannesburg. We see it as a result of the collapse of the health and social services departments back at home," said Nkosinathi Tshuma, a humanitarian services officer with Heal Zimbabwe Trust. "We now have a consortium of organisations that look specifically after the humanitarian needs of all displaced Zimbabweans. Through this initiative we hope to assist them by providing food, shelter for the homeless, and basic amenities. We also want to help them gain legal status by assisting them through the process of applying for asylum." Tshuma said disabled people required special attention, and the NGOs plan to set up liaison groups with the relevant South African ministries, allowing them to recommend some cases for special attention once they gain legal status.