Businessman Kuda Tagwirei and his wife, Sandra, have pledged $1 million through their Bridging Gaps Foundation to help bring up to 20,000 Zimbabweans home from South Africa.
The funds will pay for buses to transport returnees from South African cities to the Beitbridge border post, and onward to communities across Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Local Government and Public Works confirmed the donation in a letter dated June 26. The ministry asked the foundation to procure the buses and coordinate all logistics, including transport within South Africa and services at Beitbridge Border Post.
If fully rolled out, the programme would significantly increase Zimbabwe’s capacity to manage one of the largest voluntary return movements from South Africa in recent years.
The intervention comes as hundreds of Zimbabweans camped outside their country’s consulate in Cape Town. Many have slept outdoors for days while waiting for government-assisted transport, after fears of violence grew ahead of an unofficial June 30 anti-immigrant mobilisation.
Reuters reported that Cape Town authorities began moving stranded migrants to temporary accommodation as pressure increased on diplomatic missions and immigration officials.
Zimbabwe is not alone. Malawi, Mozambique, and other African countries have also stepped in to help citizens leave South Africa. The moves highlight how rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Africa’s most industrialised economy is becoming a wider humanitarian and diplomatic issue.
