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Sithole was in the process of building a new house, which was robbed while he was trapped in South Africa. You cannot see your family, give your children Christmas clothes, find out about their schooling, or prepare them for the next year. “I have a family, but talking to people on the phone is not the same. It is better to be with them ”.
Sithole says it’s unfair that the test costs so much.
“Some [people] they are not known or registered, but we know that they work on this side [in SA]. Now they have to pay R850 in SA, that’s M4,200 now in Mozambique [for the test], so to return they have to take the test again and pay that money to obtain that paper that says they are negative. Basically, you’re working just to cross the border, not for your family, ”Sithole complains.
He adds that while tourism seemed to be the main focus when the government was considering reopening the borders, it seemed that little attention was paid to the poor who take low-paying jobs like gardening, painting, tiling and hairdressing to feed their families. .
“Where could it be [they] get money for the test? What other means can you do to minimize this price? It should be cheaper so people can get around. They assume that everyone has money. They are saying tourism, if you have noticed, people who go that way go for business and things like that, but a person who is eager to reunite with his family will not go because of those restrictions, “he says.
The effects of Covid-19 on travel
Sithole says that when the borders were reopened, there were only three working cross-border taxis that he knew of, and they waited a long time to fill. Lack of money meant that people did not cross the border as often.
People are not being paid the same as they were before the outbreak, Mondlane says, but many are concerned about their families’ livelihoods.
He claims to have heard of ill-treatment at the borders.
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