Samantha Chimbuya, a 30-year-old mother of two, left Zimbabwe in 2019 for better opportunities in South Africa. She found work, could afford food and believed her children had access to better education and healthcare. But as June 30 approached, a deadline set by anti-immigrant activist groups for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa, she packed her belongings and returned.
“It was not safe any more. They were raiding our homes, warning us to leave. It was scary,” Chimbuya told Al Jazeera.
She had been living in KwaZulu-Natal when protests intensified. Groups including March and March accused undocumented migrants of taking jobs and straining public services. The South African government did not impose the deadline, saying June 30 would be a normal day and warning against intimidation and violence. But thousands of migrants left amid fears of unrest.
By July 28, 116,670 Zimbabweans had returned from South Africa, according to Information Minister Zhemu Soda. Of those, 36,940 were assisted by the government, while 79,730 returned independently. A further 38,057 had registered for employment, Soda said.
For Chimbuya, coming home meant confronting the economic difficulties that pushed her to leave. She has struggled to find work, relies on family and friends, and her husband remains in South Africa where she says he too is struggling.
Reverend Useni Sibanda, executive director of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, said many returnees had spent years abroad and were coming home without jobs or adequate support. Some had not invested in homes or property in Zimbabwe, leaving them with little to fall back on.
“They are coming back to a country where there are no jobs and where the social support systems may not be enough to accommodate them,” Sibanda said.
Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe said authorities were screening and profiling returnees to identify skills and needs. Reintegration centres were being established, and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Schools was considering recruiting qualified teachers among those who returned. Garwe also said companies were being encouraged to employ skilled returnees and that vocational training and support for people wanting to start businesses were being considered.
Sidney Bunya, from Zvimba, left Zimbabwe in March 2020 due to economic hardship. He worked in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, where a cousin introduced him to professional carpenters. He honed his skills and secured large projects specialising in roof trusses. But in 2026, groups demanding permits raided his workplace. Bunya had only his passport, and employers became reluctant to hire him. He bought carpentry tools, shipped them to Zimbabwe and left before the June 30 deadline. Using his savings, he started a business at home that now supports his family and employs five people.