Musina, the northernmost town in South Africa, is situated just south of the Limpopo River, which forms the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Originally known as Messina, the town's history is deeply intertwined with mining and cross-border activities.
Limpopo River Basin
Historical Overview
Founded in 1904 as a copper-mining town by white settlers, Musina was initially named Messina, a colonial misspelling of the name of the Musina people. The area is rich in minerals, and apparently the name originated with the Musina people, who discovered copper deposits and settled there.
The town's name was officially changed to Musina in 2002 as part of a national process of reclaiming the country's indigenous heritage. It's really a symbol of the changing of the guard, but to me also indicates a community that's in transition. Driving on the highways, you still see the old name on signage, but when you get into the town the new spelling is there on the walls.
The economy of the town and surrounding areas is dependent on mining. Musina is the centre of a mining area that besides copper has large deposits of iron ore, coal, magnetite, graphite, asbestos, diamonds and semi-precious stones
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Baobab Tree
Musina is best known for its magnificent Baobab trees. These trees are often known as “upside down trees” because of their appearance of having grown the wrong way up.
Economic Landscape
Musina is a market town on a national highway that connects South Africa to Zimbabwe, and beyond that Zambia. The town, which has prospered off the back of Zimbabwe’s post-2000 economic collapse, is prone to boom and bust cycles. The town is booming… As far as Musina is concerned, we don’t know what recession is. For us, there is no such thing.
Today, China is South Africa’s largest global trading partner, and South Africa is China’s second largest trading partner on the African continent. The Musina-Makhado SEZ, a Special Economic Zone backed by the Chinese Development Bank, is also shown.
Interestingly, very few people are originally from there. It's a border town. There's a truck route going through it. You've got big hunting farms; a large number of European and American tourists go there to hunt. All these things exemplify the complex relationships we have with our environment.
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With trucking and mining, and the migrant labour that accompanies these professions, prostitution and AIDS have proliferated.
After you dig that hole, that's it, nothing grows there. But at the same time, the flow of cash that's generated has served the town and created jobs. It's a complex, difficult issue.
Then there's the hunting industry. As a result of the hunting industry, much more land has been set aside for wild animals. I am not pro-hunting, and am especially against things like canned hunting.
SA's Porous Borders | Border smuggling business
Cross-Border Trade and Migration
Musina is a market town on a national highway that connects South Africa to Zimbabwe, and beyond that Zambia. Irregular migration in the Southern African region, particularly in the Limpopo Province between South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana, has assumed the dimension of a whole market economy that affects the entire population of settlements in both countries.
Some Zimbabweans have been engaging in irregular migration into South Africa since the early 2000s, when the country experienced dire economic and political crisis. The movement of immigrants from Zimbabwe and other countries to South Africa has not been without certain existential and social issues, especially considering that a reported 1.5 million Zimbabwe migrants reside in South Africa, - the majority of who came in through irregular channels.
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The economy created by irregular migration seems to be booming in the border towns and cities of Limpopo Province and this is indicative of the fact that this phenomenon has gotten support from quite a number of stakeholders and patronisers.
Informal cross-border trade continues to thrive because there is a geometric increase in the number of traders who engage in this act. A significant population of informal migrant traders in the Limpopo Province of South Africa are women - some of which are refugee entrepreneurs that owns businesses in the border towns and cities and show preference for employing women in the borderlands.
Applications for asylum are usually done in Musina, and it is reported that the process takes up to six months hence, the clustering of migrants in a large number in the South African border town awaiting approval.
Reports of conflicts between rival drug gangs, as well as the allegations of money laundering businesses for these gangs in the country, are emerging aspects of the security dimensions of irregular migration.
The SADC region, particularly South Africa, is affected by growing irregular migration. Although irregular migration has been a major phenomenon in South Africa’s history, the increasing activities of criminal gangs, networks and syndicates present new dimensions to peace and security that the nation is grappling with.
Between the border and Musina town reliable and efficient transport infrastructure is important.
Local taxi industry moved in to capitalise on these movements. Some own loading zone in the CBD to ferry passengers.
Omalayitsha are popular in Musina. ferrying goods of up to seven tonnes.
‘industry’ or trade is called chibhasikoro.
Key Stakeholders in Cross-Border Activity
- Shoppers: Primarily from Zimbabwe, seeking goods in South Africa.
- Retailers: Catering to cross-border shoppers with various products.
- Transporters: Including taxi drivers and "omalayitsha" facilitating movement of people and goods.
Contemporary Issues
Unlike on other projects, I have retained no contacts from my time in Musina. Many of the people I photographed have moved.
The subject of what I was photographing shifted significantly during the course of the project. In the beginning it was details: things on the street, landscapes, mineshafts, aberrations, obvious contradictions, things like that.
By their very nature families are dysfunctional. So by taking on this aesthetic, I'm subverting that notion in a way. Applying that idealised notion, but showing it an imperfect way.
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