Sean Otoole

"I haven’t eaten for two days," said 24-year-old Phillip Chikumbo, his dark eyes bloodshot with fatigue. There was no hint of outrage or bitterness in his comment; he was simply hungry. "They do not have food for us here because we are unexpected visitors." Chikumbo is one of about 20 young men — all Zimbabwean — patiently awaiting deportation to a place he no longer wants to call home.

At South Africa’s far northern border post on the Limpopo River, it is not uncommon to see frustrated state officials clashing with immigrants fleeing Zimbabwe’s food shortages and escalating unemployment rate, reported to be above 60%.