Gwanda, Zimbabwe – A Toyota Hilux with South African plates parks on the roadside in Nkwana village in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland South province and honks its horn. An elderly woman makes her way to the car where the driver hands her parcels containing groceries, a blanket and a small envelope with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The driver, Thulani Ncube, 42, whose real name we are not using to protect his identity, is “oMalaicha”, an Ndebele word for the cross-border drivers who ferry goods between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Fortnightly, he makes deliveries to villagers in the border region – most of it smuggled.
