CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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Mozambique |
MEDIA
Journalism can at times be a hazardous profession.
The author describes
what happened to him when
he was kidnapped from Mozambique and taken into
South Africa
Civil war and general instability characterised Mozambique in the period following independence. This robbed many youths of their right to a proper education and because of this, they can’t find jobs. Faced with this situation, many have opted to leave the country looking for work elsewhere. A favourite destination are the mines of Johannesburg, South Africa, because there, a job doesn’t depend on a school leaving certificate but the muscle to hold a shovel. Most of those heading south to Johannesburg don’t have passports but the Mafia are there to see them across the border — for a price.
Not all make it to Johannesburg. Some are caught as they cross the border and are sent back to Mozambique. Sensing a story was to be had, I set out in July to the Mozambique-South African border at the Ressano Garcia crossing point, to witness the deportation from South Africa of some Mozambicans who had been working illegally in South Africa.
At about 11. am, about 1,400 young men were dropped off on the Mozambican side. Some were desperate to get home but many I talked with said: «Going home to do what? No way! We’re going back.». During the course of the interviews I found out that most of those wanting to go back had some money to pay the Mafia. It costs about US $50 to get a passage to South Africa without a passport. (The Mafia are a well co-ordinated network, colluding at times with the border authorities who turn a blind eye to what’s going on).
Kidnapped by the Mafia
While interviewing, I was approached by two youths who said they were interested in talking to me and took me to a food stall, where they asked me to identify myself. I told them I was a journalist — and that’s when all hell broke loose. I was force-marched to a house where I was told I would be left alone to rot if I did’nt co-operate with my interrogators. The Mafia fired questions at me from all sides.
They said: «You want to learn how we get people across the border? O.K. You’ll see for yourself!» I told them I had no intention of going with them and that’s when they started beating me and they destroyed my passport. At 6 p.m. the same day, I found myself joining a group of about 32 illegal immigrants to climb a mountain that separates Mozambique from South Africa. I was warned: «No coughing, no talking, no noise to attract the border police. Do so, and we’ll beat you». As we got to the top of the mountain, we were instructed to take two-forked pieces of wood to be used in lifting the electrified border fence. Once across, it was a march downhill to a car waiting to take us to a «safe house». Here I was told I had to stay until my fate was decided. I was separated from the rest of the group and made to sit blindfolded on the damp floor.
After what seemed to be two days, I was put in a car still blindfolded and driven to a house some 120 kilometres from Johannesburg.
I was now interrogated continuously for three days and my notebooks and tape recorders were taken from me and destroyed. My saviour came in the form of a woman who rescued me when my tormentors got drunk. I walked and hitch-hiked into Johannesburg where I gave myself up to the authorities who eventually organised the necessary papers for me to return home to Mozambique.
A journalist’s profession can indeed be hazardous but I’m determined to continue exposing the rackets going on.
- Frederico Katerere, Mozambique, July 2003 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment