With prices hiked over twice their normal level, travelling times more than doubled and charges for luggage made randomly, the trip home from the Pretoria Station for Christmas is a daunting venture for many Zimbabweans.
On a visit to the station yesterday the Pretoria News found women, some with children, each waiting near a mound of luggage - with most of the bags packed with food and clothing to be taken home to families in Zimbabwe.
The women talked about the sudden hike in fares.
“We have been paying R300 for a single trip to Harare all year, but they increased the prices at the beginning of December to R700,” said Mary, who did not give her surname.
She and her sister each had no fewer than four large bags filled with food and clothing, as well as a personal bag.
“We don’t know how much they will charge. They do not use a scale, they pick it up, decide on a price and charge,” said Mary.
The sisters have not been home all year and had a lot to take to their children and family in Harare.
“We struggle to budget for the trip. We must buy the tickets, have money for whatever they want for the luggage and then have money to spend at home,” Mary’s sister said.
Another family, watching their luggage being packed into the back of a bakkie that was to take it to Midrand where the buses were to be leaving from, then return for more luggage, said they were dreading the 12-hour trip to the border.
“Because there are roadblocks right through to Beitbridge, the normal six hours will be doubled,” said Sipho Masinga.
Also, the queues at the border gate would be terribly long, he said.
“Hundreds of vehicles transporting people to Zimbabwe bottleneck there. So it takes anything up to four hours to get through.”
Masinga was travelling with two teenagers and had two big bags.
Memory Chikwekwete had her year-old daughter and five-year-old son with her.
“The trip home is hectic… very hectic,” the mother said, referring to travelling home with two young children and their luggage.
“I have had to pay R700 for me and R700 for my son and then they will charge me for my bags,” she said.
Worse was the travelling time.
“Travelling from Midrand to the border with my little girl is hell because it gets hot on the bus. There is no fresh food and water and she gets irritable,” she said.
Chikwekwete said passing through the border post was also a nightmare. “Standing in the two queues - one in South Africa and the other in Zimbabwe - waiting for the custom officials to check the bags and then getting back on the bus takes so long.”
She was glad her husband had travelled ahead with most of their luggage, easing the burden for her, Chikwekwete said.
Justice Muhlolo said the long journey to his village of Kwekwe in Zimbabwe on the bus, the frequent stops, the heat and the queues were worth going through to get home.
“Yes, you wish you could pay less, yes, you wish the trip was shorter and more comfortable and, yes, the border is a nightmare, but once you get home it is all worth it.” - Pretoria News