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FindingsBeitbridge, Zimbabwe Situated in Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe's poorest province, Beitbridge lies on the border with South Africa, 527 kilometers south of Harare, 18 kilometers north of Messina and 548 kilometers north of Johannesburg. The town has a population of approximately 20,000 and serves a district of 80,000 people. An estimated 60 percent of Beitbridge's population is female, reflecting extensive male migration to South Africa. Beitbridge has an estimated 2,570 houses in formal settlements (primarily for government officials and mid-level private sector staff) and 3,000 in informal settlements. Formal-settlement dwellings are mainly two- to three-room brick houses, while those in the informal settlements are among the worst mud houses in Zimbabwe. Average house occupancy in the low-income and informal settlements varies considerably, as many people do not bring their families to Beitbridge, but includes at least four people. Recreational facilities are limited in low-income areas, consisting largely of bars and soccer pitches. The major sources of local employment -- freight, retail, construction, customs and the police -- employ about 1,200 people. Informal sector activities -- primarily vending and sex work -- are as large as those in the formal sector, employing about 1,400. Outside Beitbridge town, farming is a major employer. A diamond mine recently closed, increasing unemployment and poverty. Most women rely on vending, sex work and cross-border trading for income. Sources of formal income in Beitbridge
Sex workers Through careful observation, enumeration in guesthouses, bars and streets, and interviews with health workers and peer educators, the researchers estimated that Beitbridge has about 500 permanent sex workers and another 200 transient sex workers, who visit Beitbridge from arid rural Masvingo and Matabeleland South at peak times. Some sex workers are younger than 15. Sex workers seek clients primarily at guesthouses, bars/nightclubs and bottle stores, followed by streets. Clients visit older sex workers at home. All the streets surrounding the Beitbridge beerhall are used as meeting places for sex workers and their clients. Sex workers' preferred clients are truckers, who pay in foreign currency and often pay more than the usual US$3 to $6 per session. Many sex workers are significantly better off than other Beitbridge residents. Better-off sex workers earn $150 monthly, which is over ten times Zimbabwe's minimum wage, and construct brick houses. Less well-off sex workers earn approximately $100 and can afford rent and schooling. Trucking Every month about 7,000 trucks cross the border and at least 3,000 truckers sleep there. An estimated 53 trucking companies use the Beitbridge route, and four have offices at the border. Trucking companies using the Beitbridge route
Trucking companies with Beitbridge offices
The researchers counted the number of trucks crossing the border and parked at the border on three random days. The number of trucks parking at the border, which ranged from 103 to 237, excludes truckers parked elsewhere in Beitbridge. The border is busiest at month's end, when the next month's imports are cleared, and on public holidays, which are seldom observed simultaneously in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. Trucks crossing and parked at Beitbridge border on three random days
The truckers' major destination is South Africa. The average duration of their journeys varies by destination, with trips to Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town lasting 10 to 20 days, trips to Congo at least 15 days and trips to Tanzania up to 27 days. The major goods carried to South Africa are textiles, wood, steel and copper. Days truckers spend away from home
The researchers also identified two guesthouses and nine bars and bottle stores associated with casual/commercial sex. In addition, truckers seek casual/commercial sex partners on the main highway and near the disused old customs sheds. Informal traders Many Zimbabwean women living in or passing through Beitbridge rely upon informal cross-border trade for survival. They export items for sale in South Africa or import goods for sale in Zimbabwe. The import trade has declined steeply since the decline in Zimbabwe's currency and the imposition of prohibitive tariffs. The researchers counted the number of informal traders crossing the border on three random days, finding from 330 to 570. The number of traders sleeping at the border (excluding those sleeping elsewhere in Beitbridge) ranged from 139 to 180. Informal traders meet primarily at the Renkini (bus station), main garage, flea market, post office and old customs shed. Informal traders crossing and sleeping at the Beitbridge border on three random days
Health services Beitbridge has a district hospital and two clinics, Beitbridge Clinic and Knott Clinic. The Beitbridge District Hospital has 158 beds and an average of 200 outpatients a day, 30 of whom are STI clients. Staff members have been trained in STI management and have STI drugs. Beitbridge Clinic has three beds and about 80 outpatients a day, including 20 STI clients. It has staff trained in STI management and front-line STI drugs. The smaller Knott Clinic has four beds and 40 outpatients (including six STI clients) daily. Few truckers use these facilities. Education Beitbridge has four primary schools, with an estimated 1,700 pupils. The three high schools have an estimated 758 pupils. NGOs in Beitbridge Health authorities and other key informants told the researchers that no development or health NGOs were working in Beitbridge town. Condoms Free and socially marketed condoms are widely available in Beitbridge. Condoms are distributed free of charge through the hospital and clinics and sold at the pharmacy, garage and bottle store. Every month Beitbridge Hospital and Beitbridge Clinic each distribute about 9,000 condoms, and Knott Clinic distributes a further 3,000 condoms. Five brands of condoms are available: Durex, Sega, Kenzo, Protector and government unbranded condoms. Condom outlets in Beitbridge
HIV/AIDS data Seroprevalence surveys show that HIV rates in Beitbridge range from 46 percent to 59 percent. HIV/AIDS prevention activities Beitbridge District spearheads most AIDS activities in the area. Health workers have been trained in syndromic STI management, and public and socially marketed condoms are widely available. The local schools are part of a national schools life skills initiative, which is faltering in many areas, including Beitbridge. An interdisciplinary district committee manages a sex workers' peer education project in Beitbridge town. This sex worker project is funded by SIDA and receives technical support from the University of Zimbabwe. NECTOI carried out a truckers' HIV/AIDS project from 1994 to 1996 under the FHI/AIDSCAP Project, but currently there are no interventions specifically for truckers. Activities for employees in other workplaces and for youth are also limited. Risk Environment Profile: Beitbridge, Zimbabwe Beitbridge is situated near two arid and desperately poor provinces, on the border of a country with an income per head tenfold greater than Zimbabwe's. As a barometer of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, Beitbridge has extensive sex work and informal trading industries. The town also has some of the worst informal housing and sanitation in the country. Like Messina, Beitbridge has far more female than male residents, reflecting historically entrenched rural male migration to South Africa and female migration to the town. The town also has a higher proportion of informal traders than other Zimbabwean towns. At peak periods, 500 informal traders may cross the border daily. Some traders exchange sex with truckers for free rides and with customs officials for duty exemption. Without contacts at borders, however, women may face harassment. Women often come to Beitbridge hoping to enter or find work in South Africa, but many do not succeed. Stranded in the town without income, they are compelled to engage in sex work. The sex industry in Beitbridge is the largest and most explicit in Zimbabwe. Many women work as vendors by day and sex workers by night. Female vendors as young as 14 are thus drawn into sex work. Young boy vendors describe them as chihure chesadza, or selling themselves for maize flour. The girls tell their families they work at night to sell produce to late-night bus passengers. Up to two-thirds of sex workers may be under age 18. In addition, female school enrollment has fallen steeply in Beitbridge. Sex workers in Beitbridge fall into three socioeconomic categories. Upper-income sex workers work from home, serving a smaller number of stable clients and boyfriends. Middle-income sex workers, who constitute the largest group, usually seek clients in bars. Lower-income sex workers seek clients on the highway or streets, sometimes exposing themselves to passing drivers. Sex workers come primarily from the arid southern provinces of Masvingo and Matabeleland South. Their rural origins provide them with support in Beitbridge because they can usually stay with people from their home areas until they settle in. Condoms are relatively accessible, and sex workers are willing to use them but unable to insist on their use. Those who do so risk violence. The researchers interviewed a 19- year-old sex worker with facial scars resulting from a disagreement with a trucker about condom use. Sex workers are aware many truckers have STIs, but say they have no choice but to use their fees to treat their STIs. Many sex workers prefer to use traditional healers, because of the greater discretion and better interpersonal quality of the service. Attitudes towards AIDS are fatalistic. As elsewhere, truckers are preferred clients, especially South African drivers. Smugglers, with their disposable income, are also popular. Police and customs officers often do not pay, but use coercion or blandishments to elicit free sex. An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 truckers pass through this town of 20,000 monthly. Truckers are about 40 years old and spend up to 20 days a month away from home. Most reported that they have wives, girlfriends and sex-worker partners, thus providing a bridge for widespread STI and HIV transmission. Customs delays exacerbate the sexual vulnerability of truckers. Border clearance is lengthy, forcing truckers to make stops of up to 10 days while paper work is processed, and most companies provide no accommodation, expecting truckers to sleep in their trucks at borders. Others give drivers a fixed allowance, which they are motivated to save. One trucker noted that a night with a sex worker costs less than half the price of a hotel room. Truckers receive money for road toll fees, which they can sometimes avoid or minimize, increasing their disposable income. In summary, Beitbridge is a striking example of a high-transmission area for HIV, with extensive links from recognized priority groups to the wider population. |
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