Cashing-in on Mobility: Economic Actors in the ‘Cross- Border Shopping Economy’

The main aim of this paper is to discuss how cross-border shopping impacts on actors whose livelihoods are premised on retailing, mobility and facilitating these activities across the Zimbabwe-South Africa border particularly in Musina. It critically assesses how these actors blur the lines by facilitating all kinds of border crossings including border jumping, excise duty-busting and smuggling. The main argument of this paper is that Musina’s transformation into a node which services the needs of Zimbabweans from all parts of that country did not occur by accident. It cannot be explained simply as an outcome of Zimbabweans shopping in the area but also as a result of growing influence of economic players in the town. Walther [2] argues that “the mere presence of a border and a city is not sufficient to create the conditions of a bustling cross-border activity”. Rather many border regions experience little cross-border economic activities and as such “many cities turn their back to the border rather than transforming into global bazars.” In order to understand actors’ influence in Musina’s expansion and reconfiguration of retail trading over the last decade the paper adopts Olivier Walther’s [2] argument that three factors explain economic development of border markets, namely, the presence of a skilled community of traders that can successfully exploit border differentials; the combination of trading and productive activities that rely on market and transport infrastructure; and the relative porosity of borders, which provides business opportunities.


Introduction
The main aim of this paper is to discuss how cross-border shopping impacts on actors whose livelihoods are premised on retailing, mobility and facilitating these activities across the Zimbabwe-South Africa border particularly in Musina. It critically assesses how these actors blur the lines by facilitating all kinds of border crossings including border jumping, excise duty-busting and smuggling. The main argument of this paper is that Musina's transformation into a node which services the needs of Zimbabweans from all parts of that country did not occur by accident. It cannot be explained simply as an outcome of Zimbabweans shopping in the area but also as a result of growing influence of economic players in the town. Walther [2] argues that "the mere presence of a border and a city is not sufficient to create the conditions of a bustling cross-border activity". Rather many border regions experience little cross-border economic activities and as such "many cities turn their back to the border rather than transforming into global bazars." In order to understand actors' influence in Musina's expansion and reconfiguration of retail trading over the last decade the paper adopts Olivier Walther's [2] argument that three factors explain economic development of border markets, namely, the presence of a skilled community of traders that can successfully exploit border differentials; the combination of trading and productive activities that rely on market and transport infrastructure; and the relative porosity of borders, which provides business opportunities.

Reconfiguration of retail space in Musina
The last decade has witnessed the growing presence of a trading community both South African and foreign who have He went further to mention that some of the Rana buildings are leased by traders from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Zimbabwe, you name them. Most of the traders come from other countries as well as a small group of traders from Makhado town nearby who have opened branches here.
Olivier Walther [2] has argued that the presence of a business community is important in giving life to a border market because "it is these entrepreneurs that will, on a daily basis, exploit the various differentials that continue to characterise border regions, and try to make a profit of connecting different nationally-organised markets". Interviews with local residents of the town all concur that the town has changed significantly since Zimbabwe's economy collapsed and local retailers could no longer meet the demands for goods. The town has experienced reconfiguration of its retail landscape as newcomers have entered the space, among them leading South African retail chains and East African/ Asian owned bazaars. Rather than differentiating these retail players in terms of their countries of origin we will analyse whom each category of "The town is booming… As far as Musina is concerned, we don't know what recession is. For us, there is no such thing. We just can't keep up." Jason Rana, Musina Chamber of Commerce 1 [1] retailers targeted as their primary clientele base are. It is argued that retail firms which are located in a border zone fall into three categories; (i) retailers that strictly cater to consumers from the home country, (ii) retailers that target both consumers from host and their neighbouring countries, and (iii) those whose consumers are exclusively from the neighbouring country [3]. The discussion below will expand on this.
There are a number of shopping zones and hotspots that one can identify in Musina. The N1 highway is a national route linking Zimbabwe and the province of Gauteng and stretching further down to Cape Town. Since this highway was constructed in such a way that it cuts through parts of Musina's central business district the spatial configuration of business activities in the town are broken between what can be termed high-end and low-end consumer retail shops. The significance of this highway can be seen in that the big retailers and a recently built Great North Road Plaza are located closest to it while further into the CBD southwards are new fledging East African and Asian owned bazaars which cater for low-end cross-border shoppers. The township of Nance field which is a big residential settlement for Musina's African population is also located adjacent to the N1. Truck-stops are also common sight as many of the long-haul truck drivers take a rest before or after going through lengthy border clearance processes between the two countries.
Most of the prominent retailers are located immediately adjacent to the N1 highway selling the 'big brands. '  November 2011). This plaza consists of two retail centres on either side of the N1 highway, parking bays for 400 vehicles and a food court. A news report described is as "probably the biggest ever property development project the border town had ever seen." It houses South African retail chain groups such as such as Shoprite, OK Furniture, Clicks and Express Stores. The report indicates Investec's acknowledgement of the importance of cross-border shoppers as the company CEO remarked that "that Musina is a vibrant commercial and trading centre in the far north of Limpopo, servicing both the surrounding agricultural sector as well as crossborder trade from Zimbabwe" (Ibid).
Interviews were coducted with a number of family shoppers in this mall usually in the parking lots where it would be identified Zimbabwean registered cars. Shoppers would often attach quality to purchases they made in this mall especially for items like sneakers and different kinds of clothing as well as electrical appliances.
Located further away from the N1 are shops that sell general merchandise mostly imports from China and other parts of Asia.
These shops are more recent having been built in the past few years.
Although they can cater for local Musina residents, these retailers' target consumers are exclusively from the neighbouring country. Then mayor of Musina Councillor Carol Phiri saw the local economic development value of the Mall, in her words; Besides being convenient for local residents, it will provide much-needed jobs, particularly for previously unemployed people. We acknowledge that this development is one of our best achievements, reflecting on the history of the economic development of Musina. We are excited to be part of this ground-breaking industrial development which is bringing economic relief to our people [4].
Indeed, the mall is a beehive of shopping for Zimbabweans who purchase items in bulk and in response, a shuttle service was provided freely to them so that they can transport their goods to the border. This shuttle service is in so much demand that the local taxis of Musina have established an informal taxi rank outside the fence of the mall to cash in on ferrying shoppers to the border.

Informal cross-border workers
Over the years, jobless Zimbabwean youth have found it rewarding to participate in the informal economy of Musina. In most of the East African and Asian-owned shops the shop assistants were mostly Shona speaking. Studies show that unfamiliarity happens because among other things cross-border shoppers see language as a barrier for them [5]. But in the case of Musina, the shoppers "felt at home" because they negotiated purchases in their mother tongue. Having migrated from Zimbabwe in pursuit of realising their aspirations of a brighter future most of these youths came into the border town when they were still minors. One example was that of Shoti a short young man living in one of the townships in Musina who mentioned that he arrived in the town when he was only 14 years old and now he was 23 and had been able to hustle a living in Musina especially as a courier for cross-border shoppers.
He further explained.
I arrived here in August 2007 having dropped out of school in Rutenga. I lived with my mother and all seemed well until she passed away. I had only started my first year in high school and due to my loss, I felt that I just had to move on without anyone else to take care of me. I dropped out of school and followed some friends to the border. Being only 14 years of age came with its own challenges like very few people refusing to employ us. So, we engaged in all sorts of hand-to-mouth activities just so that we could eat something at the end of the day. We stayed in the local shelters owned by organisations which looked after orphans. Since the conditions were unbearable and were denying us an opportunity to enjoy our lives we left the shelters two years later. I was a bit older and so I began to help shoppers with ferrying their goods to the parking bays where transport headed for Zimbabwe was stationed. That is how we began to sustain our livelihoods without the need for wellwishers. Some days we smile all the way and spend a day drinking and having fun in Musina town or Beitbridge and on others we can barely buy food to eat.
Although Shoti's experience is just like one of a dozen more "children on the move" or unaccompanied minors in Musina the reality is that young people like him motivated by their aspirations of living a better life especially owning their own transport businesses rarely get to see those dreams accomplished.
Their working conditions are nothing far from being precarious.
For instance, their salaries average R1200 per month and these would not suffice them considering that they still had to pay rent of about R500 monthly in the shacks in Nance field or nearby areas where they resided. Working hours are lengthy starting work sometimes as early as 6am and knocking off at 10pm. Their work included manning the shops especially serving customers and convincing them to buy as well as offloading new stock from warehouses. Although none of the interviewees admitted they had done it before, they mentioned that they were aware of incidents whereby the shop assistants would steal the new stock and sell it cheaper so as to supplement their meagre earnings. The shop owners trust their female employees a lot and believed they were not capable of stealing from them. One of the interviewees insinuated that trust also developed where the shop owner began a relationship with his shop assistant (Melody, 22, shop assistant, Musina). The female shop assistants would then be given access to keys of the warehouse, sometimes being sent there to collect new stock all by herself-an opportunity which could easily be used to take some of the stock and sell cheaply to a ready buyer. Ironically where trust had been built over time, the assistants took advantage of that and they would steal some of that stock. In cases where some were caught stealing, they would be fired and hardly any incidences of police reports and investigations were reported.
These shop assistants usually youthful men and women in their early twenties are quite shrewd in capturing and convincing customers to buy from their shops. The young men walk up to anyone who would have stopped to ask prices of the goods in their shops and then try to sell a product to that person. Once they agree on a price, they then check with the shop owner if he agrees with the discounted price offered to the customer. In one of the incidents one interviewee who was a shop assistant revealed that one of the 236 reasons why they did not label prices on the goods in their shops was because they had to know them by heart such that when a customer negotiated a price downwards they already knew how less they could take from their initial asking price. Only on special circumstances did the shop owners have to decide whether to accept the lowest price on offer or not.
Another economic activity that these young immigrants engaged in especially the men was touting for passengers of taxis destined to the border as well as helping owners of trucks load goods from shoppers. Some called them the trolley boys because they carried goods using supermarket trolleys which they took from the big supermarkets. Judging by their physical appearance indeed one would agree that they really looked like boys even if some of them were already in their late 20s. In character most of them were playful as they went around their work. You would see their customers reprimanding them for pushing the trolleys too fast and being reckless with their sometimes-fragile cargo. They would use these trolleys to carry as much goods as they could and load them on to trucks destined for Zimbabwe. Usually they wore yellow reflective vests and would be pushing trolleys, carts or even wheelbarrows and would negotiate a charge according to the customer's gullibility and the weight of the loads. Most of the elderly women shoppers made use of these young men's services and could hire them for the duration of their shopping trip. They would accompany them from shop to shop and even introduce them to shops where they could get lower prices and better quality of goods. Shop owners also found the trolley boys very helpful because they acted as middle men between them and bulk shoppers especially. So, in certain cases they paid them a small gratuity for bringing customers to their shops or they would give them a clothing item as a token of appreciation.
Although for the most part of their work, the trolley 'boys' work in harmony with each other, they sometimes face off against each other especially on days where customers are few. Fights would break out at times in front of customers and the truck drivers would sometimes banish them from the marketplace to cool off.
One of them exclaimed that when such a thing happened it would be a big loss for the day and one would have to call it day even if it was so early in the morning (Lucky, 21, Trolley Boy, Musina).
The other challenge they faced is that on days when the municipal police conducted raids on hawkers they would also be flushed out of town and could only return when the coast was clear. Much of their earnings were meagre in relative terms and they tended to live each day as it came. Month-end was rather stressful because it was the time, they each had to raise money for rent and electricity. Their landlords would be waiting from them. One trolley 'boy' explained that in the compounds where they lived the property owner would levy each one a fixed amount for electricity and if they failed to raised their share then the landlord would just disconnect their electricity. So, it put immense pressure on each of the residents in the compound to ensure that they paid their share of electricity.
That would motivate them to hustle late into the night.
After a long week of hard work, the shop assistants, hustlers, smugglers, con-men, and trolley boys would descend upon Nance field where they indulged in alcohol and entertainment in the township's taverns. Their counterparts operating from the Beitbridge side also joined them as they danced well into the night. Their lifestyles, however, are far from the aspirations that most of them have. As we spoke to them some mentioned that

The Transport Sectors
Walther [2] further argues that the levels of porosity of the border itself especially to informal cross-border traders who can import more goods than prescribed by law makes the practice

Long-distance buses
On a daily basis Musina receives busloads of shoppers from hinterland areas such as Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Chinhoyi that ferry passengers and goods to Musina for shopping and return with them to their destination. Historically there had always been buses that plied the Harare-Beitbridge, Bulawayo-Bietbridge and Mutare-Beitbridge routes but with a focus on travellers who were moving between those major towns. In the early 2000s as trips to Musina became of significance to cross-border shoppers and migration into South Africa, long-distance bus companies started exploring crossborder routes. Although it is difficult to situate these developments in specific dates, an interview with long-distance buses which were stationed at one of the service stations in Musina revealed that bus companies negotiated for permission to cross into the border town. Association was the most vocal and on a number of occasions they stopped buses en route to the CBD of Musina and demanded that all passengers disembark and use local taxis. It is at that moment around 2010 that the CBOA began exploring options and decided to engage with the Nancefield Taxi Association so that they could offer a shuttle service to the cross-border shoppers.
The issue of parking space for the buses became a major challenge because if they were to stop at the border post on the South African side and handover their passengers to local taxis, they would need a safe place to do so. The nearest option was a Shell Service Station which is less than a kilometre from the border gate.
Negotiations with the Musina Local Municipality led to permission being granted for the setting up of a bus terminus at that location.
It is also stated that the other main reason why this location was chosen is that unlike the only bus terminus in the town which does not have descent ablution facilities, the Shell Service Station had such facilities and passengers would be more comfortable. Also since this location was outside of the main town centre passengers would avoid risks such as theft and even harassment by touts seeking to make quick money from travellers like they did in the main bus terminus. For a fee the bus drivers could also help smuggle goods and avoid paying duty. A common practice was that of asking every passenger to pay a small fee usually R20 per head which would be forwarded to Zimbabwean customs officials so that they turn a blind eye to dutiable goods on the bus. In that way, the shoppers would save time waiting in queues and money that would have been charged on restricted goods usually as high as 40%. In worst of cases when passengers ran out of luck and had to pay hefty duty, the bus drivers would chip in with money which would be refunded by a relative of the passenger when they arrived at their destination. It is hardly surprising therefore that when the Zimbabwean government

Omalayitsha transport operators
Amongst the hundreds of vehicles that cross the border on a daily basis to transport goods to Zimbabwe is a distinct category of light delivery trucks mostly owned by Beitbridge residents and other nearby rural villages and towns in the southern provinces of Zimbabwe. Most of these vehicles traverse the border daily ferrying goods of up to seven tonnes. The majority of the trucks are 1½ to 3 tonne carrying capacity. They are commonly referred to as omalayitsha. This term is mostly used to refer to transporters of remittances who usually travel from distance towns such as Johannesburg to parts of Zimbabwe. Likewise omalayitsha are very popular in Musina. They carry goods from the town and deliver at the door steps of shoppers in Zimbabwe. Usually on one load of goods per day the trucks carry enough loads to realise profit. Their fees for transporting goods include customs duty fees and 'bribe' money to offer revenue authorities so that they evade paying any stipulated duties. In most cases the trucks are owned by someone else who then employs a driver to operate the vehicles. For the most part the binding agreement or condition of such employment is that the driver has to meet certain daily targets of income.
Outside one of the busiest wholesale centres in Musina, we met Obey a driver of a Nissan Atlas truck. He approached us to offer their services especially that they could cross with any goods across the border hassle-free. After agreeing to an interview he narrated how he dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen in Bubi representative body makes it difficult also to estimate how many vemabhasikoro there are. Nevertheless as one of the interviewees mentioned, most people were recruited into chibhasikoro either by family members who were trying to economically empower them or even through friends who asked to join them.

Women Head Porters
As travellers disembark public transport at the entrance of the South African side of the border, they are met with women who solicit services for carrying luggage over their heads. "Tokusengerai here (can we carry for you)?" is a common question these women ask to travellers once the taxi door is opened. Unlike their male counterparts who use bicycles to carry and travel across the border post the female porters walk with bags and other containers to the other side.

Border Work as Precarious Work
With ambitions of cashing in on the shoppers are their fellow countrymen who con them out of their hard-earned money. In most cases the conmen prey on shoppers who are willing to pay less for prices of advertised goods. One incident witnessed was that of a certain restaurant where a couple who speak Shona in a Mozambican accent approach passers-by for help with translating documents that are written in English since they can only read Portuguese. In addition to that favour they then ask to see what South African Rands look like and once the unsuspecting victim complies they find a way of taking that money away without the person's knowledge. One of of researchers was approached twice by the same people when he went to that restaurant to have lunch. scammers and alerted him but mentioned that they never report because they know the police will do nothing about the matter unless if presented with evidence.
In June 2012 a newspaper reported that a Zimbabwean crossborder shopper had been conned out of R500 by her fellow country man 2 . This is how she fell for the 'trick'; I was doing window shopping when this man approached me. He looked so innocent and asked me if I could assist him in changing his US dollars into rands. He said he did not know the town very well and asked me to accompany him to a place where he could do the currency exchange….He said he wanted to see a sample of the South African money as he was afraid that he might be conned when we did the exchange. I told him that I had R500 in cash and he asked me to give it to him. I gave him the money, because he was so kind, and I did not suspect anything. He opened his bag and took out some newspapers, which he used to wrap around my money. He put the money in his bag and then took it out and gave it to me again. He immediately vanished into the busy shopping centre. When I unwrapped the newspapers, I found that all my money was gone.
When the conned lady recognised the man the next day, she alerted passers-by and they unleashed mob justice on him until he was rescued by the police. After searching him they found that he only had R250 in his pocket. In other cases, cross-border shoppers have been robbed at gun point especially when they arrive in the town during the wee hours of the morning when it is dark.
A number of interviewees mentioned the frightening experiences of being robbed and how this really set them back.
Robbers would pounce especially on travellers if they stopped along the highway from the border to Musina central business district.
Stories of men pouncing on shoppers and taking away their money and mobile phones are rife. It was reported in one of the newspapers that five Zimbabweans who were travelling in a minibus taxi were robbed R6 000 at gunpoint by three men around 5am as they were waiting for shops to open 3 [6]. Garatidye [7] found a number of such accounts in her interviews with informal cross-border traders. In our interviews with shoppers they mentioned that they had experienced very few incidences of robberies because they travelled in groups and using safe transport rather than walking on foot especially at night at the border post. It was interesting though to hear one interviewee backed by his colleagues who were listening in on the interview, dismissing robberies as a serious problem for shoppers but saying that conmen were the worst crooks that preyed on shoppers on a regular basis in Musina. Robberies, he argued had reduced in frequency because of the improvements in transport and mobility across the border especially for those shopping in groups (Silas, 37, bus driver Musina).

Conclusion
The paper has shown that cross-border shopping by Zimbabweans in Musina border town is part of a broader "border- In addition one of the most positive impacts of the cross-border shopping economy that has developed in Musina over the years is not just employment in certain parts of the retail sector but also the inclusion of the local taxis association in the shuttling of shoppers between the border and Musina town. These local stakeholders were able to negotiate for space in the park and ride facility initially through violent ways, but the outcome was a rather amicable and orderly way of improving mobility of shoppers.