The shocking incident and moment of sheer horror, when a desperate Zimbabwean family with two infants was encountered by night in the open veld during a leopard-viewing drive with international guests in the Limpopo border region, was related this week by a tour operator who could not believe the prevailing official South African view on the influx situation from across the border.

Owners of land in the Musina district, residents along the Limpopo, and the management of a game lodge in the same area this week reacted in disbelief to the Department of Interior’s view that there is no crisis regarding the number of people crossing the border from Zimbabwe into South Africa at present.

"Whereas, in the past, we saw individuals and small groups of people crossing through our land on an ongoing basis, we are now, on a daily basis, confronted by large groups of up to 30, 40 people, moving through areas well stocked with, amongst others, lions, rhino and elephant. These groups of refugees now also include entire families. This week we came across a family consisting of a man, his sister-in-law and his wife with two small children, one aged three years and the other one only two months of age."

The spokesperson, who prefers to remain anonymous, said earlier this week he was on a leopard-viewing game drive with several international tourists, around eight o’clock at night, when suddenly the man appeared and rushed towards them, wide-eyed with panic and despair. It was a Zimbabwean father, who had braved the wilderness with his two infant daughters and two women at night, after having crossed the border from Zimbabwe. The family came all the way from Karoi, near Harare.

It was also reported from the Kruger National Park that groups of people have been spotted in the Pafuri vicinity, crossing through. Unconfirmed reports mentioned militia harassing local residents on the Zimbabwean side of this area.

The volume of border crossings is considered to be a critical barometer to decide on the status of Zimbabwean citizens crossing the border without the necessary documents: are they economic migrants or refugees? This is also a crucial question in the continued large-scale deportation of Zimbabweans from South Africa.

The situation at Beitbridge is closely monitored by UN observers in order to decide on the appropriate time to launch an emergency rescue plan for a possible flood of refugees.

This week’s incident recalls the warning sounded during last year’s hunting season, when a prominent professional hunter and tour operator from Great Britain, Mr Richard Slogget, came across groups of Zimbabweans, clandestinely crossing through a game farm, where he was conducting an international hunting expedition. Local organized agriculture and high-profile international media representatives at the time said sustainable tourism, agriculture and the success of the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa can be seriously jeopardised by South Africa’s lack of a meaningful response to the desperate plight of the Zimbabwean people and the security of its own citizens.

There is still no visible provision on the South African side to meet, accommodate and alleviate the very real need and distress of desperate men, women and children who brave the dangers of wild animals and the attacks of organized gangs in the hope of a meaningful survival and a better future in South Africa.