Zambezia (1998), XXV (i).CROSS-BORDER TRADE: A STRATEGY FOR CLIMBINGOUT OF POVERTY IN MASVINGO, ZIMBABWEVICTOR N. MUZVIDZIWAAbstractA number of female household heads in the high density suburbs of Masvingowere able to break out of poverty through cross-border trading. Although thetraders have received unsympathetic treatment by press and officials, theyshow themselves to be enterprising individuals. This article, based onparticipant observation, in Masvingo townships, describes the women andtheir trade. It looks at their strategies for making a good income out of thetrade, their markets, and the constraints that they have to deal with Šparticularly from officialdom. This article focuses on cross-border trade as theone reasonably successful strategy for climbing out of poverty. The study onwhich it is based was carried out in Masvingo town, a provincial capital witha population of 52 000 according to the 1992 Census (CSO, 1993, 13).Masvingo lies in the southern part of Zimbabwe, ravaged by repeated droughtsin the decade extending from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.MASVINGO IS ZIMBABWE'S oldest town, founded in August 1890. This study isbased on urban anthropological fieldwork over a period of 14 monthsfrom early November 1994 to the end of December 1995. The resultspresented in this article comprise part of a larger project, which looked atthe livelihoods of female-headed households in the Rujeko and Muchekehigh density areas (See Muzvidziwa, 1997).The article presents a descriptive account of cross-border trade andthe traders. For those whose primary source of income derived fromcross-border trade (26% of my research sample of 50 female householdheads),1 another 46% did commissioned knitting and crocheting jobs forthe traders, which made cross-border trade the leading income-earningactivity for women in the city. Yet a different and negative picture of cross-border female traders has been presented in the official Zimbabweanmedia.MEDIA PORTRAYAL OF CROSS-BORDER WOMEN TRADERSMy discussion in this section is confined to the Zimbabwean situation,where the media have been consistent in their negative projection ofThe research involved several intensive interviews and willing participants were obtainedthrough the women's networks rather than random sampling.2930 CROSS-BORDER TRADEcross-border women traders, from the early 1980s (Cheater, forthcoming;Cheater and Gaidzanwa, 1996, 199). However, my conversations with thetraders, as well as casual observations during my trip to South Africa,revealed that the negative portrayal and perceptions of cross-border femaletraders were not confined to Zimbabwe.The idiom of witchcraft has been invoked in the portrayal of cross-border women traders. Within the traditional African context, witcheswere regarded as anti-social, murderers and cannibals. To name a persona witch was a way of denying that person's humanity. In the 1980s, cross-border traders were portrayed as witches, allegedly insensitive to thesuffering of the Black majority under apartheid in South Africa. Newsreports linked cross-border traders to the sale of human parts as 'muti'(like love portions, it is believed that if human parts are mixed with certainherbs, the concoction will bring luck to a businessperson). There is anextensive 'muti' trade in South Africa. Such reports were so prevalentduring my fieldwork that there was a kind of national manic fear of ritualmurder linked to cross-border trade. Numerous stories were reported inThe Herald, and though they were later reported to be baseless, theymanaged to fan that fear and hate of women cross-border traders as anti-social humans. These accounts were reported in Masvingo, Harare, Mutare,Bulawayo and other localities in Zimbabwe, in a continuation of thewitchcraft idiom that debased female entrepreneurs and linked theirsuccess to anti-social behaviour.There have been recent media reports stirring up further the beliefsabout cross-border women traders, ranging from their alleged attempts tosource 'muti' to influence the behaviour of their customers, to accusationsthat some traders used dead zombies or spooks to churn out doilies forthem. In 1995, a house was nearly destroyed by an angry crowd inChitungwiza, Harare, following a report of this nature.According to Cheater (forthcoming), a gender bias has characterisednews reports of cross-border female traders in the national, state-ownedpress. There was a tendency to sensationalise and to present a picture ofthis group of female entrepreneurs as anti-social and inhuman beings,which has not in any way deterred the efforts of cross-border traders.Despite these incessant media attacks, cross-border trade grew.The projection in the media of cross-border women traders asprostitutes has been a consistent feature of Zimbabwean media reports,using women's sexuality as a smear campaign (Cheater, forthcoming;Cheater and Gaidzanwa, 1996, 193). Stories about how some cross-bordertraders prostituted themselves with haulage truck drivers, and how somespent long periods in South Africa selling nothing but their bodies, werealso common, and linked to problems of trying to control AIDS/HIV. Thiswas part of the continued attempts to put the blame on women, especiallyV. N. MUZVIDZIWA 31cross-border traders, when it comes to the source of national problems.Even a popular Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Television dramaseries on Monday evenings had a play depicting cross-border womentraders as people who prostituted themselves. In some churches thissupposed behaviour was attacked by the preachers as if it was a giventruth. This explains why some widows in my Masvingo sample were noteven allowed to get passports by their late husbands, who believed thatcross-border trade was not fit for married women. However, myrespondents noted that all efforts to stop or undermine the cross-bordertrade by women had failed. For them cross-border trade was a majorsource of income under the trying conditions of the Economic StructuralAdjustment Programme (ESAP). The women observed, instead, that therewere increased numbers of cross-border traders.Politically, cross-border traders were labelled unpatriotic (Cheater,forthcoming). During the apartheid days they were seen as collaboratorswith the oppressive regime. When compared to the many loss-makingparastatals, the cross-border traders' currency-market share was verysmall, yet they were seen as draining off much-needed foreign currency.This was despite the fact that the women utilised their legitimate foreigncurrency holiday entitlements, when politicians, government officials andelite business people were the real 'foreign currency' consumption culprits.Even during fieldwork, cross-border traders were still portrayed assmugglers of all sorts of wares Š part of the strategies to criminalise thetrade as different from legitimate, male-dominated 'business'.Another major focus of the media has been its officially sanctionedperspective of portraying cross-border traders as economic saboteurs,who undermined the economic well-being of the nation. Cross-bordertraders frustrated revenue officials; they left very few traces in the courseof their operations. As a result, the government was not in a position tocontrol this business or to extract tax out of it, other than custom andexcise duties. Yet the fact remained that under ESAP the cross-bordertraders were taking advantage of existing market niches and had respondedwell by finding ways of fending for their families without the aid of theState. Generally most women, like the ones in the Masvingo sample, wereconcerned about their children's welfare. Most cross-border traders notedthat parental responsibilities prevented them from participating in themost lucrative illegal trade, fearing what would happen to their households,especially children, if they were arrested.Other negative constructions of cross-border women traders notedby Cheater (forthcoming), and Cheater and Gaidzanwa (1996,193) includedthe perception that they were greedy women, who were urged to acquireskills to earn a living (as if cross-border trade was not an occupation); thatmarried women who fell pregnant during their 'shopping' errands resorted32 CROSS-BORDER TRADEto illegal abortions; that shoppers were being raped, mugged and weredying in violence-prone South Africa; and that the women were pawningtheir passports to foreigners (hence the need to delay passport replacementby up to two years, which is the norm in Zimbabwe).Cheater observed that cross-border women traders were an anomalousgroup (possibly comparable to 'uncaptured' peasants) to be broughtunder symbolic control, particularly by resorting to ritual publicdenunciations and shaming as 'bad gals'. In Cheater's argument, this hasstructural parallels with accusations of witchcraft prevalent in traditionalsocieties and usually levelled against the innovative, social climbers.In Masvingo, 64% of traders interviewed thought that the Zimbabweangovernment had a negative attitude towards cross-border women traders,which explained why the media portrayal had been negative. Only 36%thought the government had recently become more accepting and haddeveloped a positive attitude. Fifty-four percent of the traders knew aboutgovernment plans to set up parallel institutions to import in bulk the typeof goods they were specialising in. For the women, these were clearintentions on the part of government to undermine the viability of theirtrade, and showed a very negative attitude by government. The womenknew of senior government officials who had a condescending attitudetowards cross-border traders, though they noted that the orchestratedcampaign to defame the women had failed. Lastly, cross-border traders inmy sample stressed that there were no official incentives for cross-bordertraders, in whom government continued to show a lack of interest.Interestingly, most cross-border traders said that Beitbridge customsofficers had recently developed a positive attitude towards them!The 64% who thought the government had a negative attitude felt thatit would be best if government left cross-border traders alone. Customduties on imported goods were considered to be unfair to the women. Myrespondents regarded custom and excise duties as a form of negative taxintended to discourage cross-border activities, instead of strengtheningthem especially during the hard times under ESAP and increasingunemployment. My respondents observed that what the women tradersneeded from government was encouragement and nothing more.Generally speaking, Masvingo cross-border respondents held a positiveimage of themselves. They were assertive, independent and goal-orientedin their thinking, and attributed their suffering to external forces beyondtheir control. However, of particular interest was the high degree ofdetermination not only to survive but to embark on operations that wouldeventually lead to successful investment. The women did not exhibit theattributes of a 'culture of poverty', but I am tempted to talk in Jones's(1993,246) language of a 'culture of achievement' as the dominant, drivingspirit amongst cross-border female traders in this study. The womenV. N. MUZVIDZIWA 33rejected the negative stereotypes that they are immoral, callous, greedytraders, out to milk their clients. The cross-border traders were wellaware of the negative images and perceptions created by the media andsupported by the State. They talked about these claims, and showed howthey were false. The women in my sample were quite happy that at theinter-personal and household levels, people disputed these negative mediaportrayals. Cross-border women traders had a positive view of their trade.All but two cross-border traders felt that through cross-border tradethey were able to overcome many of the disadvantages that deny womenequal access to resources. They all felt that they had found a domain inwhich men were second-best players. Dating back to the colonial period,men had been trained to take up jobs in the formal sector. This was stillthe emphasis in the post-colonial Zimbabwean state, resulting in an inabilityof most men to orient themselves to jobs in the informal sector. Thegendered nature of formal sector employment had worked to the advantageof women traders, who were convinced that most men would not be ableto endure the kinds of hardships inherent in cross-border trade. Theirendurance meant that they could feed, clothe and house their dependentsand themselves, without male assistance. Cross-border women traders inMasvingo exuded a confident commitment to hard work in order to supporttheir households. They saw themselves as hard-working persons. Thethree women observed over a period of eight months also knew that theirsuccess depended on being shrewd in their operations They were acutelyaware that failure in their operations certainly spelt disaster for theirhouseholds.A TRIP TO SOUTH AFRICAI joined a trader in a five-day cross-border trip in December 1995 to see formyself what the cross-border respondents had told me, and to acquire afuller picture of what the women go through. We had intended to leave on26 November. However, due to the increased pre-Christmas demand forvisas, the South African High Commission in Harare did not return thepassport of my sponsor in time, so the trip was deferred to early December.Her brother and sister-in-law in South Africa, who had been informed ofthe trip and with whom we stayed, thought the plans had fallen through.We arrived to find her sister-in-law had taken their children on holiday totheir maternal grandmother, and only returned on the day I left on thereturn journey to Zimbabwe.I left the organisation of the trip and introductions in the hands of mysponsor. She informed her brother that I was her late husband's maternaluncle (sekuru). This classificatory kinship status confers respectability.Shona wives usually confided in and sought the sekuru's advice and34 CROSS-BORDER TRADEintervention if there were marital problems. (However, sekuru used looselycan also refer to boyfriend, but in our case it was not used in this sense.)2She informed her brother that I wanted to purchase a solar electricpanel, which was quite true. Accompanied by my sponsor's brother, Iexplored Central Pretoria on foot for two days, but unfortunately all thepanels that we saw cost more than 1 could afford. However, during ourtours I conversed with shop owners in Pretoria who specialised in buyingartefacts from Zimbabwean women. My sponsor also took me one morningto visit some of her customers, and on this occasion 1 helped her carry herload of trade-goods.Amongst the highlights of this trip were the first-hand observation ofthe harassment of the traders at the South African border post. SouthAfrican customs officials simply charged whatever duty they felt like. 1 sawno attempt by officials to hide the extra exactions on the women. 1 observedofficers asking women, 'Do you have fifty rands?' The woman either triedto negotiate or simply produced the cash. This money was pocketed bythe officials and no receipt was issued. The women were then asked to payvery little and were given a receipt, which they showed to security at theexit gate from the Immigration and Customs offices into no-man's land.There were some South Africans at the border post who assistedZimbabwean women to avoid paying duty. 1 saw six of these, four womenand two men. After conversing at one point with one of these four women,the customs official at the gate through which everyone had to passtemporarily left his post, apparently to allow some women to sneak through.Verbal harassment and derogatory statements about Zimbabwe's PresidentMugabe by South African customs officials were a common diet cross-border women lived with. It seemed a woman accompanied by a man wastreated differently and respected. The immigration and customs officersassumed my respondent and myself were married, judging by the remarkswhich they made. There was no harassment but good wishes for ourholiday. My sponsor was carrying a few items of high dutiable value in thethree pieces of luggage we had. These officials could easily have seen fromour passports that we were unrelated, but perhaps their patriarchalassumptions worked in our favour.A striking aspect of the trip was the difference in the women's mood'going out' and returning. On the outward journey to South Africa therewas little excitement and a sombre mood. Everyone was worried about- This eased my entry into the cross-border network. I did not consider her decisions to beunethical. My sponsor knew about the purpose of my trip. The reception would certainlyhave been different had I been introduced as a researcher.This might have meant the need for bureaucratic clearance on the part of South Africanauthorities and it would certainly have jeopardised her trading activities on that trlD andpossibly future operations.V. N. MUZVIDZIWA 35South African Customs at Beitbridge, as well as whether the whole tripwould be successful or not. They spoke generally in low voices. The trainwas over-flowing from Messina to Pretoria, with Zimbabwean womenchatting about issues unrelated to cross-border trade; issues like women'stroubles and attitudes of South Africans.I returned without my sponsor, who remained behind in Pretoria tocollect money from customers before returning to Zimbabwe. On thereturn journey, the women showed much excitement. In Pretoria the trainstopped only for 3 to 5 minutes, a form of harassment (even if the railschedules allowed it) as it put a lot of pressure on the women to find acoach and dump all their goods as fast as possible, before the train tookoff. It was fascinating simply watching the movement of women back andforth as they shoved their goods in. Being left behind or leaving somethingbehind under such circumstances would not be surprising. But that didnot happen on this particular day.I was the only man in the section of the coach where I sat so I earnedthe status of 'brother'. The women were excited, despite the fact that thetrain broke down for five hours, and it took 17 hours to cover some 500kms and reach Messina. Talk by the women focused on cross-bordertrade. They talked about problems of debt collection and had vividexamples of specific actions different women on this and past trips hadresorted to in order to force uncooperative clients to pay. Women oftenturned to threats of witchcraft in order to induce fear and force repayments.They also talked about the hardships women had to endure, especiallyworking and living conditions in shared accommodation in South Africa.Some even said they would not want their South African hosts to knowthat they had relatively affluent lifestyles in Zimbabwe. There were jokesthat if a cross-border woman complained of beatings from the husband itwas only out of courtesy that she did not beat the wits out of the abusivehusband. The sentiments were used to underline the physical demands ofcross-border trade, rather than as reference to actual beatings. Havingwitnessed the loads these women carried I agreed with their sentiments.The women also shared experiences about items that were in demand inSouth Africa. There was talk of women who sell 'cabbages', a euphemismfor prostitution. There was even talk of some tricks cross-border womenused to smuggle goods across the border. There was a lot of excitement,jokes and stories related to cross-border trade. The spirit of opennessprevailed and through references to totemic connections everybody inthe coach was related to everybody else. It was also interesting to notethat people came from many corners of Zimbabwe.I was quite surprised that returning cross-border traders weresubjected to harassment by the South African customs. The women had toproduce receipts and in one instance customs confiscated goods on the36 CROSS-BORDER TRADEgrounds that there was no evidence of source of finance for such purchases.On the Zimbabwean side, the customs officials were friendly and acceptedthe prices written down on the forms by the women. It appeared as if a fewwomen gave material goods as unsolicited gifts to some of the officers inappreciation of their non-threatening behaviour. In fact the exemplarybehaviour of Zimbabwean customs officials had been commented uponduring the night's train travel. This, the women noted, was a recentchange. They too had in the past been notorious for harassing cross-border women traders.DATA ON MASVINGO CROSS-BORDER WOMEN TRADERSBasic dataTable 1 summarises important data on the 13 cross-border traders in mysample, to which 1 will refer throughout this article.South Africa was a popular and frequent destination for all my cross-border respondents. Hence in Masvingo when the women discussed cross-border trade they were more likely to be referring to South Africa than anyother country and this article refers primarily to such trade.Respondents appeared well-established and well-connected in theirbusiness. None of these traders fell into the very poor categories in thepoverty index (see Muzvidziwa, 1997): five were coping and seven climbingout of poverty. The widowed woman who was in the hanging-on categoryat the beginning of my fieldwork had clearly improved her situation by theend of the year. She was talking of extending her four-roomed house by anadditional three rooms. Eight cross-border women traders werepermanently urban. Cross-border traders showed a spread in terms of age(20 to 47 years) and place of birth: three were born in town (Bulawayo,Harare and Masvingo), another three were born in rural districts beyondMasvingo, and the rest (62%) were from rural districts in Masvingo Province.About a third of the women started cross-border trade in order tosupplement household income, but by the time of my research, cross-border trade had become the mainstay of their household economy. Noneof the women was thinking of retiring from cross-border trading activities,despite its exacting demands in terms of time and effort. It is interestingthat 85% of women thought that success in cross-border trade dependedon hard work. The other 15% thought that success depended on shrewdmarketing strategies and the amount of capital invested in trade. Mostwere quite happy with the financial returns from cross-border trade.Compared to other respondents, cross-border traders felldisproportionately into the category of those opting for urban permanency(62%). Yet approximately 70% remitted to their villages. Even though thewomen had no intention of returning to the village, because of splitIdentityAgeSch. yrsMaritalHousing**No. roomsbirth placeDependentsNo. childrenChn. resRemit paUP/DRYrs in MsvgHhd sizeInitiated by*MaroundAF359DT2+R4+42self2mo4+UP126FyesAH279DL1R4+3h's4+DR<12FnoDATA ONC415W02+U11mo1-3UP93FnoBF429DL2+R4+1self0UP145kinyesTable 1CROSS-BORDER RESPONDENTSBM436W02+R4+3self4+UP66FyesJ3711D02+R332self1-3UP108FyesYM349ML1U4+4self4+DR38FnoE365WL1R4+3self+ lmo1-3DR<14FyesG475DL1R12self+ lmo0UP182FyesW345W02+R4+4awayind0UP137FnoT2711ST1U11self0UP103FnoWX2611DT1R4+2selfmo4+DR86FnoPM2011SL1U00n/a1-3DR21kinnoIsMeals per dayTravel toOperatesYr startedIncome Z$Poverty indexAbbreviations:sch = schoolS = singleAF2SAalone19901000+clmbAH2SAother1990600-999copgC2SAalone19841000+clmbM = mapoto, informal conjugal unionL = lodgerR = Ruralnio = respondent's motherDR = double-rootednessF = FriendSadc = SouthernAfrican 1Development (clmb = climbing out of povertyBF2SAother19901000+copgTable 1 (cont)BM J YM3 3 2SA SA+B Sadcalone alone other1993 1983 19911000+ 1000+ 1000+clmb clmb copgyr(s) = year(s)D = divorceehousing** = housing0 = ownerchn res = residence olE2SA+Balone1994600-999copgstatusG2Sadcother19901000+copgf childrenremit pa = remittances per annumMsvg = MasvingoSA = South AfricaZommunitycopg = copingW T WX2 3 3SA SA SAalone other alone1995 1993 1993<600* 600+ 600-999h/o copg clmbmarital = maritalW = widowT =tenantU = Urbanh = husbandPM2SAother19941000+copgstatusUP = urban permanencyhhd = householdB = BotswanaF = friendh/o = hanging onSoo33a3S-BORDER'33DmV. N. MUZVIDZIWA 39residence (nearly half had a child living elsewhere), they could not affordto cut their rural ties completely. Sometimes remittances were one-offevents such as funeral expenses for deceased kin.MOVEMENTSThe volume of temporary cross-border crossings to neighbouring countriestook a sharp increase that coincided with the official adoption of ESAP in1991. Table 2 shows the official temporary cross-border movements from1988 to 1993. From 15 July 1991 South Africa started issuing multiple entryvisas to Zimbabwean passport holders valid for six months, in place of itsprevious single entry visas.Table 2CROSS-BORDER MOVEMENTSYear198819891990199119921993Botswana4 32214 8806 16642 0917 411n/a.Zambia11 69716 74418 97720 78424 568n/a.Moz.4 7618 42910 34712 85519 760n/a.SA68 58378 710110 13321347377 415>1 000 000Issued visas SAn/a.179 352236 535274 297268 848264 227Sources: CSO, December, 1992 Monthly Migration and Tourist Statistics(Harare, CSO, Table 5.2, 30); South African Trade Mission, Harare. FromCheater (forthcoming), 84, Table 1).Cheater (forthcoming) noted that the unprecedented female mobilityafter 1990 enabled women to compete in economic and social spaces withmen and to service a market beyond the reach of male control. Cross-border trading overlapped significantly with widowhood and divorce:only one trader in my sample was in a mapoto relationship (an informalconjugal union), and another two were single. These female long-distancemigrants were in many ways redefining the role and functions (Cheaterand Gaidzanwa, 1996, 199) of migration as described by the literature onmale labour migrants in the 1960s and 1970s.Table 3 shows the regularity of cross-border trips by my Masvingorespondents. On average the women who conducted cross-border tradeon a monthly basis were away from their urban homes for at least twoweeks each month.40 CROSS-BORDER TRADETable 3FREQUENCY OF RESPONDENTS' CROSS-BORDER TRIPSTotal %Monthly 6 46Bi-monthly 4 31Quarterly 1 8Twice a year 2 15Total 13 100NetworksOn trips outside Zimbabwe, cross-border respondents depended for theirfood and housing requirements on kin and non-kin connections andestablished contacts on the other side of the border. Enduring non-kinconnections were those established through the respondents' owninitiatives, particularly introductions through regular clients. Introductionsto hosts were also made through other Zimbabwean women traders withwhom my respondents were casually acquainted. My respondents lodgedat the same places every time they went on their business trips, whichenabled them to cultivate personalised relationships with their hosts andto become known and trusted as customers as well as suppliers of goods.Some activated the effective kin networks of close or distant relations tofacilitate their cross-border trade.The traders were developing business relationships through a vastnetwork of clients, that straddled the region and possibly went beyondSouthern Africa. Some of my respondents talked of women who travelledas far as Mauritius. Cheater (forthcoming) observed similar patternsamongst cross-border traders. For her, 'transborder culture' transcendednationality and ethnic (and possibly even gender) differences when itcame to economic cooperation. Women's networks acted as a businessresource.Besides being offered secure accommodation, traders usually sharedmeals with their host families. Those who stayed with kin made foodpurchases during their stay, which they pooled with their hosts. In somecases involving non-kin hosts, the women paid a fixed daily or weeklyboarding rate, generally in kind. The women also carried from Zimbabwethose well-appreciated food items not readily available in the food marketsof their hosts. The cost of food was higher in neighbouring countries, sothey bought in bulk tinned food from Zimbabwe, and used sun-dried andpre-cooked foods which last for up to a week.V. N. MUZVIDZIWA 41My cross-border respondents operated on stringent budgets. Moststrove to limit their expenditure to between R50 and R80 per week. Therewas a preference for cheap but secure accommodation. Boarding costsranged between R5 and RIO per day, although the two traders staying withkin did not pay boarding costs. Use of established contacts and kinconnections was seen as an effective method of cutting costs. Security ofcross-border merchandise was another important consideration when itcame to selecting accommodation. During my fieldwork none of the cross-borders complained of theft or pilfering of goods at their current'residences' during cross-border operations, but noted that they hadexperienced problems in the past, in different localities.While kin connections on the other side of the border had beenactivated and used particularly during their initial trips, there were attemptsto minimise reliance on kin in the long-term. As part of the woman'smanipulative strategies for survival, it was necessary to extricate herselffrom kin connections as soon as a cross-border trader was on her feet.Only two women stayed with kin during my fieldwork. They informed methat by the beginning of 1996 they too would be staying with non-kinconnections. Amongst my respondents, the significance of 'global' networksof non-kin relations was emphasised and underpinned the traders'successful operations. Cross-border trade depended on the existence ofprivate individuals willing to put up strangers in their homes. Stack (1974,54) observed that kin have obligations to one another, resulting in a needto distance when one's financial position improves. My respondents wereconscious of the demands of kin and talked about their attempts to keepkin out of their business relationships. Where kin continued to play a role,it was likely to be maternal kin, relations with whom are less conflict-prone than those with patri-kin.My respondents noted that success in cross-border trade dependedon establishing reliable connections on the other side of the border,including kin and non-kin ties, friendship networks, and business ties. Fora few cases in the study, friendship grew out of initial contacts withcustomers as hosts providing food and housing. Cross-border traderswere particularly grateful to those who assisted them during their initialphases in their informal cross-border business. From these early beginningsthese persons gradually came to act as friends, useful business contactsand providers of information on the credit-worthiness of new customers.Some of the Masvingo cross-border traders had South African hosts whohad become friends, and who put up at their residences whenever theyvisited Zimbabwe. In at least thiee cases, business contacts in Zimbabwehad paved the way for business connections in South Africa. In the courseof cross-border transactions the women in the sample met new businesscontacts, strengthened ties with old ones and interacted with individuals,42 CROSS-BORDER TRADEsometimes companies, some of which became an on-going source ofsupport for their operations. A network of well-connected, informal cross-border trading links, based mostly on non-kin connections, had emergedand was instrumental to success in this type of business.IncomesEighty-five per cent of my sample's cross-border traders noted that theywere in difficult circumstances when they started operating. However,within a year they had managed to raise incomes that took their householdsout of these difficulties. In Zimbabwe during 1995, an income of Z$600 permonth was the official poverty threshold for a six-person household. Allcross-border respondents had incomes above this threshold. Some 62% ofthe traders had monthly incomes well above $1 000. Amongst those whoseprimary source of income depended on cross-border trade, contributionsfrom other income sources generally constituted less than 30% of theirtotal household income.Respondents C and W represent a pioneer and a recent entrant intocross-border trade. In 1995 respondent C had no dependents other thanher child. However, she was involved in one-off remittances to her parentsin Chivi. Her parents had retired to the village after spending most of theirworking life in Masvingo town. C considered herself urban. Pioneers like C,unlike recent entrants such as W, were more likely to have stronger urbanroots. C started operating in 1984, before the death of her husband.Although her husband was not against cross-border trading, she foundher own start-up capital of $200. As a pioneer, C had had no problem ofmarketing her goods in her initial years, long before ESAP began to removeshortages in Zimbabwe. She was part of the group that was involved increating a cross-border market niche in the region.Right from the beginning, C depended on strategic non-kin socialnetworks in her external operations. In her own opinion, C had contributedmore than her husband towards the purchase of her house, which she hadinherited after his death. She was planning to extend her house, just likerespondent W.In contrast to C, W had to wait until after the death of her husband toget a passport. She was a new entrant into cross-border trade, havingstarted operations in early 1995. By the end of that year she was 'climbingout of poverty', even though she had to face the difficulties of a saturatedand over-supplied market in respect of certain types of goods. W had sofar depended for her success on her family network. For accommodationand introduction to clients, her sister-in-law and brother in Pretoria playedan important role. She stayed at their residence in 1995, although she wasmaking arrangements to stay with non-kin connections from the beginningof 1996. Another sister-in-law in Masvingo loaned her $2 000 as start-upV. N. MUZVIDZIWA 43capital. She repaid the whole amount before the end of 1995. It was clearthat entry into cross-border trade was becoming more difficult as it wasno longer easy to raise from personal savings the amount of start-upcapital needed. W had more than four dependents from her deceasedhusband's family. Three stayed with her and made no contributions to thehousehold budget. She depended on her kin for help. In 1994 she could notremit due to the difficult circumstances she was in. However, in August1995, she made financial contributions totalling $500 towards the cost oftwo funerals of her husband's kin. It is possibly such demands that madecross-border women more determined to limit kin connections and not toremain double-rooted.STRATEGISING FOR SUCCESS AND MAXIMISING RETURNSIn order to succeed in cross-border trade, women had to be innovative,resourceful risk-takers, and constantly on the lookout for new marketniches that emerged from time to time. In order to maximise returns, myrespondents engaged in a combination of cash, credit and barter sales andpurchases. For instance, the women operating in Durban, particularly intheir dealings with the Indian community, generally combined cash saleswith credit as well as barter. They received second-hand items such asclothing, domestic appliances, sewing, craft and crocheting materials,household and office equipment.Some formal business enterprises in Masvingo had entered intobusiness arrangements with cross-border traders. There was an apparentpersonalisation of these business relationships based on trust, whichmade it difficult to terminate the relationships, when foreign currencybecame readily available. Shame and embarrassment underpinned theconduct of such business, as in the case of one woman who inflated herprice.Six women had more or less standing orders from both Zimbabweanand South African enterprises, which paid the women in cash. Sometraders sold their items to other formal-sector operators in exchange forgoods and cash. All cross-border respondents sold directly to individuals,though these were rarely on a cash basis. Sometimes the women acceptedsecond-hand items to top up the cash offered by individual customers, butcredit was the most common method of selling goods to individuals andsmall businesses. The women accepted a down payment, which in mostcases ranged between a third and a half of the selling price, and clientspaid the balance in three or four monthly installments.My respondents were fully aware that marketing strategiesunderpinned the success of their informal cross-border activities. Firstly,the women tried to diversify their sources of income. My respondents44 CROSS-BORDER TRADEobserved that successful cross-border trade was dependent on one'sability to start up other self-sustaining, income-generating projects. Settingup viable income-generating projects was the long-term intention of allcross-border traders in my sample. Most thought of building or extendingan existing urban house of their own to rent out, as the most effectivemethod to ensure future returns on investments.Secondly, competition for markets, especially in South Africa, ledsome to try to move into new geographical areas as well as diversifyingwares. A few women in the sample went as far as the Eastern and WesternCape, where they tried to find out what potential clients wanted and newthings that would appeal to the customers' tastes. They wanted to avoidconcentrating on traditional items such as doilies. Competition, instead ofleading simply to reduced sales, opened up new possibilities and marketingopportunities.While most women tried to diversify, they were also trying toconsolidate their cross-border activities. The consolidation process wasbest depicted in the women's attempts to build up a loyal clientele both inand outside Zimbabwe. They also tried to build up stock and to specialisein goods that had a ready market.SOURCES OF START-UP CAPITALFor their start-up capital, my sample's cross-border traders had dependedon personal savings, loans and grants, as shown in Table 4.PersonalLoansGrantsTotalRESPONDENTS'savingsTable 4SOURCE OF START-UP CAPITAL74213543115100%Seven financed their own first operations. They managed to raisestart-up capital from personal earnings generated from itinerant trading,informal jobs and savings on the domestic household budget. There wereno cases where cross-border traders had saved enough from formal savings.Borrowing to increase their volume of purchases and sales occurred later.For my sample, the two sources of loans were friends and kin. Loanscame mainly from the female network. Four respondents had receivedvarying amounts of start-up capital from friends, sisters, cousins, aunts,mothers and brothers and a sister-in-law. Only two got outright grants asV. N. MUZVIDZIWA 45start-up capital, one from her father and another from a brother. Generallythe women got loans, which most had been only too eager to repay inorder to maintain their credit-worthiness.None went beyond their social networks for cross-border start-upcapital. Credit institutions were not a viable alternative to raise the capitalneeded to launch the risky cross-border trade. Four cross-border tradersadmitted to getting finance later from credit institutions, for investmentsin other activities. None of my cross-border respondents had ever borrowedmoney from a commercial bank to finance their trading operations; theydid not want to be indebted to formal institutions. Part of the Zimbabweanmind-set is against loans, from such institutions excepting among thosewho see such loans as 'free' money and do not repay it.RECRUITMENT INTO CROSS-BORDER TRADEMy respondents' entry into cross-border trade was often not easy. In somecases, before their widowhood, the women had not been allowed by theirhusbands to apply for passports.Friendship networks were most important for entry into the trade.Friends had initiated 85% of respondents, kin only 15%. First cross-bordertrips were generally undertaken with friends, although usually onsubsequent trips most women travelled on their own. None of the womenin the study still undertook trips with those who had initiated them intobusiness. All traders felt that their first trips were nearly disastrous in thatthey lost goods or simply did not manage to dispose of their wares asquickly as they would have liked to. They ended up selling at low prices.However, none blamed their initiators, although they claimed to have hadmisgivings at the time of initiation. In retrospect they appreciated theimportance of throwing somebody into the deep end if future success wasto be guaranteed. They acknowledged that their first trips were usefullearning experiences that set the ground for future success.During my fieldwork, 54% went unaccompanied during their cross-border trips. They did not even consult anybody about the trips. Some46% planned and executed their journeys in collaboration with a friend,kin or some acquaintances. But even this group, once in their countries ofdestination, either parted ways till the return day or shared onlyaccommodation expenses. Each woman went her own way during the day,sourcing customers, recovering debts, and making purchases for the returnjourney to Zimbabwe. Success or failure in cross-border trade was highlyindividualised.Respondents were asked to indicate their willingness to sponsorsomebody into cross-border trade. All said that this was a very difficultissue, and from their own experience if they could avoid it they would46 CROSS-BORDER TRADErather not do it, since the problems encountered during the first trip coulddamage personal relations. Any hardships experienced by the initiate atthe time of initiation were thought to be taken personally as deliberateattempts to discourage the new entrant. This possibly explained whymost preferred to conduct solo operations. Once one agreed to sponsor anew entrant, it was important to tell them the possible hazards andproblems and how cross-border business was conducted, to minimisetheir shock experiences. But they realised that no amount of prior warningcould adequately prepare an initiate for the first trip, and some avoidedtalking about the problems in order not to appear to be discouraging awould-be entrant. New entrants needed to be told that every experience isdifferent and unpredictable. Based on their own experiences, myrespondents noted that they would only sponsor somebody on theunderstanding that it was the first and last trip undertaken together.CROSS-BORDER MARKET NICHESAll cross-border traders depended on the 'portfolio' approach in order tomaximise their income-earning opportunities. Although from time to timesome of the respondents chose to concentrate on a particular marketniche, they tried to avoid over-specialisation, instead adopting a diverseproduct mix. For instance, those operating in Venda (in the NorthernTransvaal, South Africa), recognised this niche's demand for low-pricedfood commodities and other household items. They also specialised inmeeting the fast-growing demand for souvenir items by those who servicedthe tourist market. They traded in knitted and crocheted goods as well astextiles for the lower-middle class and wealthier clientele. The traderswere commonly referred to as 'madoily' women because of the emphasison this type of business in the 1980s. Due to increased competition, by1995 there was less emphasis on doilies.Not only did they carry a wide range of products for resale, but morethan two-thirds of my respondents were involved in multiple income-earning activities. The most popular second source of income was back-street hair salon work and mazitye market for second-hand goods. Onewoman combined cross-border trade with four other sources of income:tomato vending, second-hand clothes sales, house rentals, a modestpension. The range of secondary income-earning activities also includedthe production and sale of carrier bags, food vending and formalemployment. The majority of cross-border traders engaged in secondaryincome-earning activities related to their cross-border business. Forexample, for their back-street hair salons they sourced artificial hair andhairdressing chemicals from South Africa during trading operations.Generally cross-border traders were law-abiding citizens. Theiractivities were transparent and conducted in accordance with the demandsV. N. MUZVIDZIWA47of the law on either side of the border. However, laws that placed impossibledemands on traders were broken at times. During the course of my researchI identified (through discussions with some respondents and personalobservations at the border posts) two, lucrative illegal cross-borderdomains (other than prostitution): a tiny minority of women traded inmarijuana, and a few women engaged in illegal gold deals.None of my Masvingo respondents engaged in these illegal domains.While they acknowledged that the temptation was great given theirprofitability, their status as female heads of households, particularly assingle mothers, discouraged them. They preferred a less lucrative butsteady income. Often, as the women recalled, those who engaged in illegaldeals were caught.TYPES OF CROSS-BORDER MERCHANDISE, SOURCES AND MARKETOUTLETSTable 5COMMODITIES, THEIR SOURCES AND MARKET OUTLETSOutgoing TradeCommoditiesSourcesMarketsCrafts: souvenirs,artifacts, curiosTextile products: clothingmaterials, clothes; crochetwork, embroidery,macrame and knitwear;hand-made jerseys, shirts,sweeping traditionalmaterial (mitsvairo)Cheap sandals (manyatera);Quality shoesFarm products: grains;legumes (roundnuts,groundnuts, beans) sun-dried vegetables andmushroomsZimbabwean doorstep-deliveries, independentproducers < 100km ex-Masvingo (Chibi, GreatZimbabwe, Bikita,Nyanyadzi, Mutare)Self-production;commissioned putting-outto women in Masvingo;formal + informal marketsin Masvingo, Harare,Chinhoyi, Mutare andBulawayoIndependent producersManufacturers, formalretailers in Masvingo,Bulawayo, Gweru, HarareSmall-scale ruralproducers, wholesalegrain markets, deliveriesto MasvingoShops and individuals inSouth Africa; individualsin the SADC regionShops and individuals inSouth Africa; individualsin selected SADCcountriesRural poor in South AfricaTrendy markets inDurban, Johannesburg,PretoriaSouth Africa's low-incomeurban families andbantustans e.g.Vendaland; SADC region48CROSS-BORDER TRADECommoditiesElectrical + mechanical:radios, TVs, solar panelsMotor vehicle partsComputer disksMedicinesTextiles/footwear: shoes,jackets, jerseys,cloth, clothing(mazambia)Table 5 (Cont)Incoming TradeSourcesSA formal shops +individuals, BotswanashopsSA individuals and formalshopsSA shopsSA pharmaceuticalindustriesSA shops and individuals,shops in Botswana,Zambian tradersMarketsMasvingo shops +individuals in and beyondMasvingoVehicle repair shops,individualsIndividualsShopsIndividuals, somemazambia for re-export toSADC + SANew and second-handhousehold goods: cutlery,lawnmowers, fridges,radios, TVs, kitchenwareSecond-hand clothes andcurtainsBuilding materials:cement, tiles, roofing,window frames, basinsOffice goods: fans,heaters, cash registers,locks, typewriters,calculators, furniturePersonalised items;perfumes, body and hairoils, toiletries, watches,undergarments, toysSA individuals and shopsSA + SADC: individualsshopsSA shopsIndividuals and shops inSouth Africa andBotswanaSA individuals and shops;in Botswana shops onlySeco:'fl-hand clothingshops, and individuals in/beyond MasvingoSecond-hand clothingshops, and individuals in/beyond MasvingoIndividuals in rural andurban MasvingoShops and individuals inMasvingo, rural schoolsand individualsIndividuals in Masvingoand rural areas, back-street hair dressers,shopsV. N. MUZVIDZIWA 49Zimbabwean Sources and External MarketsCross-border respondents were bent on getting things on the cheap, tomaximise returns on investments. The cross-border traders were alwayson the lookout for low-priced goods intended for resale, and investigateda multiplicity of sources. Traders often themselves produced goods for,but limited to, clothing items on a very small scale for cross-border trade.Most of the time they were on the move sourcing or selling merchandise.Also, none single-handedly possessed the range of skills required for therange of items needed in cross-border trade.The most common source of cross-border merchandise wascomissioned work, particularly knitwear, crochet work and doilies. Some46% of all research participants were connected to cross-border tradersthrough such work. The early emphasis on embroidery work, crochetwork, macrame and knitwear earned the women their trade name of'madoilies women'. However, the Masvingo women had moved to 'classy'clothing items: hand-produced tops and jerseys were apparently in highdemand in South Africa, and were likely to remain so as top qualityproducts.Cross-border business was thus a women's market niche that createdpart-time work for other women, mainly in town. Only one respondentcommissioned work to kin in her village and went there every month tocollect and pay for the finished products. This respondent (BM) was in thepermanently urban category, yet she exploited her rural networks inorder to maximise her business outcomes.Thirdly, most cross-border women sourced some wares directly fromurban craft producers in Masvingo. The craft products included metalcrafts, footwear, baskets, woodcarvings and stone sculptures. TheMunicipality had licensed about ten small-scale operators to extractsoapstone from the nearby hills. However, from my own casualobservations it was clear that the number of soapstone operators farexceeded the licences issued. Completely indigenised productiontechniques were used to produce crafts, yet the market was external. Thisexternal market was being tapped predominantly by women, not just as aresponse to ESAP, but also reflecting the entrepreneurial inter-penetratingof indigenous production systems into global markets.Fourthly, the women sourced wares from formal markets in Masvingoand other Zimbabwean towns, including Harare, Chinhoyi, Mutare andBulawayo. They purchased from wholesale markets and retailers, andfrom the second-hand clothing markets such as the one in Harare. Sourcingmerchandise from all over the country demanded much travelling.Lastly, within Zimbabwe, Masvingo traders also purchased from rural,small-scale producers, mostly art and craftwork, dry legumes and otherfarm products and textile products. This entailed travelling to destinations50 CROSS-BORDER TRADEoutside Masvingo, to places like Nyanyadzi, Mutare, Chivi and Mwenezi,where craft producers specialised in wood carving, soapstone and claypots Cross-border business women went to these places to purchasetraditionallycrafted items like baskets, hats, jackets, vests and other relatedwares Some rural soapstone sculptors and wood carvers brought theiritems to the town doorsteps of cross-border traders, having standingorders. ... j . Ł ...The market of farm produce peaked between April and July. It wastied to Zimbabwe's rain-fed agricultural cycle, dependent on a normalrainy season from November to March. The shift to farm produce cameafter 1992 demonstrating the ability of Zimbabwean women to respond tomarket demands by the poor in the South African former Bantustans suchDespite the imposition in 1993 of 90% import tariffs by South Africancustoms on Zimbabwean textiles, clothing and footwear, traders continuedto sell profitably their varied wares to their clientele in South Africa. Theirmarketing of goods outside the country was directed to formal sectorenterprises. However, every cross-border trader had engaged, at one timeor another, in selling her wares from door-to-door. Door-to-door sellingwas directed at business enterprises as well as private citizens, and enabledthe women to reach old customers and potential new clients. In SouthAfrica door-to-door selling was not confined to urban middle-incomeearners. Some traders exploited the market amongst the poorer sectionsof the urban and rural populace.Table 5 shows that my respondents specialised in different types ofgoods for their Zimbabwean and foreign clientele. Their markets outsidethe country were not homogeneous. The women indicated that theysupplied both private and corporate businesses in South Africa. Theadvantage of doing business with formal businesses was that many paid incash. In most cases they had standing orders for their goods on a regularmonthly or bi-monthly basis.Masvingo cross-border traders noted that there has been a growingdemand from some formal shops in South Africa for goods that appealedto the tourist market. They all tried to enter this lucrative market niche,but only about a quarter of the women in the sample sold some items tothese tourist-oriented shops. One shop in Pretoria and another inJohannesburg placed standing orders with cross-border traders. Myrespondents had told me of two shops that involved ex-Rhodesians. Onmy trip we travelled in the same rail coach from Messina to Pretoria witha woman who specialised in supplying souvenirs to two formal shops inPretoria. At the South African border post, this woman paid R500 importduty on a set of four large craft objects. She had purchased each of theartifacts at $400 (approximately R175) each. The shop would pay her R700cash for each piece.V. N. MUZVIDZIWA 51Goods were generally sold for cash, credit and barter in and outsideZimbabwe (Table 6), showing the importance of trust between clients andcross-border operators. Generally my respondents used a combination ofselling modes.Cash and creditCash, credit andCash and barterCredit onlyTotalTable 6RESPONDENTS' SELLING MODESTotal3barter 62213%24461515100%Without giving credit to customers many cross-border traders wouldbe out of business. Most of their individual clients would not qualify forformal bank loans because they had no security guarantees. However,cross-referencing to establish clients' creditworthiness was very common.References were elicited from regular clients. These personal referralswere effective mechanisms for ensuring a high rate of repayment amongstdebtors.External Sources and Marketing in ZimbabweCross-border traders in my sample sourced a broad range of items thatincluded almost anything in demand in Zimbabwe. During the 1980s, whenimport controls were extremely strict, one trader had been contracted bysome vehicle repair businesses to bring them the needed spare parts fortheir customers. She had acquired an import licence, and survived as aspecialised cross-border trader. The formal pharmaceutical sector hadfaced problems importing medicines prior to the introduction of ESAP,but cross-border women were able to source medicines from outside thecountry. I was not able to verify whether the traders sourced prescriptionmedicines: this rather lucrative trade remained little known due to themany legal barriers imposed on the health sector and the type of medicinesthat could be brought into the country without a licence. ESAP appears tohave opened up further the medicine market, although the number ofwomen involved was extremely small: in my sample only two were involved.The trade in medicines seemed to be going on despite calls for tighterdrug controls.Cross-border traders tried to meet the varied and expanding needs ofan expanding urban population. Within the Southern African Development52 CROSS-BORDER TRADECommunity it was increasingly apparent that there were emerging newtastes and lifestyles; growing demands for decorative luxury items, and anon-going demand for imported goods. It was the cross-border womentraders who helped meet these growing demands and changing tastes. Myrespondents kept low stocks for a source-and-supply market.There were three main sources of merchandise outside Zimbabwe.Firstly, the women depended on network connections to inform them ofcheap sources, predominantly urban individuals and business persons.Generally individual suppliers of goods specialised in second-hand items.Formal businesses, including established wholesalers and retailers,constituted the second major category of suppliers of goods outsideZimbabwe. Some of the shops specialised in supplying goods in demandby cross-border traders. Some shops in South Africa bartered their goodsfor cross-border wares. Some formal markets acted as both suppliers andpurchasers of commodities, which was particularly advantageous to tradersby minimising their stay in South Africa. All the women at some stage inthe retail chain were offered second-hand clothes and equipment as aform of barter payment and sometimes as gifts.In Zimbabwe, cross-border wares sourced outside the country weresold to established formal-sector businesses, to individual business-personsin municipal markets, and privately. Some of the traders in my samplewere connected to the South African market by shop-owners belonging tothe same ethnic group as their South African counterparts. While ethnicconsiderations influenced market connections, the market itself wasdominated by poly-ethnic actors. Soon after fieldwork, one of the Masvingoshops that used to commission cross-border traders closed down, butother formal sector enterprises continued to place specific orders withthe women. Some of these shops demanded receipts from cross-bordersuppliers, and paid three times the Rand purchase figure in Zimbabweandollars (e.g. if goods were purchased at R30 the cross-border trader wouldthen be paid $90). Given the official exchange rate during 1995 (Rl= $2.1-2.3), the prices offered by these formal shops translated into a mark-up ofless than 30%, so the net profit arising out of such transactions was lowwhen travel, accommodation and other related costs were taken intoaccount.Generally the mark-up by cross-border respondents was four timesthe rand purchase figure in Zimbabwean dollars, a differential of over 70%,excluding the operating costs. The reason why traders preferred thelower price offered by shops was that they got their money in cash with nohassles. 1 can only speculate on the advantages to the shops. They wereguaranteed a small flow of goods in line with demand; they could respondquickly to market changes; they were not saddled with large stocks ofgoods that could incur losses if demand fell; and overhead costs wereV. N. MUZVIDZIWA 53drastically reduced (such as insurance costs during transit and transportcosts). Direct purchase from the cross-border traders also allowed sometax avoidance on the part of shop-owners. Exactions by customs on thecross-border traders in the form of duty and bribes were the responsibilityof the women. Hence purchases from the women also meant shops did notpay import duties.The demand for receipts by some formal sector customers, togetherwith customs and excise duty, produced contradictory responses. Whilstreceipts reflecting low prices minimised customs charges, they also yieldedsmall payments (possibly under-payments) for the goods. But to overchargecustomers meant the risk of high duty too. One cross-border trader in thesample stopped taking her supplies to one of the shops after an employeeof this shop also went down to South Africa and brought back the samegoods at only two-thirds of what she had been charging. She was veryembarrassed and felt that she could not face her formal customer. When Ileft fieldwork at the end of December she had not resumed selling to thisshop. She had found other, less satisfactory customers outside the formalsector.Individual business-persons in Masvingo sourced goods directly frommy respondents. In two cases, standing orders were placed with thewomen, but usually orders were on an as-need-arises basis for items suchas hair salon products and car parts. Business persons also commissionedmy respondents to bring them items for household use.Cross-border traders sold directly to stall-holders in municipal markets.The most common items sold to markets were clothing, household andpersonal-care goods such as watches, perfumes and hair lotions.Casual observations and conversations with operators in town and inMucheke revealed that the bulk of their wares were sourced from cross-border traders. Operators of these stalls replenished their supplies on amonthly basis. Those who sold to these operators received cash, thoughin some cases only a 50% down-payment and the rest later. Operators ofsecond-hand shops and hawkers trading within and outside Masvingotown also bought items on credit from some of my respondents. They paidthe remainder over an agreed period of time. Besides supplying goods toother mupedzanhamo businesses, three cross-border traders in my samplehad their own shops. Part of their cross-border merchandise waschannelled into these businesses.Marketing of cross-border wares was very individualised and was notconfined to Masvingo town. Most of the women at one time or anothersold directly to urban and rural individuals. Friendship networks weremobilised to reach a wider market. Neighbours or neighbours'acquaintances constituted part of their potential market. Over time, eachtrader built up a reliable clientele. Over a period of eight months, I observed54 CROSS-BORDER TRADEthree women cross-border traders. They sold personalised items mostlyto women in formal jobs as well as sex workers who required continuoussupplies as part of their working gear. They had orders from clients formost imported items.In 1995, cross-border traders were in the process of expanding intothe rural Zimbabwean market. The women travelled to trading and servicecentres, growth points and mission stations within Masvingo Province,with both ordered goods and unsolicited wares. This rural trade involveddirect selling to individual buyers. Credit sales dominated rural trade.Their customers were the rural working population (teachers, healthworkers, agricultural workers, shop workers and the self-employed).Cross-border trade involved setting up inter-personal and marketconnections that extended well beyond Masvingo. Traders acted asmiddlemen as well as market brokers. They had to negotiate the purchaseof merchandise at prices which would enable them to make a profit. InsideZimbabwe, they had to source goods with both symbolic status andaesthetic and market values high enough to fetch favourable rates. Thethree cross-border traders in the extended study displayed a high degreeof intuition and creative marketing strategies. They were very mobile,travelling to centres of supply and purchasing goods that were in demandby customers. They required and had the skills of tactical salesmen,strategic managers, market forecasters, and strategic investors.The women also made food purchases, particularly at Messina (SouthAfrica's northern-most gateway town into Zimbabwe), but not to resell.Food items like cheap cooking oil were for their own households. Recyclingpart of their cross-border merchandise, especially clothing, within theirown households, was common, to cut their own costs of householdreproduction.CONSTRAINTS ON CROSS-BORDER TRADEIncreasing numbers of women in Masvingo had turned to cross-bordertrade, which threatened to saturate the market with certain goods. I wasnot able to ascertain during my fieldwork how many women had beenforced out by increasing competition and prospects of decreasing profitmargins. Competition for business was becoming intense, yet myrespondents did not feel that this was an obstacle to their success. Theyhad responded to increased competition by adopting strategies thatmaximised returns and also focused on those investment strategies thathad been successful. Two women in the sample alternated their SouthAfrican trips with trips to previously unexplored countries like Namibia,Mozambique and Zambia. These two women noted that these countrieswere lucrative as markets for selling Zimbabwean goods, but they had aV. N. MUZVIDZIWA 55problem in that, unlike South Africa, they offered very little in terms ofgoods in demand back in Zimbabwe.Apart from competition, there were three major constraints on cross-border trade, namely capital constraints, customs and excise duties (andextra-legal exactions), and official harassment and discouragement. Theseconstraints were encountered by all my respondents.Female cross-border traders experienced capital flow constraints.Most had entered the cross-border market niche with limited capital, andformal credit institutions did not lend for informal cross-border trading.Whilst most traders reckoned that with more capital they would have hada higher turnover, they were still not prepared to source credit formallyfor fear of being indebted to somebody for ever. Only 8% of my respondentsindicated that their biggest problem in cross-border trade was the shortageof funds to expand operations.The second big obstacle to affecting my Masvingo respondents werethe customs and excise duties, and extra exactions that were oftendemanded in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. Respondents reckonedthere had been a drastic reduction since 1993 in demands for bribes byZimbabwean customs officials, and none had been solicited for a bribe byZimbabwean officials during the 12 months preceding the initial interviews.Women found the friendly attitude of Zimbabwean customs officialspleasing, and were giving them unsolicited gifts instead!All those respondents who had operated for at least five years notedthat they had earlier experienced problems relating to Zimbabwean importand export permits especially from customs officials. During 1995, perhapsbecause of the parliamentary and municipal elections, there seemed tohave been some relaxation of government controls on cross-border trade.The women believed that once the elections were over, problems relatedto customs and excise duty would resurface. Corruption was alleged in thepast award of import and export permits, according to the women's ownexperiences.My respondents observed that some women were finding it hard toraise the duty demanded by the South African officials on entry into thatcountry and also at the port of departure. Those who could not raise therequired duty were forced to leave their goods at the customs warehousein South Africa. The women noted that once goods were left at thewarehouse at the South African border post, one could forget about them.There was allegedly much pilfering of goods there. However, only two inmy sample had lost wares this way. A disturbing development that tookplace during fieldwork was the fact that South African customs were alsodemanding receipts for goods bought from South Africa. As most womenpurchased second-hand goods, they ended up losing to South Africancustoms, goods which had been obtained legitimately.56 CROSS-BORDER TRADESouth African customs randomly demanded bank statements fromcross-border traders as proof that they had had the money to make theirpurchases. An officer based at Beitbridge noted they wanted 'proof offunds, a bank form showing that any buyer had been through the bankswhere they acquired South African money' (The Herald, 25 June, 1996).This was potentially problematic to the women, given that their operationswere largely outside the ambit of formal financial institutions. Myrespondents pointed out that, in order to overcome the Customs andExcise duty problems, they were forced into undercover payments toSouth African customs officials. These officials, according to the women,openly solicited bribes. The traders attributed their increased harassmentby these customs officials to this demand for bribes. Six women in thestudy had been victims of this 'double tax' strategy. They paid solicitedbribes, since that was the only way to stay in business, to avoid havingtheir goods broken or damaged by deliberately poor handling by customsofficials. Bribing officials was a rational response by cross-border womentraders in the face of real threats to their source of livelihood.Past official harassment and discouragement by the Zimbabwean stateand during my fieldwork by the South African state, comprised the singlegreatest threat to cross-border trading. Confiscation of their goods, andthe imposition of fines and heavy duties constantly worried the traders.The confiscation of goods and imposition of fines by Zimbabwean customswere not reported during my fieldwork. However, the women noted thattaxes on imported goods by the Zimbabwean state were still very high andthey were hoping that something would be done to reduce these taxes ongoods. Meanwhile, they applied many tax avoidance techniques.Increasingly they sourced small but valuable products such as computerdisks, jewelry and electronic gadgets. According to the women'sexperiences, customs officials were influenced by the size of the items inestimating duty. The women had also found ways of bypassing customs ingetting their goods across the border. For instance, women hired haulagetruck drivers to transport their wares. Many women talked of giving goodsto couriers who, for a fee, delivered them safely to the other side of theborder. Many others did nothing about harassment and discouragement;they just left everything to luck and chance.Despite the problems encountered with officialdom, none in my samplewas planning to quit cross-border business. The women's attitude towardsofficial constraints was that they were inherently part of cross-bordertrade. Excessive harassment and extra exactions as well as very highcustoms duties were simply regarded as hard luck and traders hoped thaton subsequent trips they would be able to recoup the losses. Whilst theyresented the attitude of some officials, they had no hard feelings againstthem. This was quite surprising given the high costs the women bore inthe form of extra-legal exactions from these officials.V. N. MUZVIDZIWA 57Mutual communication between the women and the border officialstook place largely through body language (eye contact and bodilymovements). Cross-border women traders interacted with states in'masculine' guise. Most of the gatekeepers were men, but even where theywere women, they adopted an authoritative, intimidatory anduncompromising 'manly' attitude. However, the women had developedsubtle ways of manipulating state functionaries and gatekeepers at theborder.Through a subtle presentation of self in the eyes of officials thewomen cross-border traders were able to maximise their returns. Thepunitive tariffs imposed by the South African Government particularly onZimbabwean textiles, were unlikely to raise much to justify their imposition,yet they had created a demand for bribes for the benefit of statefunctionaries in South Africa. Extortion by agents of the state was somethingtraders could not expose or refuse to participate in as this could result inthe gatekeepers effectively shutting them out of business. However, theperiodic clean-ups of customs showed that there were times whencorruption could be impeded. But, generally the 'greasing' of officials bycross-border women was a rational response to their demands.In Bailey's (1993, 9) terms, cross-border women traders could be seenas svejks, who more or less undermined the credibility of the system fromwithin. By pretending to be getting along with state authorities, theyappeared to be quite vulnerable, yet this appearance was the source oftheir strength. In their private discussions in buses and trains, it was clearthat the women had learnt how to extract what they wanted from thedifferent states and their functionaries. The women's strategic responsesto the various bureaucratic, administrative and political controls they hadto cope with in the conduct of their business, made them better tactical'politicians'. They knew that both materially and ideologically they wouldnot win open confrontations with state functionaries.3CONCLUSIONOne should not miss the basic thrust in women's struggles to cope withproblems of fending for their households through honest and legitimatemeans. To the extent that the women were involved in the struggle tosecure resources to sustain their households, they were political. However,beyond the politics of the stomach the women had nothing to do withorganised politics aimed at undermining the state structures. Their concernwas simply how best they could exploit the situation to their advantage3 See Moore (1988, 180) on knowing when to give in as an integral part of knowing how andwhen to resist, if you happen to be weak and poor.58 CROSS-BORDER TRADEand maximise their survival chances. Like Svejk, they were simplyconcerned with outcomes that would go a long way in maximising theirwelfare. However, like other successful female heads of households, mycross-border respondents were part of that group referred to as varumepachavo Qust like men). They had successfully shrugged off the notion offemale dependency and marginalisation.ReferencesBAILEY, F. G. (1993) The Kingdom of Individuals: An Essay on Self-respect andSocial Obligation (Ithaca, Cornell University Press).CENTRAL STATISTICS OFFICE (1993) Census 1992: Provincial Profile, Masvingo(Harare, CSO).CHEATER, A. P. (Forthcoming) Transcending the State? BorderlineConstructions of Citizenship in Zimbabwe.CHEATER, A. P. and GAIDZANWA, R. B. (1996) 'Citizenship in neo-patrilinealstates: Gender and mobility in Southern Africa', Journal of SouthernAfrican Studies, XXII, (ii), 189-200.THE HERALD, (1996) June 25 (Harare).JONES, D. J. (1993) 'The culture of achievement among the poor: The caseof mothers and children in a head start program', Critique ofAnthropology, XIII, (iii), 247-266.MOORE, H. L. 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