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Victims of organized violence and torture in Zimbabweans attending refugee reception offices in South Africa: Prevalence and associated features
Southern African Centre for Survivors of Torture (SACST)
March 31, 2008

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Executive summary
Survivors of organized violence and torture are a familiar presence amongst refugee populations, and this correlation has been documented in many different settings. Repeated allegations have been made about the occurrence of state-sponsored organized violence and torture by Zimbabwean human rights groups. These allegations have been corroborated by several small studies of Zimbabwean refugees who have sought asylum in South Africa.

The number of Zimbabweans legally and illegally in South Africa is not known and estimates vary between 1.5 and 2.5 million. What percentage of these are also victims and survivors of organized violence and torture is also unknown.

Although Zimbabwean human rights groups have not generated data on the prevalence levels of organized violence and torture, levels of abuse are considered to be high. Since July 2001, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the "Human Rights Forum") has documented over 29,000 violations, including nearly 4,000 reports of torture. The Human Rights Forum has also demonstrated that all categories of violations (including organized violence and torture) increase markedly during elections.

How many survivors of organized violence and torture in Zimbabwe have come to South Africa? A recent community survey of Zimbabweans residing in Gauteng indicated that over half of the sample had come to South Africa for political reasons. A small street survey conducted in 2005 indicated that 30% claimed to be victims of torture, whilst 44% claimed that they had been denied food assistance. Regular monitoring of attendances at the Marabastad refugee Reception Office in Pretoria over a two-year period (between 2005 and 2007) show that approximately 40% of those seeking asylum seeker status are Zimbabwean.

In this report, the Southern African Centre for Survivors of Torture, through its Zimbabwe Torture Victims/Survivors Project, has attempted to generate a more accurate estimate of the number of torture survivors seeking asylum in South Africa through a survey of South Africa's four functioning Refugee Reception Offices in Pretoria, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Durban. Using a method adopted from psychiatric epidemiology for estimating the point prevalence of psychological disorders, the study attempted to estimate the percentage of Zimbabweans attending Refugee Reception Offices that were survivors of torture or who (at least) claim this is so.

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