"Zimbabweans Treated Like Animals In South Africa".

Beitbridge Border post, South African side, where Zimbabweans are being physically whipped in broad daylight by South African officials as they struggle to be cleared to enter South Africa.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 17 August 2009

Now, get a load of this:

Treated like animals, Zimbabweans in particular were singled out by the officials, who reserved their choicest insults and expressions of disdain for this lot of broken and dejected people. These meek and long-suffering people who have endured many hardships in their country deserve nothing less than empathy. Instead, made to stand in queues for hours on end, they had their rights impugned by callous immigration officials and police officers. If an alien were at the scene, he or she would have been forgiven for thinking that the Zimbabweans have committed a great wrong against the South Africans for them to be treated so harshly.

This is a quote from a South African who travelled through Zimbaber recently and says what the South African Immigration officials are doing is a disgrace and will "stoke fires of hatred across the continent".

Jeremiah Kure, writing for the Maila nd Guardian blog Thought Leader, explains what he saw at the border as he struggled to be cleared so that he could be on his way.

All of a sudden there was a stampede at the front of the queue, with terror-stricken women fleeing a policeman wielding a sjambok. The woman who had been whipped was sobbing and shaking her head from side to side.

This is a quote from a South African He also says South African immigration ranks Zimbabweans and Somalians as the worst sort of people they have to deal with.