Mutare, Zimbabwe – Samantha Chimbuya had built a life in South Africa after leaving Zimbabwe in 2019 in search of better opportunities.

She found work, could afford food and believed her two children had access to better education. She also had access to healthcare.

Then, she no longer felt safe.

As June 30 approached, a deadline set by anti-immigrant activists for undocumented migrants to leave South Africa, the 30-year-old packed her belongings and returned to Zimbabwe.

“It was not safe any more. They were raiding our homes, warning us to leave. It was scary,” Chimbuya told Al Jazeera.

Chimbuya was living in KwaZulu-Natal when anti-immigrant protests intensified. March and March, one of the groups behind the June 30 deadline, accused undocumented migrants of taking jobs and putting pressure on public services.

The deadline was not imposed by the South African government, which said June 30 would be a normal day and warned against intimidation and violence. But thousands of migrants left amid fears of unrest.

Some governments organised transport for citizens returning home. Chimbuya paid for her own journey to Hurungwe, in northern Zimbabwe.

By July 28, 116,670 Zimbabweans had returned from South Africa, according to Information Minister Zhemu Soda. Of those, 36,940 were assisted by the government, while 79,730 returned independently. A further 38,057 had registered for employment, Soda said.

Hard times in Zimbabwe

For Chimbuya, coming home meant confronting many of the economic difficulties that had pushed her to leave in the first place.

She has struggled to find work and now relies on family and friends for help. Her husband remains in South Africa, where she says he is also struggling.

She had hoped to receive a grant to start a small business but said she had not received one.

Reverend Useni Sibanda, executive director of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, said many returnees had spent years abroad and were coming home without jobs or adequate support.

Some had not invested in homes or property in Zimbabwe while they were away, he said, leaving them with little to fall back on.

“They are coming back to a country where there are no jobs and where the social support systems may not be enough to accommodate them,” Sibanda said.

The government says it is trying to help.

Local government Minister Daniel Garwe said authorities were screening and profiling returnees to identify their skills and needs. Reintegration centres were being established, while the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Schools was considering recruiting qualified teachers among those who had returned.

Garwe also said companies were being encouraged to employ skilled returnees and that vocational training and support for people wanting to start businesses were being considered.

For some, however, the skills they acquired in South Africa have offered a more immediate route to earning a living.

Rebuilding from scratch

Sidney Bunya, from Zvimba, northeast of Harare, left Zimbabwe in March 2020 because of economic hardship.

He moved first to Johannesburg, where he took various jobs, before settling in Port Elizabeth. There, a cousin introduced him to professional carpenters.

Bunya honed his skills and eventually secured large projects, specialising in roof trusses.

But in 2026, groups demanding permits began raiding his workplace. Bunya had only his passport, and employers became reluctant to hire him because of the harassment.

He bought carpentry tools, shipped them to Zimbabwe and left South Africa before the June 30 deadline.

Using his savings, he started a business at home. It now supports his family and employs five people.

“It was difficult to set up the business. But I am getting more jobs now,” Bunya said.

Motsi said churches had also partnered with local businesses to provide training in welding, carpentry and computer science.

Calls for longer-term support

Churches have been helping returnees with shelter, food and transport, but Ray Motsi, president of the Theological College of Zimbabwe, said the needs were overwhelming.

He criticised the government for not doing enough to support people returning after years abroad.

“We need a deliberate programme to reintegrate these people,” Motsi said, arguing that returnees needed more than transport home.

Rashweat Mukundu, a human rights activist in Harare, said the government should provide longer-term assistance, including small grants, agricultural inputs and machinery, to help people establish livelihoods.

The challenge, he said, was not simply getting Zimbabweans across the border but helping them remain economically secure once they arrived.

“I plan to open a grocery store, but funding is a challenge.”