THE MOST striking feature about Zimbabweans who have crossed the border into Musina, South Africa's northernmost town, is their depth of fatigue, according to Irish missionaries working in the town.
Hungry and in many cases infected with cholera, a water-borne disease that is lethal if left untreated, the majority are close to collapse by the time they cross into South Africa via the Beitbridge border post near Musina in Vhembe district.
Fr Aidan McHugh, a Missionary of the Sacred Heart who has worked in the region for the past six years, operates a small food distribution centre in the town five days a week as part of his religious order's response to Zimbabwe's growing humanitarian crisis.
The 69-year-old from Swinford, Co Mayo says the disintegration of Zimbabwe's society has caused one of the worst humanitarian situations he has seen in South Africa since he arrived here 19 years ago, with the number of refugees arriving in the area rising by the day.
"When we started last March we were handing out 30 to 40 food parcels a day, but that has risen to 350 a day this month. You have men, women and children who are hungry, have no money and are sick from various illnesses because their have no strength left.
"Some of the people travel over 100 miles on foot through the bush to get here, driven on by the fear of dying from disease, hunger or being targeted by their own government. Once they get here many just collapse," he told The Irish Times.
Last week Vhembe district was declared a disaster zone by the Limpopo provincial government following the revelation that 664 cases of cholera had been treated by local and international doctors and nurses trying to contain the outbreak.
The majority of the cases were Zimbabweans who had travelled there seeking medical help because their own healthcare system has collapsed, due to the country's ongoing political and economic meltdown.
Zimbabwe's government has been paralysed for three months due to the inability of the country's rival political parties to agree on the ministerial make-up of the unity government outlined under the powersharing deal signed on September 15th last.
Yesterday the United Nations confirmed that Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic is continuing to spread, and has now claimed the lives of 1,111 from the 20,581 cases the organisation has recorded since the start of the outbreak last August.
A total of 11 people have died from the disease in South Africa so far, while cases have also been reported in border areas in Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana.
The UN World Health Organisation has said the total number of cases could reach 60,000 unless the epidemic is stopped, but western countries have been slow to offer financial support because of their mistrust of President Robert Mugabe's regime.
At present, Fr McHugh says, there are up to 2,000 refugees living under a blistering sun in an open municipality-owned field in Musina, which suffers from severe water and sanitation shortages.
"I find the whole situation so depressing and everyone is living in fear of catching the disease. The people are just sitting around the campground doing nothing but waiting. Musina has now been renamed 'little Zimbabwe' because of the crisis.
"Those that have the strength move on after a few days towards Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town where they say they are going to look for work so they can send money home to their families, who have nothing."
Brother Frank Gallagher of the De La Salle Brothers has been running a small night shelter for boys between the ages of 10 and 15 in Louis Trichardt, a town about 90 miles south of Musina.
While not exclusively for people from Zimbabwe, the Dublin-born brother says most of the young people staying there at the moment are from that country, and in need of somewhere to stay, because sleeping in the open leaves them exposed to being picked up by the police or attacked by thieves.
"Most of the people we have here walked from Musina, and they use us as a rest stop before moving on south. The ones who are very sick we bring to the local hospital, but many people try and hide their illnesses from the others in the shelter because of the stigma. Often we only know they have been sick because we find empty medicine bottles around the area after they have left." Brother Gallagher adds: "The people we get here are really appreciative for any help they receive, and we try to help as best we can. But we are only a small group - there is only room for 14 each night - and a drop in the ocean of need really."