JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi says more than 700 people were arrested between Sunday and Monday for trying to enter the country illegally from Zimbabwe through the Beitbridge border post.
Motsoaledi has been conducting an oversight visit at the Beitbridge border post in Musina from Sunday, where he said border jumping at vulnerable parts of the inadequate fence continued to be a problem.
The minister said other measures were put in place to stop those who managed to ditch authorities at the border.
Motsoaledi said roadblocks were set up near the Beitbridge border post to catch out vehicles carrying illegal immigrants
He’s described some of the illegal activity: “The driver with a passport carries people with no documents whatsoever.
“When they approach the border, he’d stop the car, the people will go out and run around the border and look for an area where they can jump and then they would reconnect on the South African side.”
The minister said in the last two days, more than 700 people were arrested and deported.
“(On Monday), 437 people were arrested and sent back because they were coming here illegally – without documentation – and on Sunday, 337 were also arrested and sent back.”
Motsoaledi said more work would be done by the border management authority to address illegal entry into the country.
Earlier the minister had accused Zimbabwean soldiers of facilitating illegal entry into South Africa by border jumpers after taking bribes.
The number of Zimbabweans that are illegally in South Africa is not known although some estimates put them over a million.
South Africa late last year announced that it was ending a special permit for nearly 200 000 undocumented Zimbabweans, who now have a year to apply for regular permits or return home.
The move is likely to leave thousands stranded because most of the people who benefited from the special dispensation do not have scarce skills, which is one of the precondition for work permits in South Africa.- Eyewitness News/VicFallsLive