Limpopo – Members of the South African National Defence Force were allegedly attacked with stones by Zimbabwean nationals at the Beitbridge border on Saturday while trying to retrieve a SANDF boat that had drifted towards the Zimbabwean side of the Limpopo River.
The attackers reportedly accused the soldiers of disrupting plans to enter South Africa illegally.
The soldiers did not retaliate.
The incident comes amid ongoing SANDF patrols along the Limpopo River, a known illegal crossing point.
Beitbridge chief border guard Sipho Chauke told Newzroom Afrika that illegal crossings remain a major challenge for the Border Management Authority (BMA), noting that some individuals are deported multiple times a day.
“If we can be given powers of arresting because normally with the Zimbabweans, we take them back to Zimbabwe and when they arrive in Zimbabwe it seems as if they are not being dealt with.
The Border Management Authority is pleading for flexible powers to manage illegal migration into South Africa. They say the processing and deportation of individuals does not work. Scara Mafokone reports.
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“Sometimes we find ourselves deporting one person four of five times a day,” he said.
More than 70 people were apprehended while attempting to enter South Africa illegally over the weekend, a figure described as high.
The BMA also processed thousands of legal travellers through the Beitbridge border post during the same period.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously told Parliament that securing borders is key to tackling illegal immigration, citing the use of modern technology such as drones and body cameras, as well as intelligence-driven operations to detect, arrest and deport undocumented migrants.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
