Cape Town – South African Army soldiers intercepted 2 733 undocumented people along the country’s borders in December 2025, seizing contraband valued at R7.45 million during Operation Corona, the national border protection tasking.
Zimbabweans accounted for the majority of those stopped. According to the Joint Operations Division of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), 2 422 Zimbabweans were intercepted along the 230 km border with their country.
Other undocumented travellers included 199 Basotho at the Free State/Lesotho border, 68 Mozambicans, 38 from Botswana, and six classified under Eswatini/Mozambique along the KwaZulu-Natal border. All were handed to Department of Home Affairs officials and police.
“Zimbabweans accounted for carrying the majority of contraband seized by soldiers in December, with R5.2 million seized on patrols in Limpopo province,” the SANDF report noted.
Other significant hauls came from Mozambicans attempting entry along the Mpumalanga border, valued at R1.9 million, bringing the December total to R7.45 million. Items seized included cigarettes, liquor, clothing, footwear, pharmaceuticals, and drugs.
Operation Corona also resulted in the confiscation of drugs valued at R4 million, with R2.2 million seized in Limpopo and R1.3 million in KwaZulu-Natal.
Soldiers additionally prevented vehicles valued at R3.2 million from illegally leaving South Africa for neighbouring countries. Twenty-two suspects sought by police were detained along the country’s land borders.
As has been the norm at year-end, SA Army personnel on the national border protection tasking Operation Corona had their hands full coping with undocumented people entering South Africa, with Zimbabweans in the majority.https://t.co/AWlrxeArud
— DefenceWeb (@defenceWeb_Afr) January 21, 2026
Livestock illegally grazing in South Africa from Lesotho was impounded, including small stock worth R7 200 and cattle valued at R2.7 million, pending fines.
Border patrols continued into January 2026, with explosives seized in two separate incidents near the Beitbridge port of entry.
Captain Moses Semono, corporate communication officer for the Joint Tactical Headquarters Limpopo, said on 2 January, a 1 SA Tank Regiment foot patrol spotted “three unidentified individuals descending from the old bridge.”
The suspects fled, leaving behind explosives identified as Superpower 90 by the SAPS National Explosives Unit, valued at R82 300.
A second incident on 9 January saw two men fleeing back into Zimbabwe after dropping bags containing 252 Superpower 90 blasting cartridges worth R25 200, 125 Camex fuses valued at R6 250, and four 250-metre reels of detonator fuse cable valued at R100 000.
Semono said the explosives were “speculated to have been intended for illegal mining, ATM bombings, and cash in transit heists.”
The SANDF’s border protection work was marred by tragedy on 25 December, when two Military Police members died after their vehicle was swept away attempting to cross a flooded river near the Mozambique/South Africa border.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga said late last year that the SANDF had received “three-year Medium Term Expenditure Framework allocations of R500 million and R200 million to improve border mobility and technology,” with another R498 million reprioritised for tents, tactical technology, and soldier safety.
The funding will support armoured personnel carriers, UAVs, radars, and other equipment.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
