About 100 Zimbabweans are illegally crossing into South Africa daily in search of jobs, Harare’s Herald newspaper reported on Monday.
It said South African authorities arrested about 25 of the border jumpers daily. This, however, did not stop people from illegally crossing the crocodile-infested Limpopo.
Investigations by the newspaper established it was easier to cross the river from the Zimbabwean side because of syndicates operating at Beit Bridge.
The syndicates used South African-registered vehicles to transport people from as far as Bulawayo to Johannesburg for a fee of between R800 and R1 000.
The immigrants were dropped on the Zimbabwean side of the Limpopo River where they used a metal walkway under the Limpopo Bridge. Once the illegal immigrants got to no-man’s land, they used a rope tied to the tiers of the bridge to lower themselves to the banks of the river. They then walked along the fence until finding an opening to get into South Africa.
The Herald established that they walked through the bush to an agreed meeting point to be picked up by a transporter.
The head of Zimbabwe’s police at the border post, Clever Ntini, said there were plans to beef up operations with mounted patrols. – Sapa