There has been a clear increase in the number of Zimbabweans trying to cross the border illegally into South Africa since the March 29 election, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said on Wednesday.
The SANDF has three companies, which total more than 500 soldiers, patrolling the border in support of police border operations and have already, up to the start of the week, apprehended 1 780 Zimbabwean trying to cross the border illegally.
”There is a clear increase in foreigners crossing the border,” Major General Barny Hlatshwayo said in Pretoria during a briefing on the internal and external operations of the SANDF.
The SANDF said it was not planning to send more soldiers to the area.
”The situation doesn’t warrant, at present, to deploy more forces,” Department of Defence head of communication Siphiwe Dlamini said.
Hlatshwayo said the commander in Limpopo responsible for the border operations had indicated that he was satisfied that no additional troops were needed.
”He is happy to conduct business as usual,” Hlatshwayo said. He added that the defence force was monitoring the situation in cooperation with the police.
The responsibility of securing the borders has been taken over by police, and the SANDF expected to stand down the last three companies patrolling the Zimbabwean border by March next year.
On a question whether there were any contingency plans for military intervention in Zimbabwe, should the situation decline rapidly, Dlamini said no instruction had been received from the government for such a contingency.
”The political processes have not been exhausted,” he said. — Sapa