South Africa’s home affairs minister, Aaron Motsoaledi has accused Zimbabwe security forces of taking bribes to let undocumented immigrants into South Africa after being told by his country’s border security that Zimbabwean soldiers were abetting the border jumping after getting kick-backs, hindering their efforts to stop illegal immigrants from crossing over.
This happened on Sunday during Motsoaledi’s tour of the border.
The security told Motsoaledi that they had communicated with the Zimbabwean army commanders about the issue of corrupt soldiers, but they “did nothing”.
“They (undocumented immigrants) pay those Zimbabwean soldiers there (bribes),” an army officer briefed Motsoaledi at the border, according to an eNCA report yesterday.
“Are you saying that the military command in Zimbabwe knows that their soldiers are taking bribes to allow illegal immigration, but they have done nothing?” Motsoaledi quizzed the security officer, who responded in the affirmative.
“These people come by car from Zimbabwe,” Motsoaledi said.
“The cars stop at the other side of the border. Whoever does not have documents will then move out of the car. The car will go because the driver would have all the documents. But when they pass through the gate, they then wait for that person who crosses the border illegally on the other side. That is why we have put several (roadblocks) after the border.”
Since Friday, hundreds of Zimbabweans have been arrested and deported for attempting to illegally cross into South Africa.
In a statement, police said on Sunday (January 2), they arrested 781 people for illegally crossing the Beitbridge border post, as well as other related border crimes.
“The ZRP reports that on January 2, 2021, 781 people were arrested in operation ‘No to Cross Border Crimes’. The cumulative number of arrests on the operation now stands at 89 277 from December 27, 21 to January 02, 22,” police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said in a statement yesterday.
It is estimated that between eight hundred thousand and one million Zimbabweans are refugees in South Africa seeking employment and better living conditions.
