April was, according to statistics supplied by the Joint Operations Division of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), a “quiet” month for soldiers patrolling the country’s land borders with 702 illegal immigrants intercepted as opposed to the 2 700 plus having their unlawful entry halted in March.
By far the majority – 484 – of those stopped by soldiers were Zimbabweans with 126 Basuto attempting illegal entry into South Africa via the Free State province also handed to police and Department of Home Affairs (DHA) officials. Only three other South African land borders – with Mozambique in Mpumalanga (70), Botswana in North West province (18) and Eswatini/Mozambique in KwaZulu-Natal (four) – saw soldiers apprehending illegals in April.
Contraband, not listed but normally including cigarettes, liquor, pharmaceuticals as well as fake branded clothing and footwear, valued at over R3.6 million, was taken from smugglers on South Africa’s land borders with Eswatini, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Mozambicans were the largest contributors losing over R2.9 million worth of contraband and R509 628 worth of drugs to eagle-eyed soldiers on the Mpumalanga/Mozambique border. Soldiers deployed in KwaZulu-Natal on that province’s Mozambique border took R494 280 worth of contraband from Mozambican and Swazi smugglers.
Eswatini, Mozambique and Zimbabwe would have been on the receiving end of a number of vehicles stolen in South Africa had they not been intercepted by soldiers, who recovered stolen vehicles valued at R3.1 million in April.
As is by now standard operating procedure (SOP) for soldiers working South Africa’s borders with Lesotho, livestock (cattle, goats and sheep) worth more than R1.1 million was impounded after being found grazing on South African pastureland. Swazi and Mozambican stock farmers had “small stock” valued at R30 000 impounded by soldiers. In all instances, the livestock owners are fined (Joint Operations gives no indication of the amount) before their animals are returned.
Soldiers apprehended 24 criminals from escaping to Eswatini, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in April.
