The tell-tale signs of intrepid endeavour in the face of human desperation were plain to see when South African Police Service (Saps) members swooped on illegal border crossing and contraband at Beitbridge, arresting 23 foreign nationals as part of Operation Vala Umgodi (to close).
Underneath a bridge used for foot traffic through the border, a makeshift ladder perched against a cement wall provided ‘easier access’ to cross the boundary separating South Africa from Zimbabwe – The Limpopo River.
Elsewhere, police confiscated five donkey carts used for ‘express cargo’ and human traffic on a dirt track running parallel to the formal border crossing.
Across the often rain-swollen river itself, a ramshackle narrow bridge consisting in part of hammered-together sections of wood traverses and sandbagging near a sand island where crocs often sun themselves, provided ‘safe passage’ for passport-free travellers between two countries.
For ‘improved logistics’, an empty donkey cart was hauled upside down by another, ready to be flipped right side up for its next illegal cross-border consignment.
Provincial Saps spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said Operation Vula Umgodi was conducted by the Border Policing Team in the Marooi area of Vhembe District.
Apart from the ladder, donkey carts and ramshackle bridge, police confiscated a significant amount of illegal cargo, including almost 10 kilograms of marijuana.
The unlucky 23, having earlier traversed the perilous home-made walkway across the Limpopo, were immediately referred to the Department of Home Affairs for repatriation back to Zimbabwe.
They most likely didn’t go back the way they came.
In a separate exercise conducted by Operation Vula Umgodi, also conducted over the weekend, Saps arrested six men and one woman for illegal mining and contravening the Immigration Act in Sekhuhune District south-east of Polokwane.
Known as Zama Zamas, the suspected illegal miners will appear in the Sekhuhune Magistrate’s Court on a charge of contravening the Immigration Act.
It’s not certain whether they are from Zimbabwe.
