SA’s Border Patrol Uses Drones To Arrest 30 Zimbabwean Border Jumpers

The total number of Zimbabweans intercepted in South Africa for attempting to cross illegally at the Beitbridge Port of Entry on Monday, 5 January, has risen to 30, following the arrest of five more people.

Earlier, Border Management Authority (BMA) Head Commissioner Michael Masiapato had said that 25 people were arrested with the assistance of drone technology.

Masiapato added that the individuals will be processed and barred from entering South Africa for the next five years. He said:

“Since we intercepted the 25 earlier in the morning, now we’ve just added around five that were intercepted, and they were brought into the port.

“So as I’m talking to you now, the colleagues are busy processing them. As you will know, they take their fingerprints and make sure that they get processed for deportation.

“The most important issue is about them having to be listed to make sure that we are no longer going to be allowing them to enter the country for the next five years. So that is basically the work that we are doing.”

According to Masiapato, drones have made would-be illegal immigrants think twice about crossing into South Africa, knowing they face a high risk of being caught. He said:

“As we speak now, if you were to check in terms of the drone picture, you will realise that the Limpopo River is now, in a way, clean.

“There’s nobody who’s trying to come in or out illegally into the country, primarily because they are aware that we are actually monitoring.

“So for us, the level of deterrent becomes critical because the more we deter them from going there and get them to the port, that is exactly what we need.”

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