Zim GBC News | South African Correspondent
Johannesburg – South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) intercepted approximately 500 Zimbabwean nationals attempting to exit the country illegally through Botswana during the peak festive travel period, officials confirmed.
The group was stopped at the Groblersbrug border post in what authorities describe as a clear shift in migration routes away from the heavily monitored Beitbridge border.
BMA Commissioner Dr. Michael Masiapato linked the interception to intensified enforcement along South Africa’s northern frontier.
“When you look at the kind of measures that we put around our northern border around Beitbridge itself, particularly around illegal migration, we have started seeing the people having drifted into our western border with Botswana,” Masiapato stated.
He detailed the recent operation, saying,
“For instance, just in the past two days, we have been able to intercept over 500 Zimbabweans that were trying to cross into Botswana around Groblers’ Bridge port of entry illegally. All of those people were intercepted and we had to make sure that we bring them back to the port and we process them out for deportation.”
The commissioner contrasted border traffic figures, noting that while the Lebombo border with Mozambique processed around 30,000 people on Christmas Eve, Beitbridge saw only about 16,000 crossings.
“At Beitbridge, when we did 30,000 at Lebombo, they did only around 16,000. You can see that we actually doubled their number,” he said.
Masiapato indicated that the lower traffic at Beitbridge and the surge in attempted crossings via Botswana represent a deliberate strategy to bypass official controls.
“So there is a shift out of Beitbridge into Groblers’ Bridge and other ports into Botswana and that is an attempt to at least subvert the processes. So we are aware of that and that is why we proactively deployed even that side to be able to deal with that situation,” he explained.
The mass interception highlights the ongoing challenges of regional migration and the extreme measures individuals take in search of economic opportunity, as well as the expanding reach of border enforcement operations across Southern Africa.
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