SANDF's near-impossible task of combating illegal immigration and smuggling on the Limpopo border

As the sun dips below the horizon just west of the partially dried Limpopo River, which separates South Africa and Zimbabwe, a group of Zimbabwean citizens desperately flee from South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers during a nighttime patrol of the Pontdrif borderline. 

At first, only two men are visible but as the soldiers continue their pursuit of the dense bushy area, a group of more than 10 men, women and children emerge from the bushes and frantically run back towards Zimbabwe in a bid to evade capture.

The majority of them make it onto “no man’s land”, a patch of dry earth in the middle of the river, out of SANDF soldiers’ jurisdiction. With the threat of arrest not eliminated, the migrants hurl insults at the soldiers who can do no more than watch the waterline.

This is what unfolded on the evening of Thursday, 28 November during the defence force’s night patrol of the Musina border area as part of Operation Corona, a six-month military-led action aimed at stemming the tide of illegal crossing and smuggling along the border South Africa shares with Zimbabwe.

The SANDF invited the media to join the 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment, deployed to safeguard South Africa’s northern border, on 1 September as they patrolled the Musina and Pontdrif section. The earlier scene highlights the soldiers’ daily struggles as they try to stop people and goods from crossing into the country illegally.

Like much of the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe, the Musina and Pontdrif sections that run along the Limpopo River are challenging for the SANDF to patrol effectively.

The seasonal river is dry for eight months of the year and is lined by a damaged barbed-wire fence, making it easy for goma gomas (smugglers) and migrants to cross the border at will. The only thing preventing the illegal activity at the border line is the SANDF, which does not have enough resources to patrol the 270km borderline 24/7.

Zimbabweans seek refuge in ‘no man’s land’ on the semi-dry Limpopo river between South Africa and Zimbabwe after fleeing from SANDF soldiers who stopped them from trying to cross illegally into South Africa. (Images: Lerato Mutsila)

Taking advantage of ‘no man’s land’

The patrols started earlier in the day on the dry river bed below Ha Tshirundu, one of the hotspots where mostly cigarettes and grocery smuggling takes place east of the Beitbridge port of entry.   

The electrified fence, which once secured the area, was destroyed by floods in 2000, leaving nothing between Zimbabwe and South Africa but the dry riverbed and the damaged R37-million fence, making it one of the more problematic areas for the SANDF to effectively patrol.

When the SANDF arrived in Ha Tshirundu, with the media in tow, several migrants and smugglers could be seen walking across the riverbed towards South Africa. Upon seeing the soldiers they promptly turned around and slowly ambled back to the Zimbabwean side of the river, safely out of reach of the South African authorities.

This is a daily occurrence, according to Major Shihlangoma Mahlahlane, the commander of Bravo Company deployed in support of 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

Looking at the Zimbabwe side of the river, where goma gomas and migrants sought shelter under the shade of trees and poorly built shelters, Mahlahlane said: “It’s not like we don’t want to stop vehicles and people from crossing, but remember while we [the SANDF] are planning, the enemy is also planning. When they see soldiers coming they get inside the river and run back. This is a day-to-day challenge we are experiencing.”

SANDF soldiers cross under the damaged border fence between Zimbabwe and South Africa during a patrol of the borderline. (Image: Lerato Mutsila)

A Zimbabwean man was apprehended by SANDF soldiers after being caught trying to smuggle clothes into South Africa near the Beitbridge border. (Photo: Lerato Mutsila)

Detailing how the goma gomas evade the SANDF, Mahlahlane said the smugglers use scouts who perch on higher ground to keep an eye on the patrols and feed the information to the goma gomas.

“If we patrol to the west, they will make sure they move to the east. By the time we detect this movement it is already very late,” the major said.

Read more: Bravery & Political Will — immigration is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately

An SANDF private who had been deployed to safeguard the border since 1 September confirmed that SANDF soldiers contended with these evasive actions with every patrol, adding that the smugglers and goma gomas often sought refuge in the Zimbabwean treeline and simply waited for the soldiers to leave.

The soldier said that in his time patrolling the borderline he had not seen Zimbabwean authorities doing the same on their side, adding that reciprocal patrols by the neighbouring country’s military would make the SANDF’s job easier.

SANDF soldiers patrol the Zimbabwe-South Africa borderline on the dry Limpopo River bed. Smugglers and people seeking to enter the country illegally use this route because it is easy to cross, particularly during the dry season. (Photo: Lerato Mutsila)

Zimbabweans flee across the dried-up Limpopo River that separates Zimbabwe and South Africa after SANDF soldiers arrive at the borderline, thwarting their attempt to enter South Africa illegally. (Photo: Lerato Mutsila)

Challenges posed by border communities

In addition to the challenges the vast terrain and goma goma scouts pose to efforts to stop illegal crossings and smuggling, the SANDF also faces obstacles created by South African citizens who facilitate smuggling operations. One such example is an informal settlement on a hill in Ha Tshirunda, less than 1km from the river.

The settlement is a hive of activity, its residents unperturbed by the soldiers’ presence.

“This place is not supposed to be here because our mandate says that within a 10km radius of the border there is not supposed to be any structure, so that we can be able to access the area for patrols. Now the community is disrupting us because of the structures that have been built. The smugglers are able to hide in those structures,” said Mahlahlane.

One of the SANDF guides told Daily Maverick that informal settlements line both sides of the South Africa-Zimbabwe border, many of which were set up solely to facilitate the smuggling of goods and people.

Read more: ‘Its anti-migrant overtones are clear’ — critics wade into SA’s beefed-up border management

“It is hard for us to remove these settlements because it is not in our mandate to police South African citizens who set up informal settlements,” Lieutenant Colonel Dante Russouw said.

Mahlahlane added that it is the responsibility of the municipality to remove the settlement because it hinders the SANDF’s ability to fulfil its mandate. When asked whether the Musina Municipality was aware of the settlement and the challenges it creates, Daily Maverick received no answer.

Smuggler arrested

As the SANDF showed the media around the Beitbridge point of entry, a group of men were spotted trying to illegally cross under the bridge with bundles of clothes and other household items, intending to smuggle them from South Africa into Zimbabwe. Upon seeing the soldiers, the migrants dropped their contraband and fled, leaving one man behind who was apprehended by the SANDF.

While waiting to hand the man over to the military police, Captain Jacobus Theunissen, senior staff officer of operational communication at the joint operations division, told Daily Maverick that the man had probably smuggled across the border before, and chose to move the goods illegally to avoid paying tax to the Zimbabwean authorities.

“It’s a tough situation. This is a man probably just trying to survive and provide for his family. It is very unlikely that he is a dangerous criminal. But as bad as his situation may be, he broke the law and we have to act accordingly,” Theunissen said.

Major Shihlangoma Mahlahlane, commander of the Bravo Company deployed in support of 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment, details the challenges SANDF soldiers face as they try to protect the Zimbabwe-South Africa border. (Photo: Lerato Mutsila)

A soldier stands on a makeshift bridge of sandbags and wooden planks on a portion of the Limpopo River between Zimbabwe and South Africa. The bridge is used by people trying to enter into South Africa illegally. (Photo: Ricardo Teixeira)

Zimbabwe’s socioeconomic situation

It’s clear from the challenges the SANDF faces in trying to stop illegal border crossings and smuggling that the problem cannot be addressed with military might alone.

Earlier this year, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced the re-establishment of the Immigration Advisory Board to combat illegal immigration. The board will advise Schreiber on regulations, policy formulation and other matters related to immigration.

In the meantime the department has increased the arrest and deportation of migrants who have entered the country illegally, with Schreiber claiming that the Department of Home Affairs was on track to deport triple the number of undocumented migrants than it had in the past two years. The exercise is expensive and largely ineffectual since many migrants find their way back into the country after being sent home.

Read more: What rights to accessing education, healthcare and other vital services do migrants have?

Responding to a parliamentary question by MP Thapelo Magale, from the EFF, Schreiber revealed that between April and August this year the Department of Home Affairs had deported more than 19,000 undocumented migrants, which set the country back more than R52-million.

Despite these interventions aimed at stemming the tide of illegal migration, the Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa published an article revealing that the South Africa-Zimbabwe migration corridor has seen a remarkable surge in movement in 2024.

As long as Zimbabwe’s tenuous socioeconomic condition persists, migrants will try to cross the border by any means necessary in search of a better life, and goma gomas will continue to smuggle groceries as well as more dangerous contraband.

In 2020, Innocent Moyo, senior lecturer and head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Zululand, wrote an article published by The Conversation calling on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to “address the issues which uproot people from their countries”, including bad governance and human rights abuses.

Moyo wrote: “If the SADC had responded swiftly and appropriately to the crisis in Zimbabwe in the 2000s when that country embarked on questionable political programmes with regional political and economic ramifications, Zimbabweans would not have been forced to migrate in such great numbers to South Africa for economic reasons.

“The SADC should have collectively leaned on the Zimbabwean government to stop human rights abuses. Instead, only the late Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa openly criticised the Zimbabwean government and called on the SADC to help address the country’s economic and political problems. This never happened.”

Perhaps Moyo’s observation is worth revisiting, because the militarisation of the South African border has not stopped smuggling and illegal immigration. But the question remains about whether there is political appetite and enough collaboration between SADC member states to make this happen. DM