BMA Arrests 120 Foreign Nationals Trying To Cross the Beitbridge Border Illegally

• The Border Management Authority continues to crack down on illegal immigrants entering the country
• It arrested 120 foreign nationals since the beginning of 2025, and it noted that a lot of people were trying to enter the country
• As a result, it processed around 20,000 people, 17,000 of which were people travelling from Zimbabwe to South Africa

With nine years of experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist, provided insights into infrastructure challenges and state-owned enterprises in South Africa at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

BEITBRIDGE, LIMPOPO — More than 15,000 people entered South Africa through the Beitbridge border in Limpopo. The Border Management Authority (BMA) arrested 120 illegal immigrants trying to enter illegally on 4 January 2024.

BMA discusses border traffic

@eNCA posted a video interviewing the BMA's Commissioner, Mike Masiapato. He said the border prepares for high volumes of legal and illegal crossings. He said the border experienced a high volume of people crossing the border. Out of the 20,000 people who crossed the border on 4 January, 3000 were crossing into Zimbabwe. A large number of them were pedestrians crossing the border.

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Watch the video here:

What happened at Beitbridge in 2024

• The South African Police Service destroyed a man-made bridge smugglers were using to sneak goods and people in and out of Zimbabwe in September
• The BMA stopped a taxi carrying 25 foreigners who were trying to cross the border into the country in December
• The state expressed concern in December that terrorists were using the country's border for their illegal activities

SA weighs in

South Africans shared their opinions.

Kommander Josh said:

"The Zimbabwean government should be preventing these illegal immigrants from their side, but because this management of the border is a fluke, they don't prevent their people."

Henriette Frohlich said:

"A strengthened border control is critical to managing the economic, social and environmental crisis in South Africa."

Pepper said:

"The Zimbabwean Government is secretly encouraging this. Only fools will believe that they want to solve this course."

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Kim Kullman said:

"120 is not even a drop in the ocean."

Simpa Luyolo said:

"If it wasn't for Dr Motsoaledi, nothing would have been done about our porous borders."

27,000 stopped at Beitbridge in 2024

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the BMA prevented 27,000 people from entering the country in January 2024. During a 43-day operation, the BMA stopped illegal immigrants from crossing the Beitbridge border.

It also prevented people without proper documentation from entering the country. Interpol had flagged some of them. 924 people were banned from entering SA for five years.

Source: Briefly News