The Border Management Authority has blocked attempted child trafficking of 443 children under the age of eight into South Africa from Zimbabwe.
The children believed to be trafficked were intercepted at the Beit Bridge Border Post between the two countries last night.
Forty two buses intended for South Africa were stopped and searched in a sting operation at the border post in Musina, Limpopo.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) Commissioner, Dr Michael Masiapato, briefed the media ahead of the festive season this morning.
VIDEO | BMA blocks attempted child trafficking:
Extended hours
The BMA says Home Affairs will temporarily extend operating times at busy ports of entry to facilitate fast and safe cross border movements during the festive period.
Masiapato says the temporary extension of operating times at the busiest Ports of Entry is expected to deal with anticipated high volumes of travellers.
“During the planning phase, we had an agreement with our immediate neighbours which are Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini and Botswana on synchronising of processes and other work modalities such as specialised port operating hours. The Minister of Home Affairs has approved our request to extend the operating hours on identified critical ports on certain dates that we agreed without neighbouring countries.”
Stern warning against criminality
The authority has issued a stern warning to foreign tourists who will be coming into the country to refrain from committing any acts of criminality as they will be deported back to their countries.
Masiapato says they’ve put measures to detect illegal goods.
“Starting on Wednesday the 6th of December, our primary focus will be to improve efficiency and effectiveness of operations. We will be curbing illegal movement of persons and goods with focus to cross border organised criminal elements and other general crimes. We have measures in place to detect confiscated illicit goods and stolen vehicles. We therefore urge all travelers to detist from committing acts of criminality as they will be detected, arrested, declared undesirable and deported.”
Details in the video below:
