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NIGHT WATCH: Zimbabwean illegal immigrants Isaac, left, and Nathan, wait near the border at Beit Bridge for a chance to climb, crawl and leap to a new life. They were part of a group who made it to Musina in South Africa. Pic: Greg Marinovich. 20/03/2007. © Sunday Times. Zimbabwean illegal immigrants Isaac (left) and Nathan, near the Beit Bridge border crossing linking Zimbabwe to South Africa were part of a group who crossed the Limpopo River and made it to Messina town. Thousands of Zimbabweans attempt the crossing each day in an attempt to survive as Zimbabwe spirals further into economic and political chaos each. Some are arrested by the security forces.

'We got full backing. Not even one criticised our actions'

AS ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe all but secured himself another five years in office and his neighbours publicly backed the beleaguered leader, experts warn of a growing refugee crisis with thousands of Zimbabweans pouring into South Africa.

It is estimated that more than 49000 Zimbabweans are illegally crossing SA's northern border each month.

Daily, 130 to 150 illegal Zimbabwean immigrants are detained at the Lindela Repatriation Centre near Johannesburg, from where more than 980 were deported on Wednesday.

Sandy Kalyan, the Democratic Alliance spokesman on Home Affairs, said the department estimated that there were around 111000 Zimbabwean refugees in SA last year. However, officials admitted that they had managed to process only about 7000 of these.

Kalyan said the department conceded that this was a conservative estimate and that at least 49000 were entering the country illegally each month. "The reality is that the department has lost control of the situation."

Mugabe, 83, was endorsed as the party's candidate for next year's elections by a meeting of the ruling Zanu-PF party's central committee on Friday.

Central committee members, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been no room for debate on the issue even though the ruling party in seven out of 10 provinces had thrown its weight behind Vice-President Joyce Mujuru.

"The whole thing was co-ordinated by the secret police," said a central committee member who attended the eight-hour meeting at Zanu-PF headquarters.

The growing crisis in Zimbabwe has sparked international outrage and South Africa has come under attack for its quiet diplomacy, especially in the wake of the recent attacks on senior opposition figures, including Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

A triumphant Mugabe told his supporters during a rally on Friday that he had the full backing of the Southern African Development Community leaders and had briefed them about the recent assault on Tsvangirai.

"Yes, I told them he [Tsvangirai] was beaten but he asked for it," Mugabe said the day after returning from the regional summit in Tanzania. "We got full backing. Not even one criticised our actions. There is no country in SADC that can stand up and say Zimbabwe has faulted."

John Makumbe, a critic of the Zimbabwe government who teaches political science at the University of Zimbabwe, said the five-year endorsement was a disaster for a country battling runaway inflation of 1700% and 80% unemployment.

"Mugabe has demonstrated his selfishness," said Makumbe.

He said it was due to fear that not a single member of Mugabe's 245-member central committee had said a word against the president's clinging to power.

With Zimbabwe continuing to slide into the abyss, fence-jumpers are coming in droves, risking death, robbery and rape in search of a future in South Africa.

A Sunday Times reporter counted 28 holes in the fence in a 50m stretch near an army base.

Just yesterday, James Sibanda, 29, was arrested following illegal entry. He claimed to work for a Johannesburg construction company and said he had gone to Zimbabwe to see his ill mother.

"I will come back no matter how many times they arrest me. My mother, who is left behind, can only survive on the money I make in South Africa," he said.

"In the clinic in Mutare, there is nothing that they offered my mother other than to say she must try and eat healthy food.

"How can they say she must eat when there is no food?"

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad yesterday said a SADC decision mandating Mbeki to facilitate talks was unanimous and binding on everyone.

Mbeki has been mandated to try to find common ground between the Movement for Democratic Change factions and Mugabe's Zanu-PF to ensure free and fair elections.

"Zimbabwe is party to that decision and they are bound by it," Pahad said. - Additional reporting by Xolani Xundu