Limpopo authorities have arrested and deported hundreds of people, including 32 children, after evicting them from an abandoned police training facility.
The operation at the former Police Tactical Academy at Maleoskop in Sekhukhune was executed by Groblersdal police and the departments of home affairs and social development on Sunday and Monday between 10pm and 10am.
“The forces comprised the SAPS K9 unit, visible policing, detectives, immigration officers and social workers,” police spokesperson Col Malesela Ledwaba said.
MULTI DISCIPLINARY FORCES REMOVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN MALEOSKOP CAMP The South African Police Service in Groblersdal...
Posted by Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety on Tuesday, July 4, 2023
Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembi Hadebe “applauded the collaborative efforts by the teams involved in the operation”.
Ledwaba said among those arrested were Zimbabweans (115 males, 55 females and 17 children) and Mozambicans (62 males, 51 females and 15 children). He added that they were deported to their countries “as per a 48-hour activation plan”.
Four Congolese, two Mozambicans and one Eritrean were released.
A Congolese man was arrested for allegedly trafficking two 16-year-old girls from the DRC. The suspect is expected to appear before the Groblersdal magistrate's court soon on charges of human trafficking and contravention of the Immigration Act.
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