Hours of footslogging in difficult terrain for soldiers deployed on border protection in Limpopo last month was rewarded with a haul of illicit cigarettes worth R2.2 million in a 10-day period.
Overall, the 13 companies doing Operation Corona duty in August confiscated contraband valued at over R5.9 million, Lieutenant Colonel Piet Paxton of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Joint Operations said.
The soldiers are deployed at bases on, or close to South Africa’s borders with Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
By far the bulk of contraband, along with the majority of the 1 449 undocumented immigrants, was taken in Limpopo which borders Zimbabwe. Mozambique was the other major “contributor” to the Department of Home Affairs tally of undocumented immigrants during August.
Paxton said soldiers on patrol in Limpopo were “busy” during the August 14 to 24 period.
“Their work saw cigarettes in master boxes, cartons and loose packets confiscated before they could be sold on the streets and in the spaza shops of Gauteng’s townships,” he said adding a number of suspects were apprehended and handed to police.
Contraband seized by soldiers included just on 400 kg of dagga, with a street value of around R400 000, as well as stolen vehicles, cigarettes, liquor, clothing and cosmetics. Fifty-four head of stolen livestock was recovered in North West, bordered by Botswana, and Free State, bordered by Lesotho.
Last month Defence Portfolio Committee chairman, Malusi Motimele, said the “good work” done by the SANDF during Operation Corona was “indicative of a force committed to ensuring the safety and security of their country despite the challenge of a shortage of adequate forces on our borders”.
In the first quarter of this year soldiers seized contraband worth R13 million and confiscated more than two thousand kilogrammes of dagga.
