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Court gavel
Free State police spokesperson Thabo Covane has confirmed that 16 undocumented Zimbabwean nationals are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Covane says a Contravention of Immigration Act case has been opened.
The court will determine the fine to be paid or the period of sentence.
This comes after a bus was intercepted at a roadblock on the N1 near Bloemfontein and 32 undocumented Zimbabwean nationals were detained. The bus was traveling from Zimbabwe to Cape Town.
Border Management Authority earlier confirmed that the undocumented foreign nationals and children were processed at the Beitbridge border post in Musina
Twelve children have been taken to a place of safety.
Covane says those expected to appear in court include 11 women and five men.
“Those who can afford to pay the determined fine amounts will be handed over to immigration officers. They will then be detained further, awaiting deportation processes. When the approval is received, they will then be transferred to Lindela, where they will be officially deported to their homeland. Those who cannot afford to pay the fine amounts will serve the sentence period in prison. Parents of the minors are deported directly to their homeland.”
