Eight armed members of the South African National Defence Force were intercepted by Zimbabwean Police along the border area on Saturday last week, after they had strayed into Zimbabwean territory.

The Beitbridge Police Station commander, Chief Superintendent Nicholas Mawere, said the soldiers were arrested along the Limpopo River, after they lost direction to their training centre at Madimbo. “I can confirm that police officers, who were on routine patrols along the border, intercepted eight South African soldiers who had strayed into Zimbabwe.” He said they were taken to the Beitbridge Police Station where they were detained in the cells, while police investigated the incident.

“We actually detained them pending investigations. However, we eventually released them after we discovered that they had only strayed into our territory after losing track of their fellow soldiers during training,” Mawere said.

It is understood that the soldiers were undergoing basic training the previous night when they wandered into Zimbabwe, while trying to find their way back to the Madimbo Training Centre.

“We discovered that their case was genuine, hence we decided to release them as they had no sinister motive. We have always enjoyed good relations with our South African counterparts, especially during joint border patrols to curb smuggling and border jumping along the Limpopo River.”