An illegal immigrant from Zimbabwe collapsed and died near the Agricultural Experimental Farm along the Pondrift-Musina public road, police said.

The police spokesman for the Vhembe district, Insp Thivhulawi Tshilate, said the incident occurred last Friday at around 07:00. He said the Zimbabwean, whose age is unknown, was part of a group of border jumpers who had illegally entered South Africa through undesignated entry points along the crocodile-infested Limpopo River.

“The deceased Zimbabwean was in a group of illegal immigrants, who had entered South Africa through undesignated entry points. We suspect he could have been ill, which eventually resulted in his collapsing and subsequently dying,” Tshilate said.

He said other illegal immigrants then reported the matter to the police, who took the body to the Musina Government Mortuary for a post-mortem. No foul play is suspected, Tshilate said.

He said, however, they were still trying to locate the relatives of the deceased.

Despite intensified regular police raids, hundreds of illegal immigrants from the neighboring Zimbabwe continue to cross into South Africa through several illegal entry points dotted along the Limpopo River.

Some reportedly bribe Zimbabwean police and South African immigration officials to pass through the Beitbridge Border Post aboard Gauteng registered cross-border taxis, mostly driven by Zimbabweans. They are commonly known as “Omalayitsha.”