A 56-year-old farmer in the Waterpoort area lost property worth thousands of rands to a Zimbabwean illegal immigrant, who apparently broke into the farmhouse in the absence of the farm owner, police said.

Police spokesman in Limpopo Capt Mashudu Malelo said the incident occurred on Tuesday night last week.

"The farm owner left his house intending to do a routine check-up on his workers, and on arrival at the house he discovered that the property had been broken into and a bag containing clothes and a number of electrical appliances were missing," he said. He then reported to matter to the police, leading to the arrest of a 30-year-old Zimbabwean illegal immigrant who was found in possession of some of the loot.

"We suspect the man could be part of a house-breaking syndicate involved in a spate of crimes, and we have intensified our investigations and lots more suspects will be nabbed as we continue with our investigations," Malelo said.

"We are appealing to the community to ensure that their premises are secure before leaving, to avoid such unfortunate incidents," he said.