A 23-year-old Zimbabwean illegal immigrant was allegedly shot dead by an SANDF member at a farm near the Musina border town last week, police have said.

SAPS spokesman in Limpopo Province Supt Ailwei Mushavhanamadi said the incident occurred last Tuesday (15 May) at round 11:00 at the experimental farm outside Musina.

"The now deceased, who was an illegal immigrant from Zimbabwe, was shot in the right shoulder and the bullet ripped through his chest and he subsequently died on the spot. We suspect the man had illegally crossed the border into South Africa through an undesignated entry point," he said.

Mushavhanamadi said the suspect spotted the now deceased at a bushy area near the farm and then opened fire before shooting him to death using an R4 rifle.

He said police have since confiscated the firearm and taken it for ballistic tests.

Mushavhanamadi identified the deceased Zimbabwean as Alfios Ngwenga from the Masvingo area. His body was taken to the government mortuary for a post-mortem.

Mushavhanamadi said police did not condone such violent acts in which illegal immigrants are shot and urged law enforcers patrolling along the country’s border areas to behave in a responsible manner.

"However, although we don’t condone border jumping, as police we want to make it clear that we don’t tolerate the killing of illegal immigrants by those patrolling our borders as they are not supposed to take the law into their own hands," said the police spokesman.

Recently, another 18 year-old Zimbabwean illegal immigrant was shot and seriously injured by an SANDF member along the Limpopo River.