South African farmers and safari operators along the border with Zimbabwe have vowed to continue their widely condemned arrests targeted at Zimbabwean illegal immigrants, whom they accuse of vandalizing their farm property, Mirror has established.

In interviews with Mirror last week, some farmers who own game parks outside Musina conceded that they had no legal mandate to arrest illegal immigrants who are using their properties as entry points, but they were quick to point out that they had to protect their properties from marauding Zimbabweans breaking boundary and perimeter fences on farms as they crossed into South Africa illegally.

"Honestly, I cannot watch my property being vandalized by these illegal immigrants, even if we don’t have the mandate to arrest them. In fact, the police who are supposed to conduct these patrols are not doing enough because they are short staffed and right now I am busy repairing my fence, which was destroyed by a group of Zimbabwean border jumpers," fumed a farmer, Mr Pienaar Joubert.

Another safari operator, Mr Esme-Mariek, echoed Joubert’s sentiments:

" The SAPS have no capacity to contain the Zimbabwean illegal immigrants, who have turned into a nuisance on our farms because if they were effective, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Besides, I worked all my life for this farm and therefore I can’t just watch as all this unfolds right under my nose."

Mr Robert van Riebeck, another farmer, said their arresting Zimbabwean illegal immigrants was justified. "Last week they (illegal immigrants) destroyed my fence, resulting in my wildlife´s straying. You repair the fence today, and the next day it’s broken. What do you do? As I speak right now, another group has destroyed part of my potato field and am I just expected to stand by and watch?" he asked.

According to the South African laws, only Home Affairs department officials, soldiers and police can arrest illegal immigrants.

The spokesperson for the Limpopo Province, Senior Superintendent Motlafela Mojapelo, recently warned farmers against arresting illegal immigrants, saying they would be dealt with harshly.

"To cross the border is not a criminal offence that justifies harsh action by farmers, unless of course if they commit housebreaking or rape. It is the duty of police to arrest illegal immigrants, not farmers," he was recently quoted as saying.

Some deported Zimbabwean illegal immigrants who had passed through the International Organization for Migration Support and Reception center in Beitbridge told Mirror on Monday that South African farmers arrest any Zimbabweans straying through their farms and beat them up before handing them over to the police.

"Those farmers are very cruel and once they catch you, just know that you are finished. I recently strayed into a farm near Musina and I was thoroughly beaten up before they handed me over to the police for deportation," said Jacob Moyo of Masvingo.

Of late there have been media reports of farmers in the border town of Musina going hunting, beating and arresting Zimbabwean illegal immigrants.

Currently, only 311 SAPS are members deployed along the border area instead of the required number of 522 police members needed to patrol the border area effectively

The SANDF recently told a visiting parliamentary delegation that the Government was also losing millions of rands in repairing the border fence, which is constantly being destroyed by Zimbabwean illegal immigrants entering South Africa through undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River.