Police in Musina retrieved two decomposing female bodies of suspected illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, believed to have drowned in the Limpopo River, while trying to enter into the country through undesignated entry points.

The Musina SAPS spokeswoman, Const Deborah Bob, said the two bodies were found trapped in sand on the banks of the Limpopo River on Sunday, 6 January, at around 10:00 near the Limpopo Safari and Sengwe areas respectively.

"The two bodies were discovered by our team, which was apparently looking for another Somali national who also drowned in the Limpopo River. The bodies were in a state of decomposition and we suspect the two were trying to cross into South Africa illegally through undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River," she said.

Bob said the two bodies were subsequently taken to the Louis Trichardt Government Mortuary for a post-mortem.

She said they were still in the process of trying to identify the bodies.

Cases of Zimbabwean illegal immigrants drowning in Limpopo River while trying to cross into South Africa are a common phenomenon during this time of the year, as scores of Zimbabweans would be struggling to return to work in South Africa after having spent the festive season with their families back home.

Of late, there has been an increase in the number of Zimbabweans fleeing that country’s economic hardships in search of greener pastures in South Africa. Most of them use illegal entry points along the crocodile-infested river oblivious of the dangers of either drowning or being mauled by crocodiles.

Bob said they had in the past few weeks been retrieving a number of bodies of illegal immigrants in the Limpopo River. The river is normally in flood during this time of the year, due to heavy rains.