More than 200 000 Zimbabwean illegal immigrants were deported from South Africa through Beitbridge border post last year, Mirror has established.

The principal immigration officer at Beitbridge Border post, Mr Dennis Chitsaka, told Mirror that a total of 204 827 Zimbabweans were deported between January and December last year.

"Last year, 204 827 illegal immigrants were deported from South Africa through Beitbridge border post and you will realize that there was a sharp increase compared to the previous year (2006) when we received 163 548 deportees," he said.

The highest number of deported illegal immigrants was recorded in May, when 22 257 Zimbabweans were deported while December saw the smallest number, with 11 620 deportation cases.

Mr Chitsaka attributed the increase to intensified efforts by the Home Affairs department and joint border patrols by the SAPS in conjunction with their Zimbabwean counterparts along the Limpopo River.

"You will realize that the number of deportations went up largely due to intensified patrols and joint operations by police from both South Africa and Zimbabwe along the border area, which is certainly paying dividends," he said.

"Last year, many Zimbabweans who hold fake South African passports and ID’s did not come back home for the Christmas holidays compared to the previous years because SAPS and the Home Affairs department were seizing the documents in road blocks mounted along the N1 Highway leading to the Beitbridge border post," Mr Chitsaka said.

The border post is normally a hive of activity during the festive seasons, as Zimbabweans based in South Africa would be flocking back home to be with their respective families.

South Africa deports an average of about 500 illegal immigrants daily through Beitbridge border post with the figure increasing to more than 2000 on Thursdays and Fridays when the biggest holding camp, Lindela Repatriation center, outside Johannesburg in Gauteng, would have been cleared for new arrivals.

However, on being deported most of the deportees immediately find their way back through undesignated entry points along the crocodile-infested Limpopo River, regardless of the dangers of either drowning or being attacked by the water-borne reptiles.

On arrival in Beitbridge, deportees are taken to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Reception and Support Center in the border town where they are then offered food and free transport to travel to their respective homes. However, a majority of them shun the humanitarian assistance as they opt to cross back to South Africa illegally.

They are assisted by illegal Gauteng-registered cross-border transport operators commonly known as omalayitsha, who ferry them to Johannesburg for fees ranging from between R1 000 - R1 500 per single trip.

It is estimated that they are over 2 million Zimbabweans living and working in South African both legally and illegally and the number continues to increase as they flee the economic hardships back home, which are characterized by a high unemployment rate and food shortages with the country’s inflation currently pegged at over 8000 %, the highest in the world.