Authorities are investigating how buses meant for Malawian deportees from South Africa ended up carrying several other passengers with fake travelling documents, who evaded immigration procedures both in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

From what we have gathered, four buses, which were expected to carry 195 deportees, were intercepted at Cuchamano, a border post between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, after the Malawian Consulate in Tete, Mozambique, conducted a verification exercise.

This exercise showed that 30 passengers had fake travelling documents while the others were deportees picked from South Africa’s Lindela Prison.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Department of Immigration director general Charles Kalumo confirmed that all the four buses were detained at Mwanza border, and investigations are underway to establish the facts.

He, however, indicated that what is worrying is that the commercial passengers had fake documents and evaded immigration procedures because they travelled as deportees.

Kalumo said: “I cannot say much, but I want to reveal one thing that we found that quite a number of passengers, I do not know which bus, had false documents from South Africa and not from our embassy. This is a matter of concern for us. We are told that the passengers were in the buses carrying deportees and it was difficult to separate them, hence, we have subjected all four buses to an investigation.”

Cuchamano where the buses were intercepted

He said all the buses and their drivers are South African, and they are being investigated.

An immigration officer familiar with the issue confided in us that this is a long-standing syndicate where transporters, with help from some officials from Malawi Mission in South Africa and transit countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique, cash in on deportation of Malawians from South Africa.

The official said there is usually a list of names of deportees which determines the number of buses to be hired hence including any extra person or commercial passenger must involve not only transporters but government officials.

“To get to the bottom of this issue, we need to quiz transporters on how they do it. We are likely to know the officials behind it and at the same time, we will know who produces these fake travelling documents. It is a security threat, I mean how can you have all these people pass through borders with

fake documents?” wondered the immigration official who did not want to be named.

From documentation we have seen for this trip, 195 Malawians were repatriated from South Africa on January 4 2023 from Lindela Holding Facility, according to a memo from the Malawian High Commissioner to South Africa.

The memo reads: “I write to report that 195 nationals from the Republic of Malawi have been deported from the Republic of South Africa, and are scheduled to depart the Lindela Holding Facility for the Republic of Malawi today [4th January 4 2023]. In view of this, I write to request for transit clearances of the 195 deportees who will transit through the Republics of Mozambique and Zimbabwe”.

The buses were intercepted at Cuchamano, a border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, having successfully passed through South African and Zimbabwean borders.

In a written response, Malawi’s Consul General in Tete, Mozambique Happy Saka confirmed intercepting the buses.

“It was a normal exercise to welcome deportees at Cuchamano border. But when we began to do a physical verification exercise of the passengers, we found that some were commercial passengers who did not have valid travelling documents and took advantage of the deportees to evade immigration procedures.

“I had to personally interview a number of them and when the stories were not adding up, I reported to Immigration and handed over the buses at Mwanza border. You may wish to follow up with Immigration Department for details,” he explained.

Asked how many people were in the buses, Saka said they were at least 225, but insisted that we needed to get more details from Immigration as the right authority to comment on the matter.

“All the buses looked the same from outside, but one was different inside; this was sort of an executive coach with

 air conditioners and it is here that we found commercial passengers with fake documents. We randomly interviewed some passengers and the driver and the story was not adding up on how this bus ended up as part of the convoy for deportees, hence referring the matter to the right authorities to establish facts.” air conditioners and it is here

If, indeed, there were 225 passengers, it means there were 30 extra. Current bus fares from Johannesburg to Malawi (Lilongwe or Blantyre) cost about K80 000 , meaning the 30 passengers would cost K2.4 million.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malawi, through the mission in South Africa, arrange transport to repatriate deportees.

The ministry’s spokesperson John Kabaghe asked for more time to respond to our questionnaire.

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