MASERU — After failing to get temporary travel documents many migrant workers who had come back home for the Easter weekend have resorted to skipping the border back into South Africa.
Government Printers last week suspended the production of temporary travel documents amid investigations into the illegal printing and selling of the documents and other government papers.
On Tuesday hundreds of people thronged the Passport Office at Pitso Ground but, as the Sunday Express forewarned, they were deeply disappointed when officials told them they would not get the temporary travel documents.
That development forced some desperate people to take the extraordinary measures to get back into South Africa — crossing the border illegally.
Our senior reporter Caswell Tlali was at the border on Wednesday to witness how these people managed to cross into South Africa.
Below is his account:
SECURITY at the Maseru Bridge Border Post looks tight. At least it seems so.
Police are everywhere.
Yet you don’t even have to dig deep to realise what appears to be impenetrable security is only a façade.
There is a strong contingent of shadowy agents who know how to beat the system.
These young men who normally roam around the border gate have created a mini-industry of agents that help desperate Basotho cross into South Africa illegally.
They are smart and swift.
Sometimes the illegal crossings are done with the help of the police who are paid small bribes to turn a blind eye to these criminal activities.
It’s only when you talk to them that you realise that the Lesotho-South Africa border is indeed porous.
The agents select their customers carefully.
It’s a psychological game they have learnt over time.
Potential clients normally hesitate to join the queue into the immigration office and they are mostly women.
Today business is brisk for Thabo because many people want to cross back into South Africa after the Easter holiday.
Many of these people don’t have travel documents or they are trying to avoid using their passports which were endorsed for overstaying in South Africa.
For such people Thabo is the man to approach.
Yet it doesn’t really work that way.
Thabo is the one who approaches a potential client and not the other way round.
It’s just after lunch when Thabo makes a move on his next client.
In a hushed voice Thabo asks the woman if she has a travel document or just wants to cross into South Africa.
The lady’s answer is not audible to the Sunday Express crew but in those few seconds a deal seems to have been struck because Thabo hurriedly leads her to the end of the guardrail on the South African side.
They continue talking in hushed voices.
The woman takes out a wallet from her handbag, counts some notes and gives them to Thabo.
Thabo hands the money to another man who approaches a South African policeman and they chat for a while.
Thabo and his client immediately jump over the guardrail and disappear under the bridge.
They however do not cross the river walking in the water because the point at which they jump the guardrail is on the South African side.
This happens in full view of the police officers.
Thabo and his client don’t need to jump over the fence because there is a pathway under the bridge.
The pathway, created by the agents, leads into a nearby forest and passes through a tiny trail near Riverside Hotel on the South African side of the border.
The woman, who is now in the company of two more women whose luggage is handed to them over the fence, walks freely and seemingly relaxed to the nearby commuter omnibus rank.
Deal done, Thabo returns to his base to wait for more clients.
Unsuspecting passersby will not realise that there is a path through which illegal immigrants get into South Africa.
Thabo refuses to talk to the Sunday Express crew but it’s clear that he is making good money from his illegal operation.
As soon as Thabo emerges from the bridge back to the Lesotho side police officers start walking towards the end of the guardrail.
They secure the place.
A South African police officer is now stationed at the other end of the bridge.
From there he can see the illegal immigrants crossing into South Africa.
About 30 minutes pass without anyone crossing illegally.
After an hour business is back in full swing again.
Two agents are talking to Lesotho policewomen while one is leading two women under the bridge.
Police spokesperson Masupha Masupha told this paper in an interview that the border gate is guarded round the clock.
“We believe the police are doing their job properly,” Masupha said.
“However, if anybody notices any flaws in the work of the border gate police we encourage him to inform the police post commander.”