Thirty-four foreign nationals were arrested on Saturday, March 15, and appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court yesterday, March 17.

Some Operation Vala Umgodi officers arrested the men, aged between 20 and 77, during a sting at the Brondal Settlement about 22km outside Mbombela. They had no valid documents to be in South Africa.

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The men were charged with contravening of the Immigration Act and were found guilty. They were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment each.

#sapsMP 36 suspects aged between 20 and 77 were arrested during a disruptive operation Vala Umgodi conducted at Brondal informal settlement near Nelspruit on 15 March 2025. The suspects face various charges including, contravention of the Immigration Act, fraud and possession of… pic.twitter.com/sQC7fbVZ5m

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) March 17, 2025

The court also ordered that they must be deported to their countries of origin after completing their sentences. Some are believed to be from Mozambique and Zimbabwe, while others claimed they were from Lesotho.

“Some of these suspects are also facing charges of fraud, possession of illicit liquor and possession of dagga. These cases are still ongoing,” said a provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jabu Ndubane.

During the arrests the police confiscated nine fraudulent South African IDs and passports, some illicit liquor and 1.9kg of dagga with an estimated street value of R5 000.

Lowvelder was unable to establish all the men’s names by the time of publication.