The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that a migrant died while being transported from the Musina Repatriation Centre to the Beitbridge Border Post on Sunday night.
The department said the individual was travelling on one of several buses carrying undocumented migrants back to Zimbabwe and Malawi when the incident occurred approximately 15 kilometres from the repatriation centre. The cause of death has not yet been established.
Home Affairs project lead Albert Matsaung said the buses departed after the loading process was completed at around 10:30pm.
“After loading was completed at around 10.30pm, one of the bus drivers returned to the centre. We understand the bus had travelled about 15 kilometres from the centre when the incident occurred. When the passengers boarded, everything appeared to be in order,” Matsaung said.
He stressed that the death did not occur at the Musina Repatriation Centre itself.
“The information we received came from the bus driver and those who were travelling with the deceased. One person died while the bus was en route to the port of entry. The death did not occur at the repatriation centre. After the incident, the driver turned the bus around and returned to the centre,” Matsaung added.
The department said authorities are awaiting the outcome of investigations to determine the exact cause of death.
The incident comes as Home Affairs continues processing and repatriating thousands of undocumented foreign nationals through Musina as part of government’s intensified migration management programme. The repatriation effort follows heightened regional migration pressures and a broader government crackdown on illegal immigration, with Beitbridge serving as the country’s busiest land border crossing into Zimbabwe.
Bongi Sikelo 