Mozambique protest threats: Police on high alert at Lebombo Border

The police have significantly beefed up their presence at the Lebombo Border Post following threats of a protest on the Mozambican side.

On Sunday, authorities recorded a significant increase in travellers making their way in and out of the country through that border.

This increase in movement of people on the border has coincided with recent demonstrations against undocumented foreign nationals in South Africa.

However, the port is quieter with fewer travellers recorded

At the entrance of the Lebombo Border Post, there is a police Inyala stationed near the main gate, with members of the South African Police Service stopping cars and members of the South African Defence Force also patrolling.

Officials at the border said more than 24,000 travellers made their way in and out of the country through their gates on Sunday, with queues only dwindling at 2 am.

"That was attributed to the holidays that we have had. If you remember very well, it might have been a holiday that other week, so people took a leave for the three days during the last week, and then they only came back this particular Sunday," said BMA Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ndivhuho Luvhimbi.

While Luvhimbi has attributed the increase in travel volumes to the recent long weekends, an officer who spoke to Eyewitness News said the travellers who were at the borders yesterday were Mozambicans fleeing South Africa because of the recent anti-immigrant marches and South Africans fleeing Mozambique amid threats of retaliation.

BMA officials have confirmed reports of a planned protest on the Mozambican side of the Lebombo border but have not linked the large travel volumes to the anticipated unrest.