About 25 Zambians have been deported from South Africa back to the country for various immigration offences.

And Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba has called on Zambians travelling to South Africa to follow the right procedure to avoid inconveniences.

According to a statement issued by the First Secretary for Press and Public Relations at the Zambian High Commission in South Africa Naomi Nyawali, Wednesday, the 25 were deported back to Zambia following a round-up operation conducted by South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs.

“The 25 were deported back to Zambia following a round-up operation, which was conducted by that country’s Ministry of Home Affairs and were detained at Lindela Holding facilities in Krugersdorp West, Gauteng Province,” Nyawali disclosed.

She stated that the deported Zambians were found with offences like overstaying in South Africa, others had no immigration permits that allowed them to stay or work in South Africa, while others had finished serving their jail terms for criminal offences.

She added that 14 people had since been repatriated to Zambia, whilst 11 were given a grace period for self-repatriation.

“According to the information made available to the Zambia High Commission in Pretoria, the deported Zambians were found with offences of overstaying in that country. Others were found with no immigration permits that allow them to stay or work in South Africa, while others had finished serving their jail terms for criminal offences. 14 people have since been repatriated to Zambia by the South African government, whilst 11 were given a grace period for self-repatriation,” Nyawali stated.

“South African authorities observed that Zambia was among the countries with the lowest number of her nationals that had offended immigration laws as compared to other countries.”

And High Commissioner Mwamba appealed to Zambians travelling to South Africa to follow the right procedure when travelling to avoid being inconvenienced.

He further said the Mission issued 28 gratis travel documents to some Zambians that needed help from the High Commission.

Mwamba added that the Mission issued about 983 travel documents in 2018 to Zambian nationals that lost their passports or had overstayed.

He noted that the Mission was closely monitoring the welfare of its citizens to ensure that they do not come into conflict with that country’s laws.