SA soldiers 'robbed immigrants'

Thousands of Zimbabweans are deported from South Africa

Five soldiers have appeared in court in South Africa accused of ambushing, stripping and robbing Zimbabweans who were crossing the border illegally.

The arrests were made on Sunday after a nine-month investigation.

Police spokesman Capt Fanie Molapo said Zimbabweans claim they were stripped of their valuables before being handed over to police for deportation.

More serious allegations of rape were also being investigated and further arrests could follow, he said.

But it is proving harder to gather evidence to back up these claims, because victims were unwilling to come forward to police.

"People are afraid... because they have no fixed address here in South Africa," Capt Molapo told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

Goods confiscated by the soldiers include bicycles and cigarettes.

The Zimbabwean deportees allege that when they could not produce receipts for their goods, the soldiers confiscated them on suspicion that they were stolen.

But Captain Molapo said none of the goods were handed in to police stations or could be accounted for on the military base.

Thousands of Zimbabweans cross illegally into South Africa each year in search of work.