Pretoria - Former Zimbabwean soldiers are illegally entering the country to rob and kill, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula has said.
Mbalula told reporters on Tuesday that he was attacked on Twitter when he said the five men who robbed a Hyde Park Corner mall, Johannesburg, jeweller on April 13 were Zimbabweans.
"Yes, they are from Zimbabwe. There are people who come from Zimbabwe, who run away from the military and they come and promote criminality in South Africa. That is the truth. Why shouldn't I tell that truth? There are Zimbabwean ex-soldiers who are in this country, robbing banks, promoting criminality."
Mbalula said these soldiers were running away from President Robert Mugabe's military.
"To get out of it, they run to South Africa and rob banks. They are on the payroll of criminals. We can't trace them. They enter illegally and they just come here and do not promote goodwill."
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