Durban - South Africans on Twitter have voiced their opinion on video footage on social media of eight foreign nationals, who were found in OR Tambo International Airport’s fire hydrant tunnel system last week, after they attempted to enter South Africa illegally.
Speaking during a briefing at the airport on Saturday, Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, said four of the men are Bangladeshi nationals and four are Pakistani.
The men arrived in South Africa via an international flight and were then meant to proceed to the transit lounge for their flights to other neighbouring countries.
Motsoaledi said since the men were using the airport as a transit point, no visas were required for them to enter South Africa.
He said as the men were heading to the transit lounge, a member of the SAPS, who works at the airport, followed the men. He said the officer noticed that the men suddenly took a detour.
“The police officer followed them and discovered that they actually don’t go to the transit [lounge]. They go through the opening of fire hydrant, they get in there, there are passages where the pipes are,” he said.
He said it is believed that the men were trying to get to an exit point in order to enter the country illegally.
He said the men were caught and arrested.
In the video, a few men are seen lying flat on the floor while a police officer request that the people inside the tunnel crawl out.
WATCH: Illegal foreigners arrested. https://t.co/PS6jLRCYoU pic.twitter.com/l1isdE2vSx
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) June 19, 2022
One of the men struggles to crawl out head first and the police officer suggests he exits the tunnel legs first.
“Bring your legs first, how did you manage to come in if you can’t come out. You went in this way but now you must come out,” the police officer tells the man.
South Africans on Twitter voiced their opinion on the incident:
