The single biggest haul – over R8,5 million, noted by the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Directorate: Corporate Communication (DCC) as "contraband" but probably including cigarettes, liquor and drugs – was taken from smugglers illegally entering South Africa from Zimbabwe.

The other notable haul of contraband, this time dagga only, was on the Lesotho border with the Eastern Cape. Here, soldiers confiscated R299 500 worth of the narcotic from smugglers.

Soldiers deployed on the land borders with Eswatini, Mozambique and Zimbabwe prevented 24 stolen or hijacked vehicles from leaving South Africa. The "busiest" border was Limpopo/Zimbabwe, where soldiers intercepted 15 vehicles in September. Eight vehicles were prevented from ending up in Eswatini and one from Mozambique via the Mpumalanga border.

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The number of illegals stopped and handed over to police and immigration officials from the Department of Home Affairs was substantially down on previous months, with a total of 481 compared to around 1900/2000 in July and August. Two hundred and nineteen Basuto were stopped by patrolling soldiers on the mountain kingdom’s borders with the Free State and Eastern Cape, with 114 Zimbabweans halted in their tracks.

No specifics are given by DCC for livestock recovered, giving only a total number – 58 – and a Rand value of 271 800 on the Lesotho/Eastern Cape border.

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