In a statement headlined “yet another group of immigrants arrested”‚ the Hawks on Friday said it had – along with Theunissen police — taken 36 illegal aliens into custody in Welkom.

They were apprehended after police “were alerted to a suspicious broken-down van parked on the side of the road near Theunissen”.

 They found two people inside the van and nine sitting on the side of the road around it‚ while the remainder “were found hiding under a bridge nearby”.

“…None of the immigrants had any valid documents to be in the country and they were then arrested‚” said Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.

 “Further probing revealed that the group were going to be sold for cheap labour in the Eastern Cape.”

 Mulaudzi noted that “this is the third group to have been intercepted; the other groups were intercepted in Limpopo and North West recently”.

He said a “driver and passenger are expected to appear before the Theunissen Magistrate’s Court on Monday‚ facing charges of human smuggling and for violation of the Immigration Act”.

The other 34 will also appear in the same court for violating the Immigration Act.