THOUSANDS of illegal Chinese immigrants - many from the Mainland - are being smuggled into South Africa and provided with safe houses. Lured by the land of gold, tempted by a new-born democratic disposition and with the promise of a more luxurious life, an estimated 70,000 have settled on the tip of Africa.
South African police believe that most of these illegal immigrants have connections to Chinese triads and have braced themselves for a lengthy war against the organised crime syndicates.
Triads are involved in smuggling poached ivory and rhino horn, abalone and other seafood delicacies from Southern Africa to Asia, as well as drugs and illicit arms trafficking. They rate among the most sophisticated fraudsters in South Africa and are also believed to be heavily involved in prostitution rackets.
As in other countries, Chinese triads abuse their fellow illegal Chinese immigrants as slave labour, extract monthly protection fees in repayment for smuggling them into the country and often coerce them into committing crimes for the syndicates.
The South African police have set up undercover and visible units to deal with the triad problem but officials are deliberately vague about investigations and strategies aimed at counteracting triad activities.
'Triads are more difficult to infiltrate than other syndicates in this country,' said Captain Servaas du Plessis, chief of the Pretoria-based Aliens Investigation Unit.