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Maj-Gen Barney Hlatshwayo of the joint operations division said the military would withdraw from borderline operations in Limpopo at the end of March next year. The responsibility w ould be handed to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

"The decision was taken that the mandate should be given to the police," said defence department head of communications Siphiwe Dlamini yesterday. This decision could be made by "political principals" only, he said.

Hlatshwayo said the handover of responsibility at the border was in line with the military's strategic requirements and constitutional obligations. Unlike the police, the army had no powers of arrest and could not use force when dealing with civilians.

Limpopo was the last area for military border operations since the military began transferring responsibility to the police in a programme that began four years ago. The SANDF ha s three companies of 500 soldiers in Limpopo but they will return to their regular bases next year.

While he said the number of Zimbabweans crossing into SA had increased since the country's elections last month, handover plans were in place. Sufficient warning had also been given to the police so as not to create a vacuum, and the military would continue to support the police, Hlatshwayo said.

The pending handover comes after a report by Auditor- general Terence Nombembe, pointed to gaping inadequacies in the management of the country's borders.

The report said there were vacancies of 70% in the SAPS border protection service. Nombembe also found that, since 2004, there was still no overall plan relating to border policing.

SAPS spokesman Phuti Setati said the police service was up to the task of managing SA's Zimbabwe border. "As soon as the SANDF go, we will increase capacity. Whatever challenge we meet, we will take it head on," he said.

Phuti maintained the police had the capacity to perform policing functions "along all border areas".

However, earlier this week Mpumalanga MEC for safety and security Fish Mahlalela appealed for the defence force to be brought back to patrol SA's borders with Mozambique and Swaziland. Police took over the function in the province early this month. Crime was rocketing because of the conditions on the border and there were no police officers to do the job, Mahlalela told Beeld .

After a recent tour , he found the task to be too big for the police. "The fence looks like a sieve. At certain places there aren't even fences," he said, adding that he would ask Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota to re-deploy the military.

The SANDF could not be drawn into revealing whether it had a contingency plan for the situation in Zimbabwe, the source of over 1-million migrants living in SA .