Hundreds of Zimbabwean immigrants boarded buses in Epping to be transported to the Beitbridge border post.
A heavy police and metro police presence was visible at the Epping Refugee Reception Office a week after the June 30 deadline for illegal immigrants to leave South Africa.
On Tuesday morning, the road leading to the facility returned to normal with no long queues, no buses lined up outside, and not a single foreign national waiting with suitcases in sight.
Just days ago, the same stretch of road was filled with thousands of people seeking voluntary repatriation, while buses arrived and departed throughout the day.
In the days before June 30, the normally quiet road outside the Epping Refugee Reception Office was transformed into a temporary humanitarian hub. Families carrying what they could queued for hours, while others slept on blankets and beneath makeshift shelters as they waited to be processed for voluntary repatriation.
