Johannesburg — The Home Affairs Department said on Tuesday it would repatriate 2800 illegal Zimbabwean and Mozambican immigrants before the end of this week.

Departmental spokesman Leslie Mashokwe told Sapa that a total of 1400 Mozambicans would be moved by train on Wednesday morning, to be followed by Zimbabweans of the same number on Friday morning.

"We have deployed additional staff to fast-track the process of moving them as from tomorrow," he said.

The illegal immigrants waiting to be repatriated are currently held at the Lindela repatriation centre in Krugersdorp on the West Rand.

The move comes amid the arrest on Sunday of five employees of the repatriation centre in connection with the death of a Nigerian illegal immigrant, who was allegedly beaten to death after his recapture following an earlier escape from the privately-operated centre.

The five appeared at the Krugersdorp Magistrate's Court on Tuesday and were released on warning.

They were ordered to report for an identity parade on March 26 and would again appear in court on April 3.

The Nigerian's death sparked a riot at the centre on Monday morning when a group of about 2600 people complained about conditions and demanded immediate repatriation.

Mashokwe said on Tuesday the department was "under pressure" to speed up the repatriations.

He said Transnet, which is responsible for providing transport, had at one stage even considered moving the Mozambicans and Zimbabweans by trucks but later abandoned that when more train coaches became available.