Refugees on the march in Jozi & abuses by South African Police alleged

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JOHANNESBURG – More than 300 Zimbabwean refugees demonstrated in Johannesburg last Friday against alleged unjust and discriminatory treatment they experience at the hands of Department of Community Security and Safety and the South African Police Services (SAPS).

Singing gospels songs and brandishing placards denouncing xenophobia by South African police, the demonstrators marched from Plein and Rissik streets in the city centre to the Department of Safety and Security services at fox street to hand over a petition to MEC offices, also in the city.
“This march seeks to compel the department to ensure that members of the SAPS wear clear identification when on duty to enable victims to report misconduct; condemn harassment, brutality and the killing of foreign nationals and cross-border commuters; as well as enforce the recognition of protection letters issued to asylum seekers by us,” said Joyce Dube, director of the Southern Africa Women’s Institute (SAWIMA) that organised the march.

Dube urged the department’s Chief Director, Shoki Tshabalala, who received the petition, that it was her duty as a woman to see that foreigners were treated well in South Africa.

“We have done our research and we have discovered that the problem with Home Affairs begins with the police officers who arrest the foreigners for being here illegally. There is no way we could be here if the situation back home was conducive. I’m glad that I am handing this petition today to a woman who knows the pain of giving birth. Lives have been lost at the hands of the SA police and some are now cripples, we are therefore ask you take our issue serious and assist these refugees,” said Dube referring to Tobby Mpofu who was shot in cold blood in Musina last year and is still nursing his injuries.

Receiving the petition Tshabalala said she would do whatever she could.

“My office is receiving your memorandum on behalf of the MEC Firoz Cachalia and will make sure that I liaise with your offices to try and resolve this issue. I’m not promising that it would happen over night but I will try by the power entrusted to me to push that these issues are taken into consideration,” she said.
Police misconduct, fuelled by xenophobia and ignorance, has been a plague that South Africa has failed to shake off for over a decade.

Legally, the SAPS’ function with regard to the enforcement of immigration law includes the apprehension and detaining of undocumented migrants; the investigation of foreigners involved in illegal activities; and the legal enforcement of the Aliens Control Act.

The SAPS has, however, allegedly ‘extended’ its mandate to include victimizing foreign nationals, eliciting bribes from foreigners, whether or not they are legally present in the country, and subjecting them to inhumane and degrading abuses.