Hundreds of these people, many of them legally staying in the country, spent the weekend in holding cells at the city’s two main remand prisons, John Voster and Hillbrow Police Stations.
They were later released without charge, while some had to pay fines of up to R300 for ‘loitering.’ In one such swoop in central Johannesburg, which The Zimbabwean witnessed, several people were rounded up and charged with such a criminal activity.
Among those who spent the weekend in the holding cells is Sakhizwe Dube of Berea, arrested in central Johannesburg on Friday.
“They asked for my papers and upon producing them, they accused me of loitering. I was puzzled, because I was sitting at a bus stop in Eloff Street waiting for the bus. I spent the weekend behind bars and was only released on Monday afternoon, because I could not pay a fine of R300,” he said.
Police raided bars around Johannesburg on Saturday evening where they arrested immigrants, mainly Zimbabweans.
“My bar is frequented by Zimbabweans. On Saturday, police harassed my patrons and arrested them for loitering. This is despite the fact that my bar is registered. Such raids were stopped two years ago when government stopped the arrest and deportations of Zimbabweans,” said a Nigerian bar owner in Hillbrow.
‘Loitering’ is a charge police have used over the years to arbitrarily arrest migrants, from whom they then solicit bribes. It is classified on a par with such ‘crimes’ as public indecency and drunkenness. Such suspects are locked up for the weekend.
Johannesburg Police denied any arbitrary arrests but said it was a routine project to curb criminal activities. The crackdown coincided with the recent lapse of the grace period given to Zimbabweans to regularize their stay in South Africa.
Post published in: Africa News