Pretoria - Operation Fiela has led to the arrest of over 9 000 people for severe crimes, including possession of drugs, suspects wanted for murder, theft and sexual offences, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said on Monday.
“The biggest Fiela multi-disciplinary operations were held on July 30 and 31 where all provinces conducted synchronised operations. These operations were held in major centres across the length and breadth of the country. The total arrests only for the two days was 2 908,” Radebe told reporters in Pretoria at the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration.
During the briefing, it was revealed that the majority of people who were arrested during the two-day operation were mostly undocumented immigrants, which accounted for 1 123 of the 2 908 arrests. Other people were arrested for possession of illegal cigarettes, fraud, employing undocumented immigrants, assault, and burglary.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said at the briefing that members of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) were no longer part of Operation Fiela.
“The SANDF was deployed in support of SAPS (SA Police Service) on April 21 up to June 30. It is correct that the deployment of the SANDF ended on June 30,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
“I hear you saying there has been a request (for an extension of the soldiers’ deployment on the operation)[which] has been made, but we have not yet received the request or even a directive from the Presidency to prepare for deployment.”
Out of the total number of 9 968 people arrested in the operation, which started on April this year, Gauteng had the majority of arrests, with records standing at 3 064 arrests. A total of 1 314 people were arrested in Limpopo, 1 264 nabbed in Western Cape and in Mpumalanga, police arrested 1 225 people. Other provinces had figures less than 1 000 each, and in the Free State only 283 people were arrested.
The state security operation was widely criticised by civic society as “state-sponsored xenophobia”. It was launched by government following a spate of xenophobic attacks which left at least seven people dead in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Numerous criminal cases were opened after the xenophobic attacks.
In June, the Lawyers for Human Rights organisation approached the High Court in Pretoria, and challenged the way in which operations had been conducted across the country.
ANA