Human rights groups have expressed their outrage at a massive crime blitz in Hillbrow this week that saw police officers round up foreign nationals, mainly Zimbabweans, while Home Affairs officials screened and fingerprinted them.
On Thursday, the 1 000-strong police squad launched dawn raids targeting hijacked buildings in Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville, embarking on stop-and-search drills for its festive anti-crime campaign, Operation Duty Calls.
They were led by National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele and Police Minister Nathi Mthetwa and accompanied by Home Affairs officials and the SA Revenue Service.
But Gina Snyman, the head of the immigration detention project at Lawyers for Human Rights, said the operation appeared to contradict the Department of Home Affairs’s amnesty for Zimbabweans living in South Africa illegally, in place until December 31.
“The SAPS should be well be aware of this (amnesty) process. It’s high time the police engaged in real crime-combating. They have much more serious obligations, protecting all people in South Africa.
“It will only end up in more people going underground.”
The Star reported that the police stormed hijacked flats and rounded up residents, who were assessed by officials and split into separate groups, with Zimbabweans forming the bulk of the group.
Home Affairs officials screened the residents and the police loaded them into vans if they were found to be in the country illegally, or with a criminal record.
“It smacks of bad faith and is cause for serious alarm,” said Snyman. “We’ve also had alarming reports that Zimbabweans going to police stations to get information about the amnesty have been summarily arrested and charged.”
Dr Jo Vearey, a researcher at the Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits, said such crackdowns were “entirely a media exercise feeding popular paranoia”.
“It further stigmatises groups trying to function in the city. There is positive work in Hillbrow – health interventions and social housing interventions, but those aren’t given the airtime.
“These raids aren’t useful in the long run. They’re nothing but a media circus. They create big tension in a small community… and that can trigger other problems.
“A lot of people are trying to reclaim the inner space so it can be somewhere we can all live and work.”
Mthetwa said he was disappointed at the state of Hillbrow. “We want to clean up Hillbrow and we want ordinary citizens to move into the area so they can be close to their place of employment.”
Veary said: “We’ve tried hard in our research on migration in Joburg to break down the stereotype that Hilllbrow is full of illegal activities.”
The perception remained that foreigners gathered there and engaged in drugs or sex work. “There are people who live in Hillbrow and function there like any other place in the city. It’s a residential suburb, home to families and individuals who work in the city.
“If they’re (the police are) targeting what they call hijacked buildings, then there’s quite serious issues. We know foreign migrants are discriminated against in terms of renting in the city … But they run the city, contribute to the city and live in the city.
“These inner city communities are fragile. In a space where building up trust with your community and neighbour isn’t always easy, the impact on these communities is incredibly traumatic.”