Johannesburg - They came in shouting “passports, passports, give me your passports”.
Army vehicles lined the streets of Thembelihle as police officers armed with AK47s conducted search operations. A group of men sat on the floor, some in their sleepwear, others with cable ties around their wrists.
When then search was over, 60 people had been arrested, mainly a number of foreigners found in possession of fake passports.
Raids in Thembelihle began at 2am on Thursday, with some residents unhappy about the police’s actions. One woman said she was sleeping when her door was knocked down at 3am.
“They came in shouting ‘passports, passports, give me your passports’. I have small children, they were frightened,” she said.
Another resident said the army and police raided her home at 4.30am and arrested her husband “for no reason”. “We’re South Africans so I don’t understand why they did this.”
One man who identified himself only as Solly said he watched as police and army vehicles drove into Thembelihle early this morning.
“They were shouting and screaming, going into all the houses. The soldiers were surrounding the homes too. It was scary. I think this will carry on for at least another two days.”
A veld at the entrance of the informal settlement was used for police to question some of the foreigners who were suspected of being illegal immigrants.
A number of foreigners who had been arrested were taken in because they were in possession of fake passports.
Gauteng police spokesman Kay Makhubela said
: “There have been a lot of house robberies and murders in Lenasia which have been linked to criminals operating from Thembelihle.”
He said illegal drugs were also confiscated.
The Star