Container kitchen at a Bed factory shop at Spartan in Kempton Park, 19 September 2022, during the raid to the property by the Police and customs raid where it was alleged Malawians are being kept illegally.Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Law enforcement agencies raided a warehouse in Spartan, Kempton Park, yesterday, hoping to discover people being held against their will.
A joint operation between home affairs, the department of labour, customs, immigration, Sars and Ekurhuleni Metro Police saw a raid on the morgue-like warehouse yield little, but a lot at the same time.
Ekurhuleni councillor Simon Lapping led a delegation of various municipal departments. There are a host of allegations against the owners of the two companies on the property.
These include importing illegal labour from neighbouring countries and keeping the workers in poor conditions on the grounds in containers and illegally erected structures.
It’s alleged that the workers remain confined to the site. Inside the warehouse were thousands of mattresses and bed parts.
Site general manager Mohammed Ismael said the giant warehouse only supplies two small retail outlets in downtown Kempton Park. Lapping questioned this, as did Sars.
An employee of the Chinese-owned warehouse whispered that they sell very little from the premises, if at all. Another member of staff became aggressive with officials as questioning began.
The bed business, Green Africa Furniture, shares its office with a security company, Protect Risk Group, whose heavily armed guards supervised every move that the authorities made.
Some carried semi-automatic weapons. There’s also a storeroom where shotguns and other munitions are stored, as well as riot gear.
Ismael denied all allegations during the raid. He was not aware of any illegal immigrants working at or living on site.
An inspection of the stacked-up containers and concrete barracks revealed a kitchen, ablution facilities and what seemed similar to padlocked prison cells. Some were open.
In the office next door, a man known as Mr Meyer, who runs the security operation, said to The Citizen that he did not know where the labourers were taken.
According to employees of adjacent businesses, the site was cleared of alleged illegal immigrants last Friday.
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