VIDEO: Migrants arrested in Joburg CBD raids to appear in court
Foreign business owners are gathered outside the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court in solidarity with those who were arrested last week.
Foreign business people outside Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court in solidarity to those who were arrested during the raids, 12 August 2019. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
More than 560 “undocumented foreign nationals” were arrested on Wednesday last week after a second police raid in the Johannesburg CBD. Those who were arrested are expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Picture: Nigel Sibanda
The raid came less than a week after police officers were chased out of the area by shop owners after they tried to confiscate counterfeit goods.
Police vehicles were pelted with stones and officers were forced to flee from the scene. Three police vehicles were damaged.
The raids led to several building and road closures as 1,500 police officers searched for counterfeit goods and illegal items.
A large number of counterfeit goods, including clothing and sneakers from various buildings, as well as a number of unlicensed firearms, were confiscated.
The African Diaspora Forum said it would assist those who they said were unlawfully arrested.
Chairperson Vusumuzi Sibanda said that the forum was told that migrants were made to sign a paper stating that they attacked police and that despite many of them being in possession of identity documentation, they were still arrested for not allegedly having documentation on them.
(Compiled by Nica Schreuder)
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