LIMPOPO – OVERCROWDING in Musina police cells has become a problem of late, with some 35 foreign nationals packed in one of the cells.
The foreign nationals were arrested at the end of May during the police and South African National Defence Force’s raid, “Operation Fiela – Reclaim”, which aimed to rid the country of illegal weapons, drug dens, prostitution rings and other illegal activities.
Operation Fiela was launched in April.
One of the Egyptians in police custody, who spoke to CV on condition of anonymity, said one of them was assaulted by the police just a few days after their arrest, but nobody knows why. “The police no longer beat us and some of my cellmates acquired the service of lawyers,” he said.
Wayne Ncube of Lawyers for Human Rights, said government should not send a person back to a place where they might suffer persecution or torture.
He said the rights of migrants arrested during Operation Fiela Reclaim continued to be violated, ignoring the country’s laws and court orders.
Addressing the inter-ministerial committee on migration recently, Jeff Radebe, minister in the presidency, denied that Operation Fiela – Reclaim targeted foreign nationals.
He said the operation was a crime-fighting mission and that of the 3 914 arrests made, 1 650 were undocumented foreign nationals, with more South Africans detained than foreign nationals.
“Our law enforcement has yielded positive results. Operation Fiela is aimed at ridding South Africa of illegal weapons, drug dens and prostitution rings. We intend to sweep our public places clean so that people can be and feel safe,” said Radebe.
Provincial police spokesperson, Col Ronél Otto, said they were investigating the allegations of overcrowding in the Musina police cells.
Otto said they would work together with the department of home affairs and immigration officers in their investigation to see how best they can solve the problem.
