There are still questions over the treatment of illegal immigrants at Lindela camp, writes Andy Duffy
Guards at the private deportation camp Lindela had to use batons and dogs to quell a near-riot last week after hundreds of inmates massed to storm the gate.
Management at Lindela, which is linked to high-profile African National Congress women, says no one was seriously hurt in the fray. But four guards face disciplinary action, following accusations that they later beat inmates.
The stand-off came the day before an influential American human rights group, Human Rights Watch, visited Lindela for a report on South Africa’s treatment of illegal aliens. Inmates told them Lindela staff often beat them and take bribes. “I am scared to report them because they beat you,” one inmate claimed.
The centre, on the far West Rand, operates under contract with the Department of Home Affairs as a central holding point for illegal aliens before they are shipped home. Lindela has processed more than 80 000 deportees, most from Mozambique, since it opened in August 1996.
Lindela currently holds 1 100 inmates, enclosed behind 5 000V electrified fences. Many have been there for months, partly because their countries are slow to take them back. The train service to Mozambique has also been suspended for the holiday season, so the centre is using buses to ferry deportees home.
Last week’s incident was sparked when 600 Mozambicans tried to charge the gates, apparently because they were impatient to go home. Manager Daniel Mansell says the inmates hurled bottles and other missiles at the 10 guards, who responded with batons and dogs. At least one person was treated for baton strikes.
Hours later, several guards allegedly beat the ringleaders. Police were called in after inmates identified four of their alleged attackers in a line-up. Mansell says the inmates, desperate to get home, dropped the charges, but Lindela is still investigating the four.
Mansell says inmates have “apologised profusely” but warned him “they can’t control the ringleaders”. He adds there are no plans to call in police reinforcements, and that the camp remains calm.
The day after the incident, however, inmates were seething – just as a representative from Human Rights Watch arrived to interview them. The organisation does not want to publicise its findings until the allegations have been checked. Its researcher, however, spoke to several inmates, including Mozambicans, Zimbabweans, Angolans and South Africans. Their stories were very similar.
“The problem is that we are not treated like human beings,” says one Zimbabwean. “Yesterday guys were beaten severely. One guy was 13 years old. He was beaten severely with a baton stick.”
A Mozambican inmate adds: “Yesterday they went cell by cell beating people. They woke us at night, beating us.”
Another inmate, who says he is South African, says: “If you complain, they beat you and tell you are complaining to white people. I tried to solve my problem. I approached a white man who took me to the home affairs [representatives at Lindela]. After the white man left they hit me. They asked me how much had I got.”
Inmates also spoke about having valid immigration papers torn up, and having to pay officials up to R200 to buy their way out. “Even if you have your papers on you they want a bribe,” the Zimbabwean says. “Everybody knows that to get out you need to bribe. So many guys have gotten out from here by paying money.”
Mansell says many of the allegations relate to the inmates’ treatment before they arrive at Lindela. He confirms that several South Africans have been held at the centre, and also foreigners who are actually permitted to be in South Africa. But he says it is police and home affairs who are responsible for preventing such mistakes.
These are not the first such allegations of beatings and maltreatment levelled at Lindela. The Human Rights Commission investigated similar claims earlier this year, but found no evidence.
The claims have nevertheless been acutely embarrassing to the ANC women linked to the centre, such as deputy speaker Baleka Mbete-Kgositsile, deputy home affairs minister Lindi Sisulu and Adelaide Tambo, who set up Dyambu, the trust that owns Lindela. Sisulu severed her ties with Dyembu as soon as she discovered its involvement in Lindela.
Trustee Hilda Ndude says she asked Lindela management three weeks ago to investigate the claims. She adds: “These people will try telling all sorts of stories that they must be freed.”
But the timing of the latest incident could not have been worse for Lindela. Its contract expires at the end of this month, and Home Affairs has warned it does not have the cash to renew it. Management has been rallying support for the centre, arguing that it is cheaper than holding illegal aliens in prison – R19,95 a day plus VAT, compared to nearly R72 – and that the conditions are far better.
Lindela’s allies include Gauteng Safety and Security MEC Jesse Duarte, who has told Home Affairs it has a moral responsibility to keep the centre open. Lawyers for Human Rights refugee project co-ordinator, Jeff Handmaker, says: “The alternative for housing illegal aliens, in prison, would be far worse, piling further pressure on the hugely overburdened prison service.”
Home affairs has approached the Department of Correctional Services about sharing costs, so far without success.