Foreigners are regularly detained at the Lindela Detention Centre outside Krugersdorp for longer than the permitted 30 days, the South African Human Rights Commission hearings on xenophobia heard on Tuesday.
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh of Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said non-compliance with the Immigration Act seems to be the norm at the centre, run by a private company on behalf of the Department of Home Affairs.
The three-day hearing is being jointly chaired by the commission and six members of Parliament’s portfolio committee on foreign affairs. The findings will guide what action Parliament will take on the problem of xenophobia.
Last month, 176 people were detained at Lindela for longer than 30 days — with an average stay of 39 days.
She said South Africa is not living up to its legal obligations in terms of refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.
Ramjathan-Keogh further submitted that 25 bodies of foreigners who died after arrest are still lying in the mortuary at Leratong hospital, near the centre which referred them.
She also submitted that the group investigated 16 deaths at the centre last year, which Lindela attributed to pre-existing conditions, such as HIV/Aids.
The LHR found many of the deaths due to meningitis and pneumonia.
Ramjathan-Keogh said there does not appear to be sufficient attempts to trace families, and the process is hampered by a tendency for people to give false names when they are arrested.
At the Beitbridge border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe, people are regularly detained for between one hour and three days under a tree surrounded by a fence. Men, women and children are held together and there are no toilet facilities.
She said 1 000 Zimbabweans were deported during the three days she was in the area in September.
Ramjathan-Keogh also submitted that airlines employ private security officials to detain and deport people who arrive in the country without the necessary paperwork, to avoid paying penalties.
These people are held in windowless offices with no furniture, water or toilets.
She lauded a recent Pretoria High Court ruling that in future, children must be treated under the Child Care Act with access to all the relevant services, whether they are South African or not.
Previously, children were treated as adults and deported.
She said the government has all the necessary legislation in place but is not living up to its own laws. — Sapa