Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula denied this week that the government has a policy of xenophobia, but acknowledged that police action was often a problem.
She also denied that inmates of Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp were ever tortured to death.
“Deaths have occurred, but they died because of illnesses,” said Mapisa-Nqakula, in a submission to public hearings on xenophobia hosted by the South African Human Rights Commission. “I have given instructions that I want a full report if a death occurs as a result of torture.”
She said sick immigrants are picked up by police and later die while at the centre and that these immigrants needed to be taken to hospital instead of being kept there.
Lindela is regulated by the Department of Home Affairs but is owned and operated by a private company, Bosasa Management Services.
Responding to allegations that the South African Police Service picks up all foreigners, regardless of their documentation, and raids hostels looking for immigrants, she said: “I don’t want to be defensive … the police’s attitude is a problem.” But she added that illegal immigrants must apply for the necessary permits and cannot undermine the law of the country or they will be arrested and deported.
Media reports this week focused on a Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) report, which found that deportation of illegal foreigners has had little effect in discouraging clandestine migration; it is ineffective in establishing order and distracts police from more fundamental sources of crime.
LHR’s Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh said the government had all the necessary legislation to uphold the human rights of foreigners, but in practice this legislation is not being complied with.
She said Lindela continues to detain asylum seekers, refugees and other documented migrants. From January to August 2004 LHR secured the release from detention of 265 asylum seekers and other legal migrants.
The minister acknowledged backlogs with regard to asylum-seeker status and said a new data system has been installed in Lindela to verify status.
Ramjathan-Keogh noted that the department pays Bosasa per detainee per day, which creates an incentive to detain people picked up without an identity document. She said from February 2001 to January 2002, 1 674 people had been unlawfully detained at Lindela for longer than 30 days without judicial consent. She also submitted evidence of widespread corruption and the appalling conditions in which these foreigners are held.
Mapisa-Nqakula said that Lindela should receive the highest scrutiny from all sectors.
“I invite all NGOs, clergy, media and the Human Rights Commission to feel free to go there.”
She said all illegal immigrants detained in Lindela are human beings and have to be treated as such. “The department will investigate the allegations contained in the submissions and report to me.”
The business behind Lindela
Lindela is a privately-owned and operated detention facility for migrants awaiting deportation. The Department of Home Affairs claims to have officials on the premises 24 hours a day to monitor conditions.
It was opened on August 9 1996 and a one-year tender for Lindela was awarded to Meritum Hostels by the State Tender Board.
An application to change the name from Meritum to Dyambu Operations was made in December 1996. Lindela hit the headlines after it was alleged that African National Congress bigwigs benefited from the tender.
In 1998 a new tender for a three-year contract was approved and implemented. The 1998 tender was awarded to Dyambu Operations, which changed its brand identity to Bosasa Management Services, registered on September 15 1999 and based in Krugersdorp.
The Department of Home Affairs pays Bosasa Management Services R50 a day per detainee for food and shelter — less than the amount paid per person in the prisons system.
Repatriation cost the country R32-million in 2002. — Lloyd Gedye