Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
lindela repatriation centrelatest news & developments
Abandoned mines such as Kleinzee, Nuttabooi, Bontekoe and Oubeep were targeted during the operation. About 300 alleged illegal miners were found digging at Nuttabooi (above). (Photo: David Harrison)

Undocumented people arrested at abandoned Northern Cape mines to be repatriated

The 90 detainees are among 110 people held by police at abandoned mining sites in the Namakwa district.

Persecuted: Officers remove refugees camping outside the United Nations Council for Refugees’ office in Cape Town in October 2019. (AFP)

ConCourt clarifies act for asylum seekers

The apex court has reversed amendments to the act that made it difficult for refugees to apply for asylum while making it easy for Home Affairs officials to unjustly detain and…

Motsoaledi report card is ‘way off the mark’

The department of home affairs’ media manager writes a response to the M&G’s report card on his boss

Lindela ownership is up in the air (Photo Archive)

Lindela ownership is up in the air

The government has the right of first refusal to purchase the detention centre, and two departments are considering doing so

Can policing deliver justice in South Africa? The short answer to that question has been, decidedly, no.(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

It’s time to talk prison abolition in South Africa

Can policing deliver justice in South Africa? For the vast majority of the country’s history, the answer has been no

José Malumbu has been mourning his son’s death for over a decade. (Wikus de Wet)

‘The family needs to see Sino’s bones, so we can be released from this pain’

When this toddler died at Leratong Hospital, his body disappeared. Here’s what happened when his parents went back there more than a decade later.

This is how a SA toddler died at the #Bosasa-run Lindela

Find out what you need to know about Bosasa’s alleged corruption in just minutes with our Joan van Dyk.

Women across the country’s nine provinces joined the #TheTotalShutdownMarch to protest the alarming rates of gender-based violence in South Africa. (David Harrison/M&G)

Does South Africa need a Human Rights Commission?

History repeats as old health emergencies emerge anew. Is the health ombud the person to lead fights the Human Rights Commission started?

Desperate Malawians flock to SA

Malawian immigrants come in the hope of finding jobs – but if they don’t have the proper papers, they face arrest, detention and repatriation.

Migrants at Lindela repatriation centre.

Limbo in Lindela awaits ‘Operation Fiela’ migrants

Home affairs has been left to figure out what to do with the hundreds of foreign nationals arrested in last week’s crackdown on illegal migrants.

Three weeks ago the M&G reported that 25 Nigerians were shot at with rubber bullets and beaten by 10 security guards because they had allegedly been on a two-week hunger strike.

SAHRC invited to set up shop in Lindela

Following numerous reports of abuse, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has asked the organisation to establish an office at the centre.

For years

HRC probes dark heart of Lindela

Reports of violations at the repatriation centre for detained illegal immigrants have grabbed the attention of human rights organisations.

Waiting for change at Lindela

The Human Rights Commission may succeed in improving conditions at the repatriation centre where illegal immigrants are held pending deportation.

Those who visit loved ones at Lindela face lengthy security checks and questioning.

Scaling Lindela’s security barrier

The M&G went undercover at the Lindela Repatriation Centre for illegal immigrants to see if some of the detainees would share their grievances.

Jean Kufil Lukila

Hunger strikers: ‘They shot us in the head at Lindela’

Foreign detainees being held at Lindela Repatriation Centre say guards got violent to end their passive protest against conditions in the facility.

Detainees at Lindela call out to security guards to listen to their problems.

Money bucks the corrupt system at Lindela

The paper that really counts is that in your wallet, say former inmates of the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp.

Ilegal immigrants are transported from the Lindela Repatriation Centre to Zimbabwe.

NGO demands answers from home affairs for court violations

Lawyers for Human Rights says home affairs officials should be held personally responsible for the department’s failure to implement court orders.

Refugees leave Klerksoord, metro shuts camp

Refugees at the Klerksoord camp in Akasia, north of Pretoria, started to leave the camp on Monday afternoon.

Refugees detained to determine status

Two hundred foreign nationals who had a traffic-violations case against them withdrawn have been detained at the Lindela repatriation centre.

Out in the cold (once again)

Heavy-handed tactics and poor communication with refugees have led to the latest crisis.