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By Celani Sikhakhane
- eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba confirmed that just one person was arrested after authorities checked nearly 460 foreign nationals at the Diakonia Centre in Durban.
- Home Affairs KwaZulu-Natal manager Cyril Mncwabe said of the two without valid documents, one had a rejected permit application and the other carried a fraudulent permit.
Of 459 foreign nationals processed in Durban on Thursday, only two were found without valid documentation. One had a rejected permit application. The other held a fraudulent permit. Both were arrested.
The 457 others were in the country legally.
The operation unfolded outside the Diakonia Centre in the Durban CBD, where more than 500 migrants had gathered earlier in the week after allegedly being forced from their homes by anti-immigration groups. They had gone to the Durban Central police station seeking protection, saying police had failed to keep them safe.
Authorities arrived with buses to take the group to the Department of Home Affairs offices in Umbilo for verification. Some complied. Others ran. When they saw the buses, several migrants fled through nearby streets and alleys. Police gave chase. Rubber bullets and stun grenades were used to disperse the crowd.
Members of the March and March movement and MK Party supporters gathered outside the centre throughout the operation, singing anti-immigration songs. Some residents joined in chasing those who tried to evade the process and handed them over to police.
eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba, who remained on site throughout, said those verified as legal residents must be accepted back into their communities.
“We must accept them as people who are in the country lawfully,” Xaba said.
The Congolese Solidarity Campaign, which represents many in the group, had accused the Department of Home Affairs of leaving members undocumented through delays and errors in the permit renewal process. Home Affairs committed at a meeting earlier in the week to assist those whose permits had expired but who could show proof of a renewal application.
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) confirmed that verification operations would continue. Since January, police have arrested 29,731 undocumented foreign nationals in operations across the country. In the previous financial year, 76,588 were arrested and 59,814 were deported.
Pictured above: Congolese nationals met with police and Home Affairs officials in Durban as anti-immigrant protests intensified.
Image source: KZNSAPS
