Sent to die Shocking fate of suspects in alleged rendition deal with Zim cops

Hawks and SA police arresting suspects and sending them over the border to be murdered.

SENIOR officials in the Hawks and SA Police Service are conducting illegal "renditions" with their Zimbabwean counterparts - by arresting "suspects" and illegally sending them across the Beit Bridge border to be murdered.

Explosive intelligence reports - listing at least three deaths - are understood to be in the possession of Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa.

They detail a "renditions" operation led by officers reporting to Hawks boss Anwa Dramat and Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mzwandile Petros.

Rendition is the illegal kidnapping and transfer of a prisoner from one country to another.

Dramat yesterday confirmed that at least three individuals identified by the Sunday Times as having been "renditioned" to a grisly fate in Zimbabwe were, in fact, taken across the border by the police. But he claimed they were properly "deported". He was unable to provide any documentary proof of this.

In just one case, the Sunday Times has evidence that Zimbabwean Witness Ndeya, 26, who was suspected of shooting a policeman in that country, was "renditioned" by the Hawks and then murdered, apparently by Zimbabwean police.

The occurrence book at Soweto's Orlando police station confirmed that Ndeya was arrested, along with his nephew and two friends, for being "illegal immigrants" on November 5 last year.

But, unlike other illegal immigrants sent to Lindela detention centre, police records show the four men were discharged at 11.55am on November 8 and driven to the Beit Bridge border by police.

In a sworn statement by one of the four, Shepard Tshuma, he named General Shadrack Sibiya and Captain Cowboy Maluleke as having arrested them.

The Zimbabwean police met their South African counterparts at the border and, according to Tshuma, "told us that we are under arrest for the murder of police officers".

Tshuma and Ndeya were detained at a Bulawayo police station before the former was released a week later.

A few days later, Tshuma said, the Zimbabwean police told the family "that Witness Ndeya was killed by other police officers".

Ndeya's death certificate confirmed he died at "Hippo Valley Farm" in Bulawayo on November 20, with the cause of death listed as "multiple gunshot wounds".

Tshuma, along with the other two surviving "renditioned" suspects, are now hiding in South Africa, after allegedly being threatened by Maluleke.

This week, the Sunday Times met the three at a secret location. They said they feared being "deported and murdered".

Tshuma said: "As soon as we were handed over to the policeman, they said they are going to kill us for murdering a policeman [and] they'll start by chopping off our hands and feet."

The Sunday Times is aware of several other individuals who have also been renditioned to Zimbabwe.

In another case, intelligence reports say Pritchard Tshuma, 24, was arrested in November last year for "murder and robbery" in Alexandra in Johannesburg and "deported" to Zimbabwe. He has since gone missing.

Another man, Gordon Dube, was arrested in Diepsloot and "renditioned" to Zimbabwe, where, sources say, he was killed by police after first having his hands chopped off.

Dramat confirmed that Ndeya, Dube and Tshuma were "all arrested as illegal immigrants" and were "deported ".

But he denied these were illegal renditions, saying everyone "followed protocol", whereby deported individuals must be handed over to an immigration official from Zimbabwe.

His spokesman, McIntosh Polela, said: "At no point did we simply hand over people to authorities without [an immigration official present], because that would constitute rendition."

This, however, is contradicted by Tshuma's statement. He said: "We passed the SA side of the border, and we parked the car inside ... I saw five African males jumping out from their cars, and they introduced themselves as Zimbabwe police officers ... [who] told us we were under arrest for [the] murder of police officers."

Such behaviour is a contravention of the Immigration Act and flouts a "special dispensation" by the government at the time that prevented Zimbabweans from being deported from South Africa.

The high court also recently ruled that authorities "acted unlawfully" in extraditing someone without guaranteeing they would not face death.

Dramat said: "We are not aware of what happened to them in Zimbabwe. It is not our mandate to do follow-ups on deported [people]."

Zimbabwean police spokes-man Oliver Mandipaka said he "can't confirm or deny that Ndeya was arrested or killed".

General Sibiya, who agreed to meet the Sunday Times, but later cancelled, said: "I don't know [Ndeya, and] I'm not in a position to sanction this."

General Petros said he "did not sanction, neither did [I have] knowledge of any illegal renditions".

Captain Maluleke refused to answer questions.

- Timeslive

Foreigners live in fear in Alex

Residents of Alexandra's RDP houses have reacted to menacing calls for foreigners to vacate RDP houses in the township within seven days with a mixture of fear and nonchalance.

Last weekend groups of residents, some co-ordinating their movements by phone, moved around extensions seven, nine and 10 handing out ­flyers and putting up posters warning foreigners living in RDP houses to vacate within seven days or risk "being pushed like animals or aliens".

"The resident [sic] of Alexandra doesn't want to revoke [presumably "revive" is meant] xenophobia, unless you give the cause to do so," the flyers read.

Anecdotes of exactly when the leaflets surfaced differ. Some residents say youths distributing them last Friday also barricaded streets with burning tyres in extension 10, whereas others in the same section say they were being shoved under doors last Saturday evening.

It is not clear how organised the groups are, although some reports have mentioned that a group calling itself the Alexandra Bonafides has claimed responsibility.

The crude pamphlets specifically mention foreigners who own RDP houses as the targets. But a Zimbabwean resident told the Mail & Guardian that every foreigner appeared to be under fire, whether living in a house or renting an adjoining room. Several single-storey houses in the Far East Bank were flanked by smaller structures occupied by tenants.

The man, a resident of extension seven who asked not to be named, said he was given a flyer on Sunday evening before being coerced into an interrogation about his living situation. "I told them to speak to my landlord, as I am just a tenant here," he said.

He told the M&G that he was playing it by ear, as he had done in 2008 when xenophobic violence engulfed the township. "There's no cause for panic just yet, but what I'm afraid of is the possibility of physical violence."

Census officials
Other residents said they were unsure how to regard the census officials, as they felt some people could use the census as a way of sourcing information about where foreigners are located.

"We aren't against the census," said Tswaleka Mathebula. "We just think that some people could hijack the process. Some people came here asking my daughter questions. When she told them her surname was Mathebula, they said: 'Ja, we know you Mathebulas and Chikanes, you're all from Maputo.'

"When I heard this, I came out and told them not to talk that shit here. We are from Giyani [in Limpopo province] and I've got all the papers for this house and every other document they could need. I didn't even ask for this house, I got it because they were building a bridge across Stjwetla [an informal settlement in Alexandra], where I lived for 10 years."

Mathebula, who lives in an RDP house with her three children and her husband, has two tenants in her yard, one from Zimbabwe.

She said that although some people had acquired their houses corruptly, the right approach was to take such grievances to the department of housing or the Alexandra Renewal Project. "They mustn't come and tell us that every Shangaan-speaking person is from Maputo."

Although most people who own RDP houses are South Africans, the housing policy does not preclude people with permanent-residence from qualifying for state housing.

The Gauteng minister for local government and housing, Humphrey Mmemezi, has called for people to provide evidence of the corruption they believe is running rampant in the Alexandra Renewal Project, which built the RDP houses.

"If we had evidence of that we would have prosecuted," said the minister's spokesperson, Motsamai Motlhaolwa. "The minister has been on record several times saying that people must come to us with evidence. Nobody must be forced to pay for an RDP house as they are for the poor."

A South African man who rents to a Malawian tenant, Phetole Rakgwahla, said he would not protect his tenant if protests turn violent.

"Our brothers don't have houses and we don't know how foreigners got them," Rakgwahla said, pointing to an RDP house. "The allocation process has gone completely haywire. We can live peacefully with one another but they mustn't think they are here forever."

Although the township was calm on Thursday, a community meeting was planned at the corner of 2nd Avenue and John Brand Street.

-- Kwanele Sosibo is the Eugene Saldanha fellow in social justice and inequality reporting supported by CAF Africa

- M&G

Cele’s xenophobic outburst

National police commissioner Bheki Cele was forced to retract comments regarded as xenophobic at a breakfast meeting of officers in Khayelitsha on Thursday. But later in the day, he was back to his explosive self, calling on police to confront violent criminals with all the force at their disposal.

Unveiling the police’s holiday season safety plan for the Western Cape, Cele claimed in an address to officers that “people who jump borders” were flooding into South Africa, competing for housing and resources, and squeezing out locals in the process.

Cele said this was fuelling xenophobic violence.

“We can’t have a country that’s run by people who jump the borders,” Cele said.

Cele said Somalis had pushed out locals from business and rental property in Bellville and many other areas.

“If you rent a flat there, they come and rent you out. At the spazas, they’re better stocked than Shoprite.

“Our people have been economically displaced; all these spaza shops (in the townships) are not run by locals.”

While Cele was speaking, a member of the audience shouted: “They’re not banking!”

To this Cele asked: “One has to ask, what happens to the money?”

He said the situation, especially in townships was untenable, and would eventually reach a breaking point.

“One day, our people will revolt, and we’ve appealed to DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) to do something about it,” Cele said.

But later, pressed about his statement by a member of Khayelitsha’s Community Police Forum (CPF), Cele retracted and said there was no confusion.

“We can’t be ambiguous abut crime … if you assault a Pakistani, a Burundian, a Rwandan, that’s crime. Crime is crime, it has no face or nationality,” Cele said.

Khayelitsha has had a lull in attacks on Somali-owned spaza shops after the intervention of the local police and community structures after a spate of violence which was believed to be fuelled by rivalries with local competitors.

Police, Cele said, were spending too much of their resources on service delivery protests, which had an impact on crime fighting.

Addressing a question about police reservists, Cele said there could be no expectation that reservists would enjoy preference when applying to join the service.

“If you want to join the police, join the queue,” Cele said.

One issue police would not compromise was the requirement that all new recruits were without criminal records.

On CPFs, Cele said their responsibility was being taken away from the police administration by the ministry.

He said some CPF heads had become police apparatchiks, who were not aware of their statutory role and instead preferred to be indunas.

“They must not go to the station and tell police what to do,” said Cele.

In the Harare section of Khayelitsha, as he went on a walkabout, shaking hands and talking to children, some residents excitedly called out:”Nanku Bheki Cele!” (Here’s Bheki Cele).

After seeing Cele, Sibongeseni Mntuyedwa, 21, said Harare was not safe, especially the Endlovini informal settlement, which bordered the Wolfgat Nature Reserve.

“There are too many criminals here,” Mntuyedwa said.

“People can’t walk in the mornings to work as they face being attacked and robbed by criminals, many of whom don’t live in the area,” Mntuyedwa said.

Later, when he opened the new premises of the Milnerton police station, Cele told more than 500 people that, although murders had dropped significantly countrywide, he was taking no joy in the statistics.

Cele said the 15 000 people murdered in South Africa last year, although down from the 18 000 in 2009, was still too many.

Police officers were also being targeted by criminals, and for that Cele told officers they could not engage violent criminals peacefully.

“Then they have a confrontation with the police, their peers in this (signalling a gun).

“Then they complain about (their) human rights.

“Don’t misinterpret me, I fought for human rights. I did not fight for criminal rights.

“I never said ‘shoot to kill’, but I said when criminals go for cash heists and bank robberies, they prepare … they take their best weapons, they don’t go with broomsticks and feather dusters.

“We are not going to be cowered down by criminals.

“Police, when you go there, get ready, take your best machinery. We give teachers chalk, we give doctors stethoscopes. Criminals should be scared of the police,” Cele said.

But he reiterated that the police’s primary objective was not to shoot criminals, but to arrest them. - Cape Times

Home affairs resumes Zim deportations

The moratorium on deporting illegal Zimbabweans has quietly been lifted by the department of home affairs, leading to an outcry from refugee rights groups.

No deportations of Zimbabweans have taken place for almost two years while home affairs have been running the Zimbabwe documentation project (ZDP) to offer legal status to Zimbabweans living illegally in South Africa.

Organisations working with migrants are angry that the department has not been open about a memo that was circulated among the police, army and refugee offices on September 27 explaining that deportations would resume.

The Mail & Guardian has a copy of the directive issued by director general of home affairs Mkuseli Apleni to the defence force, police offices and department of home affairs branches. The directive says "it aims to give clarity on Zimbabwean nationals who are not presently detected", and outlines the procedure that officers must follow when deporting immigrants.

Home affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa would not answer questions about the directive but did issue a press release this week saying that illegal immigrants could not claim protection under South Africa's laws. "No country in the world will allow illegal immigration within its borders. This is international practice," he said.

Mamoepa told the M&G that the government had shown goodwill in attempting to regularise the status of Zimbabweans in the country and had given them a window of opportunity to hand in their fraudulent documents in return for amnesty.

People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty's Braam Hanekom said the "deportations are in direct contradiction to the recent undertakings made by home affairs director general, Mr Apleni, to Parliament not to embark on deportations of Zimbabweans until the Zimbabwean documentation project has been completed, appeals reviewed and the minister has approved deportations."

But the ZDP project is not complete. According to a research report compiled by the African Centre for Migration Studies (ACMS), "as of October 4, 145 000 permits were dispatched of 275 762 that were received, though processing was still taking place".

Creating problems
Human Rights Watch estimates that there are 1.5-million Zimbabweans in the country, although fewer than 300 000 applied for legal paperwork during the amnesty period.

ACMS senior researcher Roni Amit said the resumption of deportations was "going to create problems". She said refugee rights groups were angry because home affairs had not been transparent about resuming deportations and that media reports this week had included denials of such a directive.

Amit said police who arrested Zimbabweans and sent them to deportation centres generally did not verify whether the individuals were still waiting for permits.

The directive instructs officers to check if "the suspect has a pending application" for legal status and to conduct an interview with the suspect. But Amit was not convinced by this, saying: "The verification system does not work."

Amit said public health groups had not been given advance warning that deportations were about to start.

ACMS researcher Jo Vearey said Zimbabweans on chronic medicine for tuberculosis or HIV/Aids needed to continue taking their medication after deportation or run the risk of developing resistance to the diseases or catching multidrug resistant TB.

"Detention facilities are the perfect space for onward transmission of TB, and this poses a health risk to police officers and public immigration officials."

- M&G