1. See Appendix E: 'Lindela Report' (3 March 1997).



2. See Appendix F: 'Report on a Visit to Lindela Repatriation Centre' (28 October 1997).



3. See 'Report on a Visit to Lindela Repatriation Centre' at 7.



4. See 'Report on a Visit to Lindela Repatriation Centre' at 7.



5. See, for example: "Riot on Eve of Detention Camp Probe" In: Mail & Guardian, 12-18 Dec. 1997, p. 10; "Cops nab cleric as an alien" In: Sowetan, 21 Nov. 1997; "Slipped bucks and blind eyes" In: Sunday Times, 19 Oct. 1997, p. 5; and "Stop treating people unjustly" In: Sowetan, 3 December 1997, p. 15.



6. See 'Prohibited Persons': Abuse of Undocumented Migrants, Asylum-Seekers, and Refugees in South Africa Human Rights Watch (New York [etc.]: HRW, March 1998), especially p. 43-64 and 67-109.



7. Launch of Public Awareness Campaign - 'Refugee Rights are Human Rights' Press Release Cape Town Refugee Forum (Cape Town: Cape Town Refugee Forum, 17 December 1998)



8. Some of these deaths were attributed to 'simple' violent crime-related incidents, others allegedly involved xenophobia-related causes.



9. "Horror deaths of 18 illegals," In: The Star, Friday, 23 October 1998. See also "International Manhunt after 18 die," In: Cape Times, 23 October 1998, http://www2.inc.co.za/Archives/1998/9810/28/deapeople2310.html.



10. Both the Human Rights Commission and Lawyers for Human Rights participated in the work of the White paper for Refugee Affairs Task Team appointed by the Minister of Home Affairs.



11. 22^nd Plenary of the South African Human Rights Commission (18 & 19 February 1998).



12. Funding for the services of the last three-mentioned persons as well as for the running costs of the investigative stages of the investigation was provided by the European Union Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa through a grant to the Centre of Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. This financial assistance is gratefully acknowledged. James Schneider worked as a consultant for the Refugee Rights Project of Lawyers for Human Rights from March 1998 to February 1999. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily represent the official view of the European Union Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa.



13. However, in the course of the investigation, a visit was made to Johannesburg Central Prison. Nonetheless, since persons arrested with a view towards deportation were no longer detained there, no interviews were conducted.



14. A copy of the standard interview form is provided in Appendix B along with the supervisor's interviewing guidelines. Student interviewers were provided with a copy of the short list of ten interviewing points.



15. A copy of the language identification form is reproduced in Appendix B.



16. For instance, in one case an individual claiming to be a South African citizen was classified by Home Affairs as a Mozambican and was scheduled to be removed to Mozambique on a Wednesday. The project was able to contact his family who brought his identification document and secured his release prior to his scheduled removal from the country. See infra note 30 and see Leon Ntshingila, infra, interview #142 (22/05/98), Appendix A.



17. This is fully set out in a letter to the Department of Home Affairs and a response from the Department both reprinted as Appendix H.



18. An updated version of this working paper is published as Appendix C.



19. Minutes of that workshop are in Appendix G.



20. As explained more fully supra, two of the interviews were eventually excluded from the quantitative sample for methodological reasons; one interview was voluntarily terminated and the other diverged from our random sampling criteria (ie. the individual 'self-selected').



21. Men and women are detained in separate compounds at the Lindela facility. Proportionally, the number of women detained, as a percentage of the combined total detainee population is very small. Our sample is proportionally over-representative of women.



22. For example, for the month of October 1998 the percentage of Mozambicans accommodated at Lindela was 68.4 percent, indicating a variation of 4.5 percent from the mean since August 1996.



23. It may be significant that the figures provided by the Lindela authorities account only for "illegal immigrants." These statistics apparently include South African citizens detained at Lindela. The practise at Lindela is to issue all detainees with an identity card when they are first brought into the facility. The information included on these identity cards includes the name and the suspected country of origin of the detainee. While some detainees claim South African citizenship, no detainee is recorded as having South African citizenship on these identity cards. Rather their citizenship is recorded as that which the officials presume it to be. Therefore, the overall statistics for country of origin provided by Lindela are likely to be inflated for countries such as Mozambique and Zimbabwe (the countries we found to have been most commonly incorrectly listed as countries of origin for South African citizens).



24. Note that the same statistical anomaly in Lindela's statistics exists in terms of legally resident non-citizens as for South African citizens. It seems that legally resident non-citizens detained at Lindela are incorrectly included in the country of origin breakdown for "illegal aliens".



25. 21.6 percent of our sample thus claimed legal status in South Africa by these two categories. By comparison, Lindela's figures for the period from August 1996 to October 1998 show that 11.7 percent of the persons admitted to the facility were eventually released on account of their lawful status. It may well be the case that legally resident non-citizens are less likely to be released from Lindela than South African citizens.



26. Other law enforcement officials include traffic police officers, railway and harbour officials.



27. Section 53(1) of the Aliens Control Act (96 of 1991) mandates officers of the SAPS to arrest persons prescribed by section 41 of the Act.



28. During our interviews we obtained direct evidence of the release of citizens wrongfully detained at Lindela. We know that at least three of the persons interviewed by us were released on the day of their interview. At least one other person we interviewed was subsequently released as a citizen. This release only occurred after we intervened by contacting his family members who were able to provide identification documents proving his South African citizenship to the Lindela authorities. At the time of our intervention this individual had been prevented from contacting his family and had been scheduled for removal form the country as a Mozambican national. See Leon Ntshingila, infra, interview #142 (22/05/98), Appendix A.



29. Although a number of the non-citizens interviewed by us during the course of our investigation presented to us documentation which established a prima facie legal residency, we found no direct evidence of the release of non-citizens claiming to be legally resident in the country during the course of our investigation.



30. Based on our interviews, at least some, if not the majority, of house or village area searches are carried out on a random basis. See, for example, infra, interviews #12, #99 and #136, Appendix A.



31. Based on our interviews, at least some of 'transit searches' were carried out on a random basis.



32. Both 'pedestrian spot checks' and 'language/appearance checks' involved individuals on foots being apprehended in public spaces. However, we separated these into discreet categories in order to show circumstances of apprehension under which there may have been at least some some minimal, even if arbitrary, criteria used by the apprehending officer to formulate a suspicion that a person was a non-citizen. For example, where one of the sample group was asked 'show me your passport' rather than merely 'show me your ID' we assigned them to category 'language/appearance check' on the basis that there have been a suspicion that the person was a non-citizen based on criteria such as appearance or language spoken.



33. East Bank is an area in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg.



34. Mathole Mthandazo, infra, interview #89 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



35. This is an office of the Department of Home Affairs in Soweto.



36. Nelsa Baloti, infra, interview #6 (07/04/98), Appendix A.



37. Agnes Moleii, infra, interview #119 (15/05/98), Appendix A.



38. Silver Dlamini, interviewed 09/05/98. The original interview notes, recorded on "Standard Form Questionnaire - Friends/Family." The archive is available at Historical Papers, William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand.



39. Bekezela Khumalo, interviewed 09/05/98. The original interview notes, recorded on "Standard Form Questionnaire - Friends/Family" is available at Historical Papers, William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand.



40. See the full archive containing the "Friends/Family" interview forms as well as the "Standard Form Questionnaire - Friends/Family." The archive is available at Historical Papers, William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand.



41. Ngwenya Sidingani, infra, interview #82 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



42. Agnes Moleii, infra, interview #119 (15/05/98), Appendix A.



43. Daniel Motaoa , infra, interview #100 (14/05/98), Appendix A.



44. In order to avoid the potential of bias, our methodology specifically precluded asking those interviewed any questions relating to bribery or corruption. Our interviewers were also specifically trained to ensure that they did not ask any leading questions on this issue. Those who reported incidences of bribery or corruption thus did so on their own initiative. It is therefore significant to note that the figure 74.5 percent does not represent the figure of those who denied having been offered release in exchange for money, it represents the number of those interviewed who did not actively volunteer such information. The Commission notes that there might be a strong disincentive to report incidents of this nature amongst undocumented migrants, who would potentially benefit from the existence of such practises. We also find it relevant to note that many of the reports of corruption were by individuals who reported having insufficient funds to pay for their release. Thus the overall portion of those being apprehended and subsequently released after paying a bribe is likely much higher than our figures suggest.



45. Alfred Phiri, infra, interview #109 (15/05/98), Appendix A.



46. Fred Mugadza, infra, interview #22, (14/04/98), Appendix A.



47. See, for example, statement of Witness Ncube, infra, interview #27 (14/04/98), Appendix A.



48. See, for example, statement of Charles Carlit Sifunda, infra, interview #64 (24/04/98), Appendix A.



49. See, for example, infra, statements of: Ndlovu Nkosinathi, interview #135 (19/05/98); Alex Bento, interview #63 (24/04/98); Simon Jackson, interview #59 (15/04/98); Audrey Mountain, interview #67 (24/04/98); Mduduzi Dlamini interview #97 (08/05/98). A notable exception to this was reported by Phillip Khumalo who, apprehended in Brixton, reported that the SAPS apprehending officers informed him R50 wasn't enough.



50. Daniel Mhlanga, infra, interview #51 (15/04/98), Appendix A.



51. Witness Ncube, infra, interview #27 (14/04/98), Appendix A.



52. Zwane Elias, infra, interview #45 (15/04/98), Appendix A.



53. In these nine individual cases, we took action with respect to the Home Affairs officials at Lindela.



54. As noted in our previous section on methodology, our sample group was under representative of Mozambicans. While refugees may come from any country in the world, the general country conditions in Mozambique at the time this report was authored were such that the number of refugees coming from Mozambique could be considered, at most, to be statistically insignificant. Thus, the proportional skewing of country of origin representivity as between our sample group and the overall Lindela population may have resulted in a statistical over representation of refugees.



55. Passport Control Instruction No. 63 of 1994, Procedures for Handling Asylum-Seekers and Refugees, "When an alien applies for asylum on the grounds that he is a refugee or, if it becomes apparent during the investigation into his residence status that he may be a refugee the following steps must be taken ...[emphasis added]."



56. Elias Tanunyenge , infra, interview #70 (24/4/98), Appendix A.



57. Ibid.



58. Maria Angellica, infra, interview #86 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



59. Reaffirming the UNHCR Executive Committee conclusion [Conclusion No. 6 (1977)] of "the fundamental importance of the principle of non-refoulement ... irrespective of whether or not individuals have been formally recognized as refugees" Guy Goodwin-Gill states: "the principle of non-refoulement ... applies clearly and categorically to refuges ... it also applies to asylum-seekers...." See G Goodwin-Gill The Refugee in International Law 2 ed (1996) 137.



60. Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (adopted 28 July 1951, United Nations; acceded to by South Africa 12 January 1996); Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (adopted 31 January 1967, United Nations; acceded to by South Africa 12 January 1996); 1969 OAU Convention regarding specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa (adopted 10 September 1969, Organisation of African Unity; acceded to by South Africa [date]).



61. In order to avoid the potential of bias, our methodology specifically precluded asking those interviewed whether or not they had been assaulted or suffered physical abuse. Our interviewers were also specifically trained to ensure that they did not ask any leading questions on this issue. Those who reported incidences of assault or ill-treatment thus did so on their own initiative. It is therefore significant to note that the figure 68.5 percent does not represent the figure of those who denied having been assaulted, it represents the number of those interviewed who did not actively volunteer such information on the subject of violence during the apprehension procedure.



62. Moyo Anderson, infra, interview #80 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



63. Iliyasa Sauzande, infra, interview #14 (07/04/98), Appendix A.



64. Nkomo Mlandeni, infra, interview #36 (14/04/98), Appendix A.



65. Aliens Control Act (No. 96 of 1991), section 55(5).



66. Jeremiah Banda, infra, interview #94 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



67. One of the shortcomings of this investigation was the failure to explicitly explore the issue of whether detained persons had been brought before an immigration officer within 48 hours of their apprehension. While the interviews did include a complete narrative account of the circumstances of apprehension and detention, without having explicitly explored the issue, the Commission is unable to make a final finding in this regard.



68. Anston Mpofu, infra, interview #12 (07/04/98), Appendix A.



69. Mazema Mlenga, infra, interview #77 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



70. Jeremiah Banda, infra, interview #94 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



71. Adopted by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 45/158 of 18 December 1990.



72. Retshidisitswe Makakana, infra, interview #66 (24/4/98), Appendix A.



73. Jeremiah Banda, infra, interview #94 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



74. The methodology surrounding this issue was the same as that referred to above under note 15. Thus the overall incidence of bribery and corruption may well be significantly higher than suggested by this statistic. In addition to the methodological reasons for potential under reporting, the Commission notes that where bribery offers the potential of unlawful release for undocumented migrants, there would be a strong disincentive for some detainees to report incidences of corruption.



75. Amos Sithole, infra, interview #91(08/05/98), Appendix A.



76. Bheki Nkosi, infra, interview #43 (15/04/98), Appendix A.



77. Melissa Ncube, infra, interview #134 (19/05/98), Appendix A.



78. Nomsa Khumalo, interviewed 09/05/98. The original interview notes, recorded on "Standard Form Questionnaire - Friends/Family," is available from Historical Papers, William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand.



79. Mike Mpofu interviewed 16/05/98. The original interview notes, recorded on "Standard Form Questionnaire - Friends/Family," is available from Historical Papers, William Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand.



80. Baloi Marks, infra, interview #38 (14/04/98), Appendix A.



81. Professor Makoka, infra, interview #53 (15/04/98), Appendix A.



82. Norman Mateko, infra, interview #151 (22/05/98), Appendix A.



83. Mark Ndlovu, infra, interview #72 (24/4/98), Appendix A.



84. Mahlaba Saritiya, infra, interview #32 (14/04/98), Appendix A.



85. The methodological considerations surrounding this issue are the same as those noted above under note [above].



86. Lawrence Ncube, infra, interview #30 (14/04/98), Appendix A.



87. Kemvet Vella, infra, interview #23 (14/04/98), Appendix A.



88. Mnube Never, infra, interview #25 (14/04/98), Appendix A.



89. Alex Bento, infra, interview #63 (24/04/98), Appendix A.



90. Ie. 'security guards'.



91. Mathole Mthandazo, infra, interview #89 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



92. Libisi Donald, infra, interview #92 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



93. Nelson Mthembu, infra, interview #93 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



94. Tito Beneditto, infra, interview #98 (14/05/98), Appendix A.



95. Caroline Ndlovu, infra, interview #88 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



96. Daniel "Absalom", infra, interview #105 (14/05/98), Appendix A.



97. Alex Bento, infra, interview #63 (24/04/98), Appendix A.



98. Lebohang Senokoane, infra, interview #99 (14/05/98), Appendix A.



99. Mathole Mthandazo, infra, interview #89 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



100. Ben Ncube, infra, interview #79 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



101. Caroline Ndlovu, infra, interview #88 (08/05/98), Appendix A.



102. Sibedi Kabai, infra, interview #101 (14/05/98), Appendix A.



103. Hlephuthi Hlephuti, infra, interview #107 (14/05/98), Appendix A.



104. See Communications from Maj Gen A Bestbier to South African Human Rights Commission, dated 11 February 1999.



105. According to Maj Gen Bestbier,, the SANDF records list S Robai and D Tihepudi among those arrested, names which might be considered similar to those of the two SAHRC interviewees.



106. Kabelo Kalele, infra, interview #106 (14/05/98), Appendix A.



107. Lebohang Senokoane, infra, interview #99 (14/05/98), Appendix A.



108. Telephone interview, 24 November 1998, Temporary Residence Section (Pretoria). We were informed that a Lesotho national must apply at the South African High Commission in Maseru for a visa. The application is forwarded to the head office of Home Affairs, in Pretoria, and the decision to grant or not grant a visa is then returned to the applicant via the Maseru High Commission.



109. Maxwell Mukucha, infra, interview #134 (22/05/98), Appendix A.