Many arrested during marches were undocumented foreigners, says top cop

More than 900 people were arrested during anti-illegal immigration marches on Tuesday, the majority of those being undocumented foreigners, according to deputy police commissioner Lt-Gen Tebello Mosikili on Wednesday.

She said there were 120 anti-illegal immigration marches held across the country. Law enforcement dealt with more than 300 crowd management incidents and made more than 900 arrests linked to the demonstrations.

“The majority of those arrested were undocumented foreign nationals, while others were arrested for offences including looting, public violence, business robbery, harbouring undocumented immigrants, attempted murder, discharging a firearm in a municipal area and contraventions of the Immigration Act," she added.

According to Mosikili, the figures showed that the overwhelming majority of South Africans involved in the marches had chosen peaceful protest over violence.

“Marches numbered 120, but when you look at other incidents of gatherings and demonstrations in regard to crowd management control, the total took us to 300,” Mosikili said.

Of the 120 marches, 108 were peaceful and only 12 required law-enforcement intervention after unrest broke out, she said.

Breaking down the figures by province, Mosikili said the Eastern Cape had the highest number of peaceful marches with 28, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 21 and 12 in Gauteng.

Two unrest-related incidents were recorded in the Eastern Cape, one in Gauteng, two in KwaZulu-Natal, one in Mpumalanga, two in the Northern Cape and four in the Western Cape.

“The Western Cape recorded the highest number of arrests with 215, followed by the Eastern Cape, 208, KwaZulu-Natal with 153 and the Free State, 132.”

In Gauteng, more than 82 people were arrested for various crimes including looting, public violence, attempted murder, discharging a firearm in a municipal area and contraventions of the Immigration Act.

On Wednesday, seven shacks were gutted with fire as tensions intensified between locals and foreign nationals in Marikana Informal Settlement in Kwa-Thema, Ekurhuleni.

“It is alleged that the burnt shacks belongs to the foreign nationals and the occupants were allegedly forcefully removed out of the settlement. No casualties recorded on scene,” said Gauteng police.

Mosikili said law enforcement agencies had anticipated attempts by opportunistic criminals to exploit the demonstrations and had deployed additional resources to affected provinces, including Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Free State and the Western Cape.

“Those who sought to exploit yesterday’s demonstrations for criminal gain were identified, pursued and brought before the law. Our members responded swiftly wherever incidents of looting, robbery, public violence and other criminal activities emerged.”

Mosikili added that the operations demonstrated both the readiness of law enforcement agencies and the maturity of South Africans in exercising their constitutional right to protest peacefully.

“We also want to thank all law enforcement officers, our partners and community leaders for encouraging their supporters to remain peaceful and ensuring that followers adhered to the constitution and obeyed the laws of our country. Your leadership contributed significantly to maintaining public order,” she said.

Sowetan