In the media
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11 May 2015
SABC News
Municipal Mayors and even Provincial Premier's could face jail time if their departments fail to comply with court orders. This is in terms of a ground-breaking decision by the Constitutional Court which paves the way for state functionaries to be held personally liable for the enforcement of court orders.
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19 May 2015
Business Day
ELEVEN people were arrested in the Free State overnight after three foreign-owned shops were burnt down and 27 were looted.
Free State police could not confirm whether the incidents, which took place in Petrus Steyn, were xenophobic.
Spokesman Mmako Mophiring said on Tuesday that residents began looting and burning down the foreign-owned shops at about 7pm on Monday night. By 5am, the situation had calmed down.
Police are currently monitoring the situation.
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18 May 2015
Vice
As part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants following a string of deadly xenophobic attacks that tore through parts of South Africa in April, the country's law enforcement authorities have arrested 1,650 undocumented migrants during raids on hostels, churches, and apartment buildings that were coordinated over the last three weeks.
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18 May 2015
Eyewitness News
Police Minister Nathi Nhleko on Sunday appealed to the public to support government efforts in monitoring crimes and incidents of xenophobic violence across the country.
An inter-ministerial committee announced that it has managed to stabilise tensions between local communities and foreign nationals.
The committee said over 1,000 illegal immigrants and nearly 2,000 South Africans have been arrested since the start of Operation Fiela.
Nhleko said these statistics should be proof enough that the operation is not targeting foreign nationals.
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6 May 2015
Business Day
A Supreme Court of Appeal order that it the Port Elizabeth refugee reception office be reopened by July 1 is incorrect and an unwarranted intrusion into the executive domain, says the Department of Home Affairs.
The department has applied to the Constitutional Court to set aside the court’s order made on March 25.
Refugee reception offices provide services to those who want to apply for asylum in SA.
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16 May 2015
Eyewitness News
Eastern Cape police have arrested 90 illegal immigrants in a two-day operation in Port Elizabeth.
The raids form part of government's Operation Fiela which was launched several weeks back in the wake of xenophobic violence.
On Thursday police arrested 76 undocumented foreigners.
A further 14 people were taken into custody last night in the Port Elizabeth CBD.
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12 May 2015
Times Live
The police kicked down doors and arrested mothers and children in shelters across Johannesburg.
In a joint operation by the police, army and Home Affairs officials, 500 foreigners at the Central Methodist Church, in the Johannesburg CBD, were herded out and taken to a nearby police station.
President Jacob Zuma ordered the army to help the police quell the xenophobic violence in which hundreds of immigrants were chased from their homes and businesses.
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15 May 2015
Nehanda Radio
SOUTH AFRICA has temporarily suspended deportations following a legal challenge by a human rights group that argued that it was insensitive for authorities to target foreigners following xenophobic attacks that resulted in the murder of seven people.
More than 800 undocumented migrants have been arrested across South Africa in the past three weeks under a blitz called “Operation Fiela-Reclaim”, launched after last month’s xenophobic attacks mainly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
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15 May 2015
IRIN
Human rights lawyers are interviewing hundreds of migrants rounded up last week in night raids by South African police, trying to ascertain if they should be exempt from deportation.
The raids form part of a government operation launched by an inter-ministerial task team on migration set up in the wake of a wave of xenophobic attacks last month on foreign workers. The anti-foreigner violence left at least eight people dead and drove more than 5,000 people from their homes and businesses.
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14 May 2015
Times Live
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) continued to question the legality of raids conducted under the government’s Operation Fiyela.
The organisation tweeted quotes from the head of its strategic litigation unit‚ David Cote‚ who said there were legal issues concerning warrants and the mandate of security forces deployed in the operation.
Operation Fiyela “was formed to root out certain crimes but if we look at stats‚ not many arrests are for crimes highlighted in mandate”‚ Cote said.
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