Cops crack down on immigrants

2005-09-08 09:46

Johannesburg - Dozens of weary-eyed immigrants were marched out of their bedrooms by police early on Thursday morning in a raid on what was once an upmarket hotel in Hillbrow.

The immigrants, who were from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Zimbabwe were herded onto O'Reilley Street outside the Coronia Gardens building at 03:00.

First they were fingerprinted and then they were loaded into police vans, headed for the Hillbrow Police Station.

"We checked their fingerprints on an electronic database to see if any are wanted criminals," police spokesperson Inspector Kriban Naidoo said.

"Once that is done they will be charged and taken to Lindela (A repatriation centre near Krugersdorp for illegal immigrants.

"There are about 34 nationalities living in Hillbrow," he said.

The raid comes a day after officers from Booysens Police Station were shown on a television programme taking bribes to free illegal immigrants.

Naidoo said the raid was not a public relations job in reaction to the footage. "This raid was planned a long time ago," he said.

The head of Hillbrow Police Station, Director Danie Louw, told the police before the raid gangs were making R345 000 a month from collecting rents from tenants.

The new owner of Coronia Gardens, he said, wanted to bring the building under control. "This is a lot of money. These guys aren't going to give up easily," he said.

Two Hillbrow building managers were assassinated in July by alleged building hijackers.

- SAPA