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'No crisis at SA-Zim border'
01/08/2007 18:51 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Limpopo police say vigilante farmer patrols do not control the Zimbabwe-South African border.
The statement came after a Sky Television report into vigilantism against border-crossing aired earlier this week.
The report apparently showed South African farmers capturing Zimbabweans trying to cross the border and then handing them over to the police for deportation.
A Beeld reporter last month described how she accompanied a group of farmers in the Musina area as they apprehended three Zimbabweans and handed them to police.
The reporter said the farmers were carrying out daily patrols for illegal immigrants.
Limpopo police commissioner Calvin Sengani said on Wednesday: "There is no truth in the allegations... that farmers have taken control of the borders in the province.
"Members of the public cannot be allowed to patrol borders and public roads and arrest illegal foreigners entering the country, as crossing the border is not a criminal offence that justifies harsh action."
Allegations that a crisis was developing on the border were "not true".
Sengani held talks with key police involved in border operations on Wednesday.
They had briefed him that arrests of illegal foreigners at some places were in fact decreasing, said Sengani.
"No significant increase of the influx of illegal foreigners, compared to previous years, could be detected," he said.
The head of the SA Human Rights Commission, Jody Kollapen, told Sapa the commission welcomed the police statement to the extent it suggested that police would deal with people illegally taking on police functions.
"South Africa is facing quite a crisis with Zimbabwe migration," said Kollapen.
He said this was a crisis beyond issues of safety and security.
Humanitarian aspects should be considered, such as the plight of asylum seekers and those in need of emergency medical care, said Kollapen.
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