Hawkers at the Bara Taxi Rank in Soweto have complained that a resident-driven operation put in place to evict vendors who were in the country illegally wrongfully targeted them, resulting in them losing their stock.
One trader said her ID book was thrown away when she provided it as proof of being a South African citizen, and that she was also accused of having obtained it illegally.
On Sunday, scores of residents, under the banner of Operation Dudula, descended on the rank to remove illegal immigrants hawking there.
