Zimbabweans die at Lindela repatriation centre

Detainees at the Lindela Repatriation Centre in South Africa are claiming that 4 people, including 2 Zimbabweans, one Malawian and another unknown national, have died since a riot at the facility on the 13th August.

Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Tuesday, a Zimbabwean awaiting deportation from the centre told us they rioted eight days ago in protest at the brutality of security guards at the centre. "Detainees are being assaulted using sjamboks and fists and people rioted, breaking windows, tables etc" the inmate said.

Another burning issue is that detainees claim it takes the centre between three to four months to deport people. The conditions at the centre are said to be so unbearable inmates find it intolerable to spend so much time there.

SW Radio Africa has been told there are an estimated 3,000 Zimbabweans being held at the centre, but questions are being raised why it's taking so long for the centre to process the deportations.

SW Radio Africa spoke to the acting head of the centre, identified only as Annie, and she denied the claims of the deaths or even the riots. But Rodgers Mudarikwa from the Zimbabwe Documentation Project claimed the director had not been to the centre since the riots and "angry people there are waiting for her to show up."

Commenting on the delays in processing the deportations Mudarikwa said the authorities "are claiming they don't have the logistics to deport people, so why are they arresting them if they don't have the resources to deport people?"

Told that the director of the centre had denied knowledge of the riots or the deaths of inmates, one of the detainees told us: "If you don't believe us, the first batch of people injured during the riots are being deported tomorrow (Wednesday) you will see one of them now only has one eye. You can speak to them at Beitbridge."

The Lindela Detention Centre has in the past been strongly criticized for corruption, overcrowding and abuse of detainees. Pressure groups have raised serious concerns about human rights violations. This year alone the centre was rocked by riots in March, June and now if the latest reports are true, August.

Meanwhile Mudarikwa questioned the logic behind deporting Zimbabweans. He said the South African documentation project, that saw many getting their stay regularised, had still not been completed. He added that a substantial number of people had still not received responses to their applications and it was unfair to round them up and deport them.