LONDON – A staggering 28 people have died at South Africa’s notorious Lindela repatriation center, near Krugersdorp, in the first seven months of this year, according to minutes of South Africa’s parliamentary Home Affairs portfolio committee in the possession of The Zimbabwean. Seven of these died in the camp itself, and 21 died after being transferred to the nearby Leratong Hospital.

It is not clear how many were Zimbabweans – but the majority of the camp’s 4000 inmates are known to be Zimbabwean asylum seekers awaiting re-patriation. Officials have only confirmed the deaths of two who died last month – one of them was a pregnant teenager, Alice Tshuma, whose body is still lying unclaimed at the mortuary.

The committee has initiated a meeting for August 30, in Cape Town, to meet representatives of the inmates. This will be followed by a meeting the next day with the department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for administering the camp.

According to the minutes, officials told the committee they were unable to tell the cause of death of the 28 inmates as it had not been possible to locate the relatives of the deceased. “These relatives were needed to sign certain documents that would allow autopsies to be conducted to discover the cause of death. Without relatives an autopsy could only be carried out if there was a criminal case,” he explained. Natural deaths had therefore been assumed in most cases.

The minutes show that the South Africans are battling a backlog of 180 000 asylum seekers who have yet to be processed. Lindela has a holding capacity of 4004 and is already full. The committee was told that most of the asylum seekers cross into the country through the Giant Limpopo transfrontier park which encompasses Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou in Zimbabwe and Mozambique’s Limpopo Park.

Several people have been killed by wild animals while attempting to cross the park on foot. The Park is yet to be officially opened shortly by the presidents of the three countries. This will involve the removal of further sections of the fence allowing for the free movement of animals and people along the length of the international borders within the boundaries of the park.

A group of seven clergymen, alarmed at reports coming from the camp, visited Lindela from Zimbabwe last week and described it as 'a concentration camp’. They met the commissioner of police for Gauteng Province, Ray Naidoo, and said they were encouraged by his concern for the welfare of Zimbabweans at Lindela.

A spokesperson for the group, Rev Vimbai Mugwidi from the Methodist Church, urged Zimbabweans to file detailed complaints of any incidents of ill treatment with the police in order to make it easier for full investigations to take place. “The SA officials have an attitude that there is no war in Zimbabwe. This makes it difficult for Zimbabweans to be granted asylum or refugee status. As a result, they are living in more misery and more terror than they fled from,” she explained.

There have been several reports of South African policemen demanding bribes and sexual favours from asylum seekers to save themselves from being sent to Lindela.

One of the officials complained to the committee that cameras had been smuggled into the center to document conditions there. He said the problem was compounded by inmates being allowed to keep their cell phones, some of which had cameras, and appealed for ‘this problem’ to be addressed.

Other problems highlighted in the minutes included very high staff turnover, poor security and the theft of 20 new computers in the past year. An official told the committee that security cameras situated near where the break-in took place had been removed on ‘instructions from new management’.

Officials admitted that there was ‘a serious lack of knowledge’ among those dealing with refugee matters – including the ‘protection and welfare of refugees’ and said there was insufficient information at ministerial level about the government’s obligations towards them.
The committee visited Lindela last year and said it found the conditions ‘satisfying - unlike those described in the media’.

At a meeting to coordinate refugee activities recently, Joyce Dube of Southern Africa Women Migration (SAWIMA) painted a gloomy picture of Lindela. Dube said her organization, which had been holding demonstrations to put pressure on the SA government to improve conditions at the camp, was going to take the case to Amnesty International for assistance.

One human rights lawyer said he was having difficulty accessing his clients at Lindela.

"Sometimes we are told the person has been moved while in fact he is languishing in the camp and you have to put pressure to get past the various barriers," he said, adding that most of the people from Lindela come out ill or die shortly after being released. “Food poisoning is being suspected at the camp and the living conditions are deplorable,” he said.

One man who was deported to Zimbabwe but came back said the situation is terrible and the camp overcrowded. “Disease is rampant in the camp. The remand prisons are much better than the situation at the camp. You have to close your eyes to eat. The SA government should really make an effort to deal with this deteriorating situation,” he said. Catering at Lindela is sub-contracted to a local company which is paid R59 per person per day to feed the inmates.

JOHANNESBURG - The South African Council of Churches General Secretary, Reverend Molefe Tsele, has castigated some sections of Zimbabwean church community for sanitising the deteriorating crisis in the country.

At a service in the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg at the weekend he urged the churches to speak truthfully about the situation. "There are some in Zimbabwe who are denying there is any conflict. There is great confusion about the role of churches - that’s why some of us had been labelled MI6 [British intelligence agency] when we visited Zimbabwe recently to see the situation on the ground," he said.

“Some churches hold vigils and prayers to prop up the Mugabe regime and are rewarded with pieces of land from government. Prominent church leaders such as Reverend Nolbert Kunonga support the regime and castigate church members who speak out about
the situation in country.”

Rev Tsele pledged ongoing support ‘because you are our neighbours’. He said the SACC would continue to source humanitarian aid and expressed disgust that Zimbabwe was not on agenda for the recent Southern Africa Development Community heads of states
meeting in Botswana. “This is because leaders are trying to use diplomacy which is dangerous as it is telling blatant lies in an intellectual way,” he said.

The service, which was well-attended by Zimbabweans and South Africans, highlighted the plight of refugees and pledged solidarity through prayer and action.

The Mtwakazi Theatre Group had people in tears and laughter with their performance of Operation Murambatsvina. The most sombre episode was about a child who was killed in a house demolished by police. The crying of the bereaved mother sent the whole gathering into a sombre mood and many started to weep.