JOHANNESBURG – South African police assisted by soldiers over the weekend arrested 50 illegal immigrants in Johannesburg, police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini said on Monday.
Dlamini told ANA the arrests were made during crime prevention operations in Hillbrow, Mayfair and downtown Johannesburg.
All those arrested were taken to Hillbrow police station and were having their documentation processed by Home Affairs. Those who could not be regularised would be taken to the Lindela repatriation centr, Dlamini said.
The police were inter alia searching for drugs, illegal firearms and stolen property, but no other arrests were made, he said.
Government last week began deploying the army to help police contain a wave of xenophobic violence that spread from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng, claiming at least seven lives.
Zimbabwe has the largest population of illegal immigrants in South Africa.
– ANA
