Arrest of Zimbabwean pastor highlights abuse by South African police

By Tererai Karimakwenda
5 February 2007

A Zimbabwean Pastor who was released on Sunday after 4 days in jail in South Africa has said he plans to sue the state for xenophobia. Zimbabwean Pastor Immanuel Hlabangana and his friend Duduzile Ndlovu were stopped and searched by police on January 26th and Ndhlovu was arrested for not having her passport and ID. Hlabangana said the police allowed him to follow his friend to the station but then arrested him for being “too clever.” The pastor told us the arrest and his subsequent denial of bail by a magistrate were all fuelled by xenophobia and he plans to sue. The Crisis Coalition SA has also taken up his case.

Pastor Hlabangana said the charges that he interfered with police business are all trumped up. He alleged that the police actually asked him to follow them to the station after they arrested his friend. But when he asked what was happening the police abused him verbally, telling him to go back to his country. At that point he was thrown into a cell. This is what makes him believe everything that occurred in this case was fuelled by their attitude towards foreigners. Hlabangana said he was also mistreated physically by police officers who manhandled him constantly.

The cleric was granted bail by police officials 2 days after his arrest. But the very next day a magistrate revoked his bail saying the charges were too serious and did not warrant bail. This shocked Hlabangana and his lawyer Thabang Machacha because the cleric had not committed any serious crime. The lawyer said he worked feverishly against all sorts of red tape to secure his client’s release. And even when bail was finally granted 4 days later, prison officials delayed Hlabangana’s release until the next day claiming some paper work needed to be done. The pastor believes this too was fuelled by xenophobia.
According to the lawyer Machacha, on the same night that Hlabangana was arrested the chairman of the human rights commission of SA made a statement calling upon the government to deal with xenophobia and to act against any local citizens who display xenophobia towards outsiders.