Reporter seriously ill after release from Lindela Detention Centre

By Tererai Karimakwenda
07 September 2005

Last week we reported that our correspondent Gift was arrested in South Africa and he spent a week at the controversial Lindela Repatriation Centre. Gift reported that he experienced a week of bribes, assaults, insults, hunger and illness at this privately run institution, but now he has become seriously ill himself, just a week after being released from Lindela. He was due to attend Wednesday’s demonstration to the home affairs department but was too weak to make it and is scheduled to see a doctor.

Gift told us Wednesday that he is experiencing sharp pains in his chest when he breathes, and he is coughing up blood, vomiting and suffering from a bad case of diarrhoea. Zimbabweans like him who have no legal status in South Africa have no access to healthcare either. And Gift would probably be home getting worse or dying if it was not for the interference of a production company that is filming a documentary on Zimbabwean exiles. Lucky enough they noticed him bleeding as he was helping to organise Wednesday’s demonstration.

In his report last week, Gift alleged that everything from the blankets to the toilets were filthy at Lindela. He said the food was terrible and the place was overcrowded. Residents were frequently sent to the hospital and he believes some of the staff at this repatriation centre are not qualified. 28 Zimbabweans have died at Lindela so far this year. This does not include other nationalities.