As l was on a line to withdraw my money from Standard Bank today, downtown in Jorburg today, three Policemen just pounced on me and demanded to see my passport or ID(if lam South African). We were about twelve people in that line including some whites and Indians, but they just came straight to me and demanded to see my passport. I asked them why they just selected me and didnt ask anyone of the people in front of me and they said we are on an operation to chase away Zimbabweans here, because they are taking our jobs and l look like a Zimbabwean so that want to verify. I vehemently refused to give them my passport until they do the just and fair thing; ask everyone in the line for his or her respective passport or ID and not to just discriminatively select an individual just because he look like Zimbabwean. They thought l was joking, they thought l was afraid of them. One of them started removing a gun from his pocket. Before he could point at me, told him that if he ever point a gun at me, he will regret such a move for the rest of his life, l quoted chapter 2, section 12 of the South African Constitution ,together with section 9.l explained to him that their decision to infringe my right to privacy, my right to freedom of movement just because l look like Zimbabwean was discriminatory in nature. If they wanted us to produce documents, they should have started with the first person in the line and not to select Againstprof Makuyana just because he look like Zimbabwean. Everybody looked as the drama unfolded and l persisntly refused to show them any of my documents until they asked all of us to produce our documents.One of them started trying to intimidate me that l will rot in jail and they will never have mercy with me. l told him that l was morethan ready to rot in jail as long as l have a case to answer and the Court of the land found reasons for me to rot in jail. They started trying to close the exit door so that l wont go out ,and one of them who was speaking Zulu tried to force himself on me and l told him that he was now behaving like Gangster and l will not tolerate him to treat me like a robber.He said l was free to call my lawyer because they wouldnt let me go.l told him that l was a lawyer myself and there was no need to call a lawyer to talk to some Braamfontein Policemen.I finished withdrawing my money whilst they were waiting outside and l confidently walked to the door.I told them that their behaviour is very unAfrican and l wouldnt show them any of my particulars, they were free to report wherever they want, but l wouldnt follow them because l didnt commit any crime. One of them ended up demanding to know where l work and l told him it was none of his business, he should concentrate on looking for law-breaking people and not to sit on Bank ATMs asking for some bribes from desperate foreigners. This is probably the most disgusting period of time for most Zimbabweans working in SA. When you hear your neighbours saying Zimbabweans are illegal immigrants(even though they were issued permits ,some which expire in 2015), while those from Europe, 20000km away are regarded as potential investors, then you must know Kwameh Nkurumahs dreams of a United States of Africa are still far away from being realised. So a Zimbabwean, who share the same culture,same tradition and same Historical bondange, just about 20km from SA is an unwanted person? Isnt our labour(some of which underpaid since apartheid days) an enough form of investment into the South African Economy?
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 18:33:42 +0000
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