Dealing with an economic crisis: The difficulty of policing illegal immigrants in South Africa

JurisdictionSouth Africa
Published date16 August 2019
AuthorDavid T Masiloane
Citation(2010) 23 SACJ 39
Date16 August 2019
Pages39-54
Dealing with an economic crisis:
the difculty of policing illegal
immigrants in South Africa
DAVID T MASILOANE*
ABSTRACT
Most illegal immigrants in South Africa are people who embarked on a dan-
gerous journey of crossing the border, running away from perilous political
and economic conditions with the hope of improving their situation across
the borders. The successful crossing of the border turns these people into
violators of immigration laws in the perceived country of survival. Despite
having to continuously evade the police because of their illegal status, they
also tend to be victims of xenophobia, crime and labour exploitation. The
presence of illegal immigrants in the country cannot be divorced from polic-
ing. First, the police have an obligation to arrest and depor t those who are
in the countr y illegally, although deportation is perceived by many people
to be a costly and ineffective exercise because illegal immigrants f‌ind their
way back to South Africa. Secondly, the vulnerability of illegal immigrants
to crime accentuates their need for police protection, protection they do not
initiate because it will result in their deportation. This paper deals with the
diff‌iculty encountered in policing these illegal immigrants. It considers the
obligation of protecting the country and its citizenry against the inf‌lux of
illegal immigrants, and evidence reveals that some of them are involved in
criminal activities. Nonetheless, illegal immigrants need protection against
the violation of their constitutional rights. The discussion will be based in
the broader context of indicating the shor tfalls of using the police to solve
the political and economic crises.
1. Introduction
In South Africa, illegal immigrants struggle to exist outside the law. As
‘illegal foreigners’, they must strive to remain invisible from the state in
order to guarantee their stay in the country. In the process, their safety
against criminal acts is compromised and the police’s ability to solve
their committed crimes is also minimised.
While immigration is a complex phenomenon, which cannot simply
be explained in terms of the analysis of cause and effect, this article will
focus on the implication of illegal immigrants to safety and security. It
will analyse the diff‌iculty encountered in policing illegal immigrants.
* Dlitt et Phil (UNISA), Senior Lecturer and Researcher, College of Law, School of Crimi-
nal Justice, University of South Africa.
39
(2010) 23 SACJ 39
© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd
This diff‌iculty will be classif‌ied according to the challenges the police
face when attempting to guarantee the constitutional rights of illegal
immigrants, as well as the challenges encountered in resolving the
criminal acts committed by illegal immigrants. These challenges will be
discussed in order to demonstrate the shor tfalls of using the police to
solve economic and political crises.
2. Research methodology
According to Schwandt,1 the site or place of a study is chosen on the
basis of the combination of criteria including availability, accessibility
and theoretical interest. The site or place that is chosen for the study
refers to the research demarcation. The demarcation of the area of
study is most important in order to ensure that the area of choice will
provide a variety of information from which important general deduc-
tions can be made. The cosmopolitan nature of Hillbrow, Berea and
Yeoville in Johannesburg f‌itted the purpose of this study in terms of
the high number of immigrants, particularly illegal immigrants.2
To understand the daily experiences and treatment that illegal im-
migrants are exposed to in South Africa and the experiences and reac-
tions of South Africans who live among the immigrants, as well as
to get more clarity on police policy and procedures in dealing with
immigrants in gener al and illegal immigrants in particular, qualitative
research was used. According to Punch,3 qualitative research is an
approach that involves a collection of data in a non-numerical form.
Sampling is the selection of people or issues to be included in the
research. That is, the selection of the unit of analysis from a larger
population.4 Mcmillian & Schumacher5 def‌ine the population as a
group of elements that conform to specif‌ic criteria on which generali-
sation can be made. Different sampling techniques were used on dif-
ferent categories of people depending on the nature of the information
that was required from them.
Snowball sampling was used to interview both the legal and illegal
immigrants. This was the most appropriate approach based on the dif-
f‌iculty of identifying who is legal and who is not and the impossibility
of gaining these people’s conf‌idence without being referred and intro-
1 TA Schwandt Qualitative inquiry: A dictionary of terms (1997) 140.
2 S Sterett Immigration (2006) 139.
3 KF Punch Developing Effective Research Proposals (2000) 4.
4 GM Du Plooy Communication research techniques methods and applications (2001)
100.
5 JH McMillan & S Schumacher Research in education: A conceptual introduction
(1997) 169.
40 SACJ . (2010) 1
© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd

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