WATCH | Call for police probe after ailing grandmother held during protest

The Northern Areas Ratepayers and Residents Association (Narra) has called on police to investigate the conduct of officers who handcuffed and detained a 70-year-old widow who recently underwent heart surgery during an operation in Pietermaritzburg’s northern suburbs.

Vanker Road pensioner Geetha Singh was placed in a police van and later taken to Mountain Rise police station after protesters entered her property looking for undocumented foreign nationals and called for her arrest.

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Video footage circulated on social media shows Singh being held by a police officer while members of the crowd insist that she be handcuffed and placed in the vehicle.

One person can be heard shouting: “You are a criminal Gogo, so you must be treated like one, because you are a criminal Gogo.”

Narra said officers at the scene had a duty to protect Singh’s dignity and prevent the incident from escalating into public humiliation.

We call on SAPS leadership to investigate the conduct of officers present, and we call on March and March’s leadership to publicly denounce this incident, take accountability for its members’ conduct, and commit to preventing further racial division.

“Justice does not require cruelty,” the organisation said.

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In an exclusive interview with The Witness, Singh said she could not understand why she had been handcuffed and detained despite her age and health condition.

The incident occurred during protests in the northern suburbs targeting properties and businesses believed to be occupied by undocumented foreign nationals.

Singh, a grandmother of two, said protesters entered her property and searched a back room.

“I still cannot understand why they treated me in that manner. I am an elderly woman and I recently had heart surgery.

They went to one of the back rooms of the house and began searching for Malawian nationals. There was only one person renting here and he left long ago. He locked his belongings in that room and told me he was leaving to sort his papers out.

“When they opened that door, they found these three men who were hiding there,” said Singh.

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She said she returned to her home but was called outside and told she was under arrest.

“I went back into my home and the next moment they came and kicked open my gate.

“One of the guys from the protest told me that I was under arrest and the people began insisting that I be arrested, handcuffed and placed in the van.

“Some of the cops just wanted to take me in a normal car, but then eventually they handcuffed me and put me in the van.

“They never explained why I was being arrested and neither did they read me my rights. I was not scared because I did nothing wrong.

“What is even more shocking is that I was trying to speak to them and they just shouted at me continuously,” said Singh.

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She said the handcuffs were removed after about 10 minutes, but she remained in the police van until the operation ended at about 3pm.

She was later taken to Mountain Rise police station and placed in a holding cell.

They placed me in a holding cell, but they still did not read me my rights or tell me what I was being charged with. Some of the police members were being rude to me and they kept on saying they would charge me when they were ready.

“I then got the help of an attorney and even when he tried, they could not tell him the reason for my arrest. Then they said they were waiting for the arresting officer. They then asked me to identify three men.

“I said I didn’t recognise them. Then they told me to go and that the next time they found foreign nationals on my property they would arrest me,” said Singh.

Narra described the footage as showing “racially humiliating mocking and abuse” directed at Singh.

The organisation said that while authorities had a responsibility to enforce immigration laws, arrests should be carried out with dignity and in accordance with due process.

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uMgungundlovu District SAPS spokesperson Sergeant Sifiso Gwala said members of the public should allow police and other authorised agencies to carry out law-enforcement operations.

He said residents with information about suspected criminal activity or undocumented foreign nationals should report it to police so that officers could take appropriate action.

Community members can assist the police by providing information regarding criminality or criminal activities taking place in their areas.

“They can also identify perpetrators and provide that information to the police so that appropriate action can be taken,” he said.

Gwala said anyone who believed their rights had been violated could report the matter to police management.

“If any person feels that his or her rights were violated, they can report the matter to the immediate commander, the Station Commander or the District Office so that the conduct of the police members can be investigated,” said Gwala.

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Legal expert Nqobile Gumbi, director of N Gumbi and Associates Incorporated and an admitted legal practitioner of the High Court of South Africa, said private citizens had no authority to conduct immigration inspections or enter homes to determine a person’s immigration status.

“Private citizens are not vested with statutory authority to conduct immigration inspections or searches to determine whether a person is lawfully present in South Africa,” Gumbi said.

Section 14 of the Constitution guarantees the right to privacy, including the right not to have one’s home or property searched without lawful authority.

“Any limitation of that right must be authorised by law,” he said, adding that immigration officials and police officers were also bound by the Constitution.