No justice for brutally assaulted foreign national

The Zimbabwean national who was allegedly severely beaten and left partially paralysed outside the Department of Home Affairs’ Marabastad refugee centre in the inner city has lost faith in South Africa’s justice system after his case was thrown out of a Pretoria court without him being informed of the court date.

It is alleged that a Department of Home Affairs security officer beat Kholwane Sibanda merely for not standing in the queue for asylum seekers wanting to renew their documents. The incident, which permanently changed the life of the 27-year-old, allegedly took place in February. Sibanda explained that the security officer had beaten him below his belt with a baton.

The brutal assault resulted in, among others, that he has no feeling in his lower body and therefore does not realise when he needs to urinate – resulting in embarrassment, as he could urinate unexpectedly wherever he is.

According to Sibanda, a doctor told him that his bladder was dislocated. “The investigating officer informed me by means of a cell phone call last Friday that my case was withdrawn from court. I have tried on many occasions to call the investigating officer to find out the court date so that I can go to court, but he did not answer my calls and failed to return them too,” a frustrated Sibanda said.

Sibanda explained that the investigating officer had told him that he would inform him about the court date. He said the investigating officer told him that the case had been withdrawn because he (Sibanda) had failed to appear before the court and because he had taken too long to lay a charge against the security officer about the alleged beating.

“I feel neglected and don’t understand. Maybe I was treated this badly because I am a foreigner,” Sibanda said.

He said he blamed the investigating officer for failing to do his job. Contrary to what Sibanda told Rekord, the central police said the case was withdrawn because of insufficient evidence. “We are not allowed to provide more details on why the case was withdrawn. Only the prosecuting authority can do that,” Central police spokesperson Sergeant Ann Poortman said.

It is not clear what will happen to the other cases of assault levelled against Home Affairs security officers. Rekord has reported many times on the alleged assaults at the centre on foreigners. The Department of Home Affairs distanced itself from the brutal assaults. “It is important to understand that security officials working at the Department of Home Affairs in Marabastad are not employees of the department,” the department’s spokesperson, Ronnie Mamoepa, said. Among those who opened cases of assault is another Zimbabwean, Beatrice Gono.

It is alleged that a security guard keeping an eye on the lines of people waiting to obtain documentation brutally beat Gono as well.