POLOKWANE – By the afternoon of the Friday morning when Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba led an intelligence-driven operation to root out undocumented foreign nationals, their harbourers and foreign-controlled spaza shops in Ext 44 and surrounding areas, business had resumed as usual at many spaza shops.

The return to normal trading has brought into question respect for South Africa’s rule of law by the controllers of foreign national-operated spaza shops and their citizen harbourers, as well as the effectiveness of the operation itself.

Operation Shanela: 339 arrested

The operation, dubbed Operation Shanela, was led by Ramathuba and Acting Provincial Police Commissioner Major General Jan Scheepers. By 9:00 AM, authorities said they had conducted close to 500 searches and made 339 arrests.

Read more: Premier and police lead raid in Polokwane Ext 44

Residents fear speaking out

Some concerned residents who spoke to Review Online on condition of anonymity said they were perhaps going to hold a meeting soon to discuss how best to help government root out the crisis.

Others said it was risky to simply point out to authorities who in the community harbours such people due to the possibility of violent attacks.

Premier: ‘Harbouring criminals is a crime’

Ramathuba warned homeowners and employers during the operation.

“We build an RDP as government and you harbour foreign nationals. Tell them that when I come back and they are still continuing, tell them it will not be nice,” she said.

“The people who are harbouring criminals in our country is South Africans,” she told media. She said those found contravening the law would be charged with harbouring undocumented foreigners and handed over to police.

Ramathuba and Scheepers also cautioned communities not to take the law into their own hands but to report their concerns to the authorities and government agencies who are suited to deal with the problem.

“Your marches and pickets we have listened to them and are now taking charge dealing with those concerns. But don’t take the law into your own hands because it defeats the purpose,” Ramathuba said. “This activity is not a once-off.”

Scheepers said police were happy with the results but this was only the beginning.

“All other departments are working with us and we will expand to all other districts. We will leave no stone unturned. Nobody is allowed to commit crime in this province. We are very serious about the safety and economic growth of this province.”

Police close to Review Online said dockets at Westenburg Station relating to break-ins have dropped since the operations started.