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NCA Appeals to SA Govt. over Recent Arrests at CMC
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
January 31, 2008

The church is our refuge!
The National Constitutional Assembly strongly condemns the South African Police Services' invasion of the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg and the xenophobia motivated arrest and detention of hundreds of foreign dwellers in the church. Over 500 Zimbabweans seeking refuge from the Mugabe dictatorship have since been detained at LINDELA.

The excuse given by the SA Police that its invasion of the church was driven by a 'concern' to deal with criminal elements smacks of ignorance, ingenuity and ignorance. It seeks to suggest that a temple of God, a refuge place for those ejected from acceptance by the SA government's blind eye on the crisis in Zimbabwe, is a haven for criminality. It is a position driven by a want to criminalise the charity of the church.

During the invasion, the police destroyed property, wantonly beat refugees who included pregnant women, the elderly, children and the sick. No warrant of execution was shown to the Church prior to this.

Reports are emerging from all who have since been released that SAPS and LINDELA officers are taking bribes ranging between R300 - R500 and or cell phones for the release of detainees.

The NCA appeals to the ANC government to respect its commitment to human rights and solidarity as ethical underpinnings to its relations with non-South Africans as set out in both the Constitution of the Republic and the ANC's own 2007 National Policy Conference. The intolerance displayed by the SAPS is reminiscent to barbarism that Africans suffered during the dark ages of colonialism and apartheid. A post freedom Africa should never be accepted with the same imagery of this same despotism.

We call upon the SAPS, South African government and the ruling ANC, to make a clear statement denouncing the acts of the SAPS in this particular incidence.

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