“They (SAPS) ask us for bribes. I have been arrested several times now because of my papers. I am not a criminal, but they just arrest me.” ii. Reasonable Grounds for Suspicion According to the Immigration Act, a police officer must have “reasonable grounds” to stop and detain someone. It specifies that profiling based on race is not to be used as grounds for detention. Racial demographic was not collected; but reports from respondents, with the country data collected, show that racial profiling is the primary method of selecting victims. There were no whites arrested, in fact footage in one raid from Salt River shows the one white person being asked politely to stand to the side while the blacks in the room were made to provide identity documents. This seems reasonable enough, if the system of attaining and renewing documents was not so complicated. People are scared to carry their documents in case they are stolen or lost. Tourists are advised against carrying their identification, yet they are never arrested or harassed, if they are white. “It’s only for the black foreigners, not whites, and mostly Zimbabweans are the big targets.” iii. Verification To confirm their status, officers must take reasonable steps to help anyone being arrested to access any readily available documents, contact other people who can confirm their status, and access relevant departmental records (Regulation 32). Our research showed that in Limpopo 12 people said that the police did not assist them. In the Western Cape and Gauteng, the number was much higher. 60 people in the Western Cape and 38 people in Gauteng, responded that they did not receive assistance from the police to collect and verify their document. It is very important for the SAPS to assist suspected illegals to verify documentation as this minimizes the numbers of innocent detainees, reduces the number of cases taken to court and reduces pressure on the system. However, even if this is achieved, it does not take away the fact that innocent people who look “foreign” must carry their documentation with them at all times to avoid arrest and potential deportation.   23

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