conducted by the forum as follows:“In December, there was a sweep right through the town. Starting at Beitbridge, the youngsters managed to net a large number of illegals, who, it has been shown, are responsible for a high proportion of the petty and some of the serious crime, here. Of the arrests by just one officer for various crimes last weekend, 24 were Zimbabwean, 1 Pakistani and 4 South African.”64 Statements such as the one above show the negative influence the SAPS can have on a community. There is no proof that foreign nationals commit more crimes than locals and to suggest that to untrained, sometimes armed youths is fostering illegitimate tension and aggression towards foreigners. Limpopo shows progress in the transparency and collaboration that allows civil society to assist government with the processing of foreigners in the area, but it seems that the treatment of Zimbabweans is not part of this transparency and that they are being kept out of the official documenting systems, by being deported from vans and not police stations. This highlights the important fact that policy alone is not enough, accountability is vital if the policy is to be effectively implemented. Cost of Deportation—Financial implications for the Taxpayer It is very difficult to access information regarding the amount of money spent by the DHA on the deportation process. The cost of maintaining the detention centres, feeding the detainees, providing medical care (this would add cost if medical care was provided), emergency medical care and the transport costs of bringing so called illegal migrants to Lindela and then transporting them home, all adds up to a very expensive process. In 2009 the Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand (now the African Centre for Migration & Society) undertook an analysis of the costs of policing immigration on the SAPS in Gauteng Province. Their finding was that it cost the province some R362,5 million annually to detect, detain and transfer migrants to Lindela.65 We also know that immigration control cost the DHA R1,8 Billion in 2009/10 (a figure that admittedly includes more than merely the deportation of foreign migrants).66 Every time a detainee becomes ill, is not treated adequately inside Lindela, and is then rushed to Leratong hospital in a critical condition for emergency treatment, (see medical concerns in Detention) the financial burden of their treatment is placed upon the taxpayer. If they were provided with adequate medical care, treatment and screening to prevent the spread of communicable disease, there would be less likelihood of hospital fees and less chance of spreading communicable diseases. The court cases that the DHA has lost and had to pay the costs and even punitive damages end up costing the department and therefore the taxpayer unnecessarily. An example of this occurred in January 2010 when South Gauteng High Court Judge 64 Musina SAPS via South African Police Service Page for Musina. http://www.dumelangmusina.co.za/?page_id=14348 65 Amit, R. (2010). Lost in the Vortex: Irregularities in the Detention and Deportation of Non-Nationals in South Africa. FMSP Research Report. Johannesburg: African Centre for Migration & Society. 1-76. 66 Gould, C., L. Landau, and C. Gould. “Counting the Cost of Implementing South Africa’s Migration Policy.” Institute for Security Studies.9 Dec 2011. http://www.iss.co.za/iss_today.php?ID=1403 41