Civil society organisations have condemned Operation New Broom, a mass immigration raid launched by the Department of Home Affairs, for its alleged unlawful detentions and human rights violations.
The operation, conducted on 23 May 2025 in Plastic View informal settlement, Pretoria, saw over 90 individuals, including children, pregnant women and asylum seekers, detained. However, human rights groups warn that instead of “sweeping out illegality,” the government is sweeping away human dignity.
According to the coalition, families were torn apart, with children being removed from their homes, schools and communities during the detentions. Some were left without caregivers, exposing them to neglect and danger, while others were detained alongside adults in inadequate conditions.
On 21 May 2025, Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber launched Operation New Broom, branding it a technology-driven initiative to combat illegal immigration. The campaign’s first raid occurred in District 6, Cape Town, where 25 individuals were arrested for occupying restitution land. The department has emphasised the use of biometric technology to verify immigration status and eliminate fraudulent documentation.
Schreiber defended the operation: "Our message to anyone who is in the country illegally is clear: voluntarily deport yourself now, before we arrest and prohibit you from entering or obtaining legal status in South Africa in the future."
Legal and human rights violations in mass detentions
A coalition of 13 organisations, including Lawyers for Human Rights, Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, African Legal Students Association, Justice Chapter, Funanani and Centre for Faith & Community, have denounced the operation as unconstitutional and discriminatory.
They cited infants and a premature baby being held in Lindela Repatriation Centre; South Africa’s Constitution mandates that child detention should only occur as a last resort. "During apartheid, Black working-class families were forcibly separated, children were taken from parents, and people were moved like cargo, without regard to human dignity," the coalition said.
"Today, we see these practices return under the guise of immigration enforcement, with officials using dehumanising language such as ‘sweeps’ to describe the operation, reducing human beings to mere refuse."
Sharon Ekambaram from Lawyers for Human Rights further criticised the operation: "What we are witnessing at Lindela and through Operation New Broom is not immigration enforcement; it is a return to apartheid-era tactics, dressed in legal language. When babies are detained, when courtrooms ignore due process, and when foreign nationals are treated as less than human, we must ask: what kind of democracy are we living in?"
Racial profiling in immigration proceedings
The organisations said chaos continued at Pretoria Magistrates Court, where detainees lacked legal representation and were presumed guilty of being undocumented without proper verification. While interpreters were available for Shona and Sesotho speakers, language barriers left detainees confused, demeaned, and excluded from understanding their rights.
Further concerns arose over incomplete detention warrants, a critical failure that not only renders many detentions unlawful but also exposes systemic failures within the Department of Home Affairs.
Urgent call to suspend Operation New Broom
The organisations have issued a strong demand for the immediate suspension of Operation New Broom, urging Home Affairs to prioritise constitutional protections and human dignity in its immigration enforcement. They said: “This operation is not about law and order; it is about scapegoating. It criminalises poverty, polices human movement, and vilifies African foreign nationals.
"Only Black African migrants are being targeted. This is no accident it is systemic racial profiling. Migrants are being used as scapegoats in a time of political desperation. As local elections approach, xenophobia is being weaponised to gain favor with voters."
The organisations urged South Africans to reject these repressive immigration practices and hold leaders accountable before more communities are devastated.
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