At least 37 people are believed to have escaped from the Lindela Repatriation Centre outside Krugersdorp in Gauteng on Sunday evening.
Lindela is the largest facilities for the holding of undocumented migrants awaiting determination of their legal status in South Africa.
Recently the centre has been in the news after reports of overcrowding emerged. Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi dismissed reports as fake.
A video believed to have been filmed over the weekend shows foreign nationals inside an overcrowded facility. It was posted on social media by an organisation calling itself the Black Power Civil Rights Movement, raising concerns over lack of social distancing.
I Promised to Expose Overcrowding in Lindela Repatriation Center today over 30 Inmates Escaped from Lindela Lindela has been outsourced again when was the tender advertised @HomeAffairsSA @MorningLiveSABC @SABCNews @eNCA @PresidencyZA @GCISMedia pic.twitter.com/T8mYa6uBdU
— BLACK POWER CIVIL MOVEMENT (@Black_P_Civil) May 5, 2020
Motsoaledi says regulations are being adhered to at the centre.
He says, “The Department of Health has just been there recently. They actually screened all of them and even sent those who are suspicious for testing, all of them were found to be negative and they were provided with sanitisers and masks.”
South Africa is currently under Level-4 lockdown and the government has asked citizens to continue abiding by the regulations.
Everyone is now expected to wear a mask when they leave home.
Motsoaledi is at centre following the escapes.
He says this was an inside job.
In the video below, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi addresses the issue of the escapees
Below is a graph with Level-4 lockdown regulations:
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