Human rights and immigration lawyers say it is illegal for police officers to stop people and ask for identification if they do not have a search warrant or reasonable suspicion of a crime having been committed, reports the Mail & Guardian.

However, for weeks SAPS and immigration officers have allegedly been targeting those that they believe ‘look like’ non-South Africans in parts of Diepsloot and Alexandra in northern Johannesburg.

Three weeks ago, Police Minister Bheki Cele said such raids would be conducted in Soweto, Diepsloot and Alexandra. Such profiling is a breeding ground for an aggressive application of the law that ends up going unchecked, according to immigration lawyer Craig Smith.

‘We find ourselves going back to the Dark Ages, going back to times in our very dark past where you have a total disrespect of the rule of law.’

Since the beginning of the year, vigilante group Operation Dudula has been targeting foreign nationals in various townships Targeting only townships to conduct these raids is unlawful and tantamount to racial profiling, he added.

Asked what criteria the police use when deciding whom to stop, national SAPS spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili said she could not divulge operational protocol.

Human rights lawyer Wayne Ncube said these raids are illegal.

‘Police cannot go into private homes without the presence of a warrant.’

In Diepsloot this is, however, the norm, notes the report.

Full Mail & Guardian report