SPECIAL REPORT
Inside SA's simmering cauldron of hate and corruption
'I still think every day they will come for me. I’m fighting for my life'
In 2010 police in Johannesburg shot Justin Ejimkonye, a Nigerian migrant, in the leg. The reason why is unclear: It took the police 18 months to charge Ejimkonye with any crime. When they did bring a charge, saying he was carrying cannabis, a public prosecutor decided not to pursue the case for lack of evidence. The Nigerian says police shot him because he refused to pay them bribes. Similar claims of police corruption are echoed by hundreds of immigrants in South Africa. Some are resigned to paying out so they can stay in the country. Others feel powerless to act. But over the past seven years, Ejimkonye, who says he is in the country legally, has refused to keep quiet. Now he is pursuing a civil claim for damages. He says law enforcement and immigration officials have continued to brutalise and wrongfully detain him. A high court has twice ordered the police to set him free. “I still think every day they will come for me,” said Ejimkonye, 31. “I’m fighting for my life.” The Nigeri...
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