Operation Shanela nets 10 hairstylists in Joburg CBD without proper documentation

JOHANNESBURG - Some 10 hair stylists have been arrested at a taxi rank in the Johannesburg CBD.

This is for failing to provide their passports to law enforcement officers. 
 
The hairdressers were servicing their clients on Friday when dozens of police officers raided their salons and requested their immigration documents. 
 
Police were conducting Operation Shanela in the inner city to ensure a safe festive season.
 
READ: Over 120 illegal immigrants arrested in Johannesburg during Operation Shanela

In a narrow corridor at the Central Park taxi rank, there are several small hair salons with dozens of customers serviced in a confined space.
 
The hairdressers were all asked to produce their passports and most of them admitted that they didn’t have immigration documents.
 
They were immediately arrested, leaving their clients with half-done hairstyles.
 
This client whose hairdresser was arrested, is grateful she hadn’t yet paid for the service.
 
“She is my regular hairdresser. I asked her if she had a passport and she said no. I have to go to the Eastern Cape but my hair is not done because she has been arrested.”

The majority of those arrested on Friday were undocumented migrants.