Muslim Views, April 2020

Vol. 34 No. 4 RAMADAAN 1441 • APRIL 2020

Ramadaan and COVID-19

As part of the COVID-19 lockdown measures, thousands of homeless persons were rounded up and relocated from the city and surrounds to distant camps in Bellville and Strandfontein. On Tuesday, April 7, 2020, there was an altercation with law enforcement when some of the people at the Strandfontein camp, set up by the City of Cape Town to ‘shelter’ the homeless during the lockdown, tried to break down a fence at the camp. Many people staying in the marquees shouted that they wanted to leave, that they weren’t happy and that they weren’t being fed enough. At one tent, homeless people began attacking the surrounding fence, breaking through in places, which prompted a response from City Law Enforcement. Some officials openly blamed the media for the commotion. One said, ‘This is what you create.’ Incidentally, when the unrest broke out on Tuesday, a GroundUp reporter was the only media on site, and not identifiable as such.

Photo and text ASHRAF HENDRICKS / GroundUp

MUSLIM VIEWS WISHES ITS READERS, ADVERTISERS AND SUPPORTERS A SAFE, PEACEFUL AND JOYOUS RAMADAAN