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PAINT CITY: HUMANITARIAN CRISIS LURKING
Refugees left in lurch NIELEN DE KLERK @nielendk
A
s politicians argue over whose responsibility they are, the refugees at Bellville’s Paint City say they aren’t going anywhere. “God is keeping us here,” says Unice Akellow, originally from Kenya, who is one of the leaders or “representatives” of the group. “We just pray and pray.” The group of refugees are one of two groups who were moved earlier this year as Covid-19’s emergency measures were put into place across the country. The other group of refugees was moved to Wingfield in Goodwood.
Background Before then they were housed in the Central Methodist church in Cape Town’s CBD and on Greenmarket Square; and before that they staged a sit-in at the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The two groups became violent with one another during their sit-in in the CBD. The refugees want what they’ve always wanted – repatriation to a safe country, one which isn’t the country they’ve come from or South Africa, which they have found to be xenophobic. At the moment 638 people from 12 countries are living at the Paint City site. Among them are 238 children. No-one has a job and they rarely leave their home, for fears of the coronavirus and losing their home. They live on donations, which they say has decreased because donors are allegedly being intimidated by unknown officials. They rarely welcome visitors on the site itself, and these are mostly journalists or officials from the UN Human Rights Commission who are monitoring their safety. Detained, sanitation removed Last week the City’s health department issued a warning letter to the national Department of Public Works (DPW) for contravention of the Environmental Health By-Law. This comes after the DPW withdrew sanitation facilities at the site, forcing the refugees to construct makeshift toilets, with sewerage being put into bags or flowing onto adjoining properties.
Earlier this month 56 refugees from the site were detained by the Department of Home Affairs because they apparently refused to sign deportation papers. A total of 19 were released. The refugees currently at the site say they haven’t heard from them since. This is particularly distressing for their wives or partners and their children.
‘Bickering’ The DPW, which is run by Minister (and former Mayor of Cape Town) Patricia de Lille, has been at odds with the City surrounding the issue, drawing parliament to comment on the matter in October. The Paint City site is owned by the City of Cape Town and Wingfield is owned by the DPW. According to a report by the Cape Argus the chair of parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs Bongani Bongo said in October: “It is unacceptable that to this day, when we should be looking at concluding the matter and finding solutions, there are no collective decisions but bickering and finger-pointing, and continuing disputes about the mandate of the different spheres of government.” The Department of Home Affairs then reportedly told the committee that it was formulating an exit strategy, but that the state of disaster was having a “significant impact on plans”. Objections Richard Bosman, the City’s safety and security director, says they objected to the Paint City site being used in the first place. “The City views the DPW’s actions (to remove and try and evict refugees) as a forceful and devious attempt to strong arm the City into providing a function outside of its mandate,” he says. He says the national DPW is threatening to evict all the refugees at the site without a court order. “(This) do(es) not constitute a solution. The City remains open to negotiating a more appropriate solution on the matter through the available intergovernmental relations mechanisms,” he says. At the Wingfield site, where the City says it agreed to “limited participation” it is paying for marquee tents and amenities. V To page 2
Hakiz’Mana Resh Kavugano washes clothes outside the tent. Because space is limited and most of their possessions have been taken away, the women with families wash clothes morning and night. PHOTO: NIELEN DE KLERK
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