Mothers with children on their backs tried to run for cover, but fell to the ground, hundreds of others trying to get out the line of fire ended up piled on top of each other in the street, and screaming could be heard in between shots.This was the situation at the department of home affairs' Nyanga Refugee Reception Centre on Monday, when hundreds of asylum seekers, who up to last week could be served at Barrack Street, arrived and added to a crowd of at least 400 which overpowered security guards.
Police dispersed the crowd by firing rubber bullets.
After about 10 minutes refugees tentatively walked back into the street in which a number of shoes were strewn and started trying to find the ones they had lost.
Some had bleeding legs where rubber bullets had hit.
But Home Affairs remained confident that Monday's situation was "just a teething problem" and the same would not happen on Tuesday.
As of Monday asylum seekers previously served at the Barrack Street offices were routed to the Nyanga centre and this had resulted in a bigger than usual crowd.
When the Cape Times arrived in Nyanga on Monday hundreds of refugees were crowded around the centre and more were standing in the street. Police officers were stationed at the entrance.
When the crowd kept surging forward despite repeated warnings to move back, officers fired rubber bullets.
As refugees tried to run away, some fell which caused groups of them to pile up in the middle of the street.
Children could be seen clinging to their parents and a number of women with toddlers tied to their backs fell as they tried to get away.
A mother landed on her back on, with her child was tied on and so struggled to get up.
Asked if they were hurt, she started crying and quickly walked away hugging her screaming child.
"There is a problem. It seems like no one wants us here. Where must we go? We're coming here and doing the right thing. No one tells us what's going on," Carlos Mambosasa of Zimbabwe said.
"I wanted to apply for a passport. I'm five months pregnant and I was so scared my baby would be hurt," Shamso Duali of Somalia said.
An hour later smaller queues and crowds kept reforming and officers moved them back. They told the refugees to "go home" and come back to the centre on Tuesday.
Bishop Lavis police spokesperson November Filander said no injuries were reported and no one was arrested. He said officers would monitor the situation.
Said Home Affairs spokesperson Siobhan McCarthy: "All applications for asylum are now being handled in Nyanga. The offices at Barrack Street had a problem with queues because the street's very narrow.
"The crowd was bigger than usual in Nyanga and security guards were overpowered. But it should ease off," she said. - Cape Times
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