More than 2 000 Zimbabwean immigrants are under siege again in the volatile farming area of De Doorns in South Africa’s Western Cape about 100 km outside Cape Town. The Zimbabweans are currently accommodated by United Nations and Red Cross at a local sports field after locals drove them out of their homes at the beginning of December last year. (from the Standard)
South Africans from the local townships have publicly warned the traumatised Zimbabweans that if they return to the townships, they would go back to their country in coffins.
The authorities are taking the threats seriously. Zimbabweans are even afraid to go to the shops for fear of being attacked.
While the authorities are trying their best to make foreigners feel welcome, the locals have made it clear they are not wanted.
Zimbabweans in Cape Town top the list of the most hated African immigrants.
In De Doorns the locals also accuse the Zimbabweans of depriving them of income by accepting to work for lower wages.
Vigilante groups in the townships have also warned local girls that if they are seen in the company of foreign men, they would be killed.
“We are going to braai Zimbabweans if we see them anywhere in the townships,” one of the men told a local paper.
Charles Ntsomi, the Mayor of Breede Valley Municipality which administers the farming community of De Doorns says he cannot guarantee the protection of the immigrants if they return to the townships where they stayed before they were attacked in December.
The municipality is under pressure from councillors to remove the immigrants from the sports fields. They say accommodating foreigners costs the local authority R17 000 a month. When I spoke to the Mayor he said he was preparing to re-integrate the foreigners into the community.
“My wish is to see the Zimbabweans return to their homes but we cannot guarantee them protection from attacks,” said Ntsomi.
According to Thembi Ndlovu a Zimbabwean woman who works for a local aid agency the Zimbabwean immigrants made the situation worse themselves when they attacked a resident who order led them to leave.
“I tried to warn them that beating up a local would be a big mistake but they did not listen. Today they are in trouble and living in tents and some have lost their jobs,” said Ndlovu, who comes from Bulawayo. Her organisation has been assisting foreigners displaced by xenophobic violence.
All the Zimbabwean immigrants working on the farms in the Breede Valley are from Mashonaland, Manicaland and Masvingo.
Sarah Chigumbira says South Africans hate them with a passion. “These people don’t even want to see us here. If they had their way they would kill us all,” said Chigumbira, who says she comes from Bindura in Mashonaland Central.
At a meeting to discuss the plight of the foreigners, some councillors objected to the return of the immigrants to the farms. The councillors argued that the foreigners were taking jobs meant for locals and therefore want foreigners to return to their countries.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
De Doorns xenophobia simmers on
LABOUR Minister Membathisi Mdladlana’s imbizo this week in the rural Western Cape town hit by xenophobia last year has been met with mixed feelings. (from the Sowetan)
As Mdladlana wrapped his trip to De Doorns yesterday , local people told Sowetan: Zimbabwean farmworkers must stay away, for their own safety.
Mdladlana went to see if he would solve problems related to a xenophobic attack on 3000 Zimbabwean farmworkers last year. The attack was reportedly sparked by dozens of labour brokers competing for turf and underpaying Zimbabweans.
Sources at De Doorns said the town’s ANC mayor Charles Msomi told Mdladlana it was not safe for the Zimbabweans to return to the informal settlements from which they were driven out.
And a local from the Ekuphumuleni informal settlement in the town told Sowetan that “a lot of people ... simply hate the Zimbabweans and don’t want them back”.
“It has gone beyond the point of fighting for jobs. I feel that people are happy without the Zimbabweans here ... we can meet them in town, there is no problem, but returning here would be a bad idea,” she said.
Camp life is taking its toll on the displaced people, who have been living in United Nations tents on a field for the past three months.
Desperate camp residents told Sowetan they just wanted to be compensated for their losses.
Meanwhile, Mdladlana has yet to deal with the man fingered in affidavits by the displaced people as a ringleader in the attack.
Sowetan reported last year that ANC ward councillor Mpumelelo Lubisi first allegedly incited a meeting to “destroy the houses of Zimbabweans”.
Before accompanying the attackers, Lubisi also allegedly told Zimbabweans: “You haven’t seen xenophobia yet, you are going to see xenophobia.”
As Mdladlana wrapped his trip to De Doorns yesterday , local people told Sowetan: Zimbabwean farmworkers must stay away, for their own safety.
Mdladlana went to see if he would solve problems related to a xenophobic attack on 3000 Zimbabwean farmworkers last year. The attack was reportedly sparked by dozens of labour brokers competing for turf and underpaying Zimbabweans.
Sources at De Doorns said the town’s ANC mayor Charles Msomi told Mdladlana it was not safe for the Zimbabweans to return to the informal settlements from which they were driven out.
And a local from the Ekuphumuleni informal settlement in the town told Sowetan that “a lot of people ... simply hate the Zimbabweans and don’t want them back”.
“It has gone beyond the point of fighting for jobs. I feel that people are happy without the Zimbabweans here ... we can meet them in town, there is no problem, but returning here would be a bad idea,” she said.
Camp life is taking its toll on the displaced people, who have been living in United Nations tents on a field for the past three months.
Desperate camp residents told Sowetan they just wanted to be compensated for their losses.
Meanwhile, Mdladlana has yet to deal with the man fingered in affidavits by the displaced people as a ringleader in the attack.
Sowetan reported last year that ANC ward councillor Mpumelelo Lubisi first allegedly incited a meeting to “destroy the houses of Zimbabweans”.
Before accompanying the attackers, Lubisi also allegedly told Zimbabweans: “You haven’t seen xenophobia yet, you are going to see xenophobia.”
Monday, January 18, 2010
'If they return, we'll braai them'
Two months since xenophobic attacks left De Doorns divided, the locals are adamant that they will chase the Zimbabweans out should they try to return.
Breede Valley mayor Charles Ntsomi said continuing tensions in the area meant re-integrating the Zimbabweans was not possible at this stage..
The residents of Stofland and Ekuphumleni say they don't want their Zimbabwean neighbours to return. Thousands of them have been living in tents on the town's only sports field since November.
Those who live in Stofland, an informal settlement outside De Doorns, told the Cape Argus during a visit to the area yesterday that they did not, under any circumstances, want the immigrants back.
"We will braai them and turn them into KFC if they come back. There's no place for them here," said Pastor Frans Henke on his return from a church service yesterday afternoon.
Other residents called the Zimbabweans dirty, accused them of practising witchcraft and said they offered themselves as cheap labour, leaving locals unemployed.
"They are a different nation with different cultures. I'm not angry with them, but they must go back to their own country," said Henke.
Moses Masimini, a labour broker who lives in the area, denied that xenophobia had anything to do with the fact that more than 2 000 people had been driven from their homes.
"It's got nothing to do with xenophobia. It's all about work and resources. There's no space here for them. They were never part of this community, and would never stand with us," he charged.
Those living in the tented camp on the De Doorns rugby field have accused the government of not informing them of what will happen to them. .
Mike Moyo, chairman of the committee for the displaced, said that since they were moved to the field on November 14, government and other officials had left them in the dark.
He said it was rumoured that the government had been in meetings with Stofland residents, and that reintegration had been discussed.
Besides interacting with the site manager, Moyo said, there had been no feedback from the authorities on the outcome of any meetings.
But Ntsomi said he does not know what to tell the Zimbabweans.
"What can I tell the people? It seems that reintegration is simply not possible. There is still a lot we have to do to educate locals on why the refugees are here. So we can't force them back to communities. What if people are killed?"
Ntsomi is also under pressure to find alternative accommodation for the Zimbabweans. The camp is costing the municipality R71 000 a month. And because the refugees' temporary home is the only sporting facility in the area, the sports forum is angry because the field cannot be used.
Moyo claimed conditions in the camp are fast deteriorating.
"The only thing that has changed here is that things have worsened," said Moyo. He said the ill spent their days lying in unbearably hot tents, getting sicker.
When they are weak enough, an ambulance is called and they are taken to hospital for treatment.
He said several people have contracted tuberculosis.
The Zimbabweans, said Moyo, were also too scared to venture out to the clinic for fear of further victimisation by Stofland residents. So they left their illnesses - many of which were contagious - untreated.
Many were also too weak to walk to the clinic.
Moyo said most of the workers have families in Zimbabwe whom they support financially. But because of the untreated illnesses spreading through the camp, work days are lost.
The camp is divided into sections for single women, single men and families.
Despite the attacks two months ago, people still go to work each day.
"Zimbabweans work. They don't depend on anybody. Even old ladies go to work, unlike the locals," said Moyo.
He denied they offered themselves as cheap labour to undermine local workers.
"The fees are not up to us. Labour brokers meet with farmers and agree on the amount to be paid, which we adhere to. It was like this before we arrived; we just fell in with the way things were being done," Moyo explained.
During the visit yesterday, two groups were having church services. Moyo said despite everything that had happened to them, people still held on to their faith.
"We are starting to recover from the trauma. We just want to get on with our lives," he said.
- Cape Argus
Breede Valley mayor Charles Ntsomi said continuing tensions in the area meant re-integrating the Zimbabweans was not possible at this stage..
The residents of Stofland and Ekuphumleni say they don't want their Zimbabwean neighbours to return. Thousands of them have been living in tents on the town's only sports field since November.
| 'We will braai them and turn them into KFC' |
Those who live in Stofland, an informal settlement outside De Doorns, told the Cape Argus during a visit to the area yesterday that they did not, under any circumstances, want the immigrants back.
"We will braai them and turn them into KFC if they come back. There's no place for them here," said Pastor Frans Henke on his return from a church service yesterday afternoon.
Other residents called the Zimbabweans dirty, accused them of practising witchcraft and said they offered themselves as cheap labour, leaving locals unemployed.
"They are a different nation with different cultures. I'm not angry with them, but they must go back to their own country," said Henke.
Moses Masimini, a labour broker who lives in the area, denied that xenophobia had anything to do with the fact that more than 2 000 people had been driven from their homes.
| 'It's got nothing to do with xenophobia' |
"It's got nothing to do with xenophobia. It's all about work and resources. There's no space here for them. They were never part of this community, and would never stand with us," he charged.
Those living in the tented camp on the De Doorns rugby field have accused the government of not informing them of what will happen to them. .
Mike Moyo, chairman of the committee for the displaced, said that since they were moved to the field on November 14, government and other officials had left them in the dark.
He said it was rumoured that the government had been in meetings with Stofland residents, and that reintegration had been discussed.
Besides interacting with the site manager, Moyo said, there had been no feedback from the authorities on the outcome of any meetings.
But Ntsomi said he does not know what to tell the Zimbabweans.
"What can I tell the people? It seems that reintegration is simply not possible. There is still a lot we have to do to educate locals on why the refugees are here. So we can't force them back to communities. What if people are killed?"
Ntsomi is also under pressure to find alternative accommodation for the Zimbabweans. The camp is costing the municipality R71 000 a month. And because the refugees' temporary home is the only sporting facility in the area, the sports forum is angry because the field cannot be used.
Moyo claimed conditions in the camp are fast deteriorating.
"The only thing that has changed here is that things have worsened," said Moyo. He said the ill spent their days lying in unbearably hot tents, getting sicker.
When they are weak enough, an ambulance is called and they are taken to hospital for treatment.
He said several people have contracted tuberculosis.
The Zimbabweans, said Moyo, were also too scared to venture out to the clinic for fear of further victimisation by Stofland residents. So they left their illnesses - many of which were contagious - untreated.
Many were also too weak to walk to the clinic.
Moyo said most of the workers have families in Zimbabwe whom they support financially. But because of the untreated illnesses spreading through the camp, work days are lost.
The camp is divided into sections for single women, single men and families.
Despite the attacks two months ago, people still go to work each day.
"Zimbabweans work. They don't depend on anybody. Even old ladies go to work, unlike the locals," said Moyo.
He denied they offered themselves as cheap labour to undermine local workers.
"The fees are not up to us. Labour brokers meet with farmers and agree on the amount to be paid, which we adhere to. It was like this before we arrived; we just fell in with the way things were being done," Moyo explained.
During the visit yesterday, two groups were having church services. Moyo said despite everything that had happened to them, people still held on to their faith.
"We are starting to recover from the trauma. We just want to get on with our lives," he said.
- Cape Argus
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Somalis' shops looted in Western Cape
Western Cape police fired rubber bullets to disperse about 400 Riviersonderend residents who went on a rampage, attacking and looting shops owned by Somali nationals.
"It was not a xenophobic attack. Residents were angry because police had found a body of a 20-year-old in the bushes. The man was reported missing in December and was last seen with Somalis," Inspector November Filander said on Tuesday.
The residents mobilised and submitted a request for a march, but the municipality denied them permission. Residents went ahead anyway and police intervened when the march turned violent and the locals started looting Somali-owned shops at 8pm on Monday.
Police fired rubber bullets at the crowd, injuring one person.
A 30-year-old woman was arrested for public violence.
About 20 Somali nationals fled to the local police station for refuge.
Police managed to calm the situation down at 10pm and they kept a strong presence in the area, securing shops owned by Somalis.
On Tuesday morning the Somalians moved to neighbouring areas. - Sapa
"It was not a xenophobic attack. Residents were angry because police had found a body of a 20-year-old in the bushes. The man was reported missing in December and was last seen with Somalis," Inspector November Filander said on Tuesday.
The residents mobilised and submitted a request for a march, but the municipality denied them permission. Residents went ahead anyway and police intervened when the march turned violent and the locals started looting Somali-owned shops at 8pm on Monday.
Police fired rubber bullets at the crowd, injuring one person.
| 'It was not a xenophobic attack' |
About 20 Somali nationals fled to the local police station for refuge.
Police managed to calm the situation down at 10pm and they kept a strong presence in the area, securing shops owned by Somalis.
On Tuesday morning the Somalians moved to neighbouring areas. - Sapa
'No such thing as Kill A Tourist Day'
Cape Town Routes Unlimited is adamant there is no evidence to substantiate claims that British tourists were attacked as part of a gang initiation dubbed "Kill A Tourist Day".
This follows international reports that actress Victoria Smurfit was told by police that the attack on the taxi in which she was travelling was gang-related.
CTRU chief executive Calvin Gilfellan said the claims were harmful to efforts to market Cape Town as a premier tourist destination.
"Everyone is linking the incident to our inability to look after visitors come 2010 (World Cup)," he said... - Cape Argus
This follows international reports that actress Victoria Smurfit was told by police that the attack on the taxi in which she was travelling was gang-related.
CTRU chief executive Calvin Gilfellan said the claims were harmful to efforts to market Cape Town as a premier tourist destination.
"Everyone is linking the incident to our inability to look after visitors come 2010 (World Cup)," he said... - Cape Argus
Monday, January 4, 2010
Arson kills Malawians
Two men burnt to death in their shack in Capricorn over the weekend and Western Cape police believe the blaze was intentional.
Muizenburg police spokesperson Captain Stephan Knapp said on Monday that in the early hours of Saturday police were notified that shacks were burning in Doring Street, Capricorn.
"Upon arrival at the scene and after the blaze had been extinguished, police discovered the bodies of two badly charred males.
"It is believed that the blaze had been intentionally started after an altercation earlier in the evening with another resident of Capricorn."
The deceased, who were both Malawian citizens, were estimated to be between 26- and 28-years-old.
A case of murder and arson has been registered.
Anyone with information can contact Detective Constable Patrick Mdokwana on 079-894-1300.
- Sapa
Muizenburg police spokesperson Captain Stephan Knapp said on Monday that in the early hours of Saturday police were notified that shacks were burning in Doring Street, Capricorn.
"Upon arrival at the scene and after the blaze had been extinguished, police discovered the bodies of two badly charred males.
"It is believed that the blaze had been intentionally started after an altercation earlier in the evening with another resident of Capricorn."
The deceased, who were both Malawian citizens, were estimated to be between 26- and 28-years-old.
A case of murder and arson has been registered.
Anyone with information can contact Detective Constable Patrick Mdokwana on 079-894-1300.
- Sapa
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