D-Day for Youngsfield refugees

The last of the refugees living at the Youngsfield Military Base are expected to move from the big white tent they have occupying as the city shuts the camp on Thursday.

The Youngsfield refugees, who have had a week to vacate the military premises, will have all municipal services stopped on Thursday.

Last week, after the last members of the remaining group of refugees occupying the Blue Waters camp were evicted, refugees at Youngsfield were offered a R1 000 payout to leave the camp.

All but one of the 64 Youngsfield occupants accepted the offer.

Denzel Abdulkadir, from Somalia, said he had refused the cash payment because it would not sustain him.

Abdulkadir recently underwent appendix surgery, and was admitted to hospital for five days.

"Places need rent, and I can't give R1 000 to my landlord. What will I eat?"

He said he wanted to go home to Mogadishu.

He had no immediate plans for accommodation, but would head to the Cape Town Refugee Centre to inquire about repatriation tomorrow.

Abdulkadir said he was unhappy about the way things were handled.

"In the beginning they looked after 20 000 people. This is a small group of people, why can't they help us? It's unfair."

The majority of the refugees had already packed their belongings and left Youngsfield by midday yesterday.

A group of about 15 people, comprising two families and individuals, said they still had no place to go.

Today the city was expected to dismantle the tent that has been home to the refugees for close to two years.

City spokesperson Pieter Cronje said the remaining 15 refugees would be supplied with transport to whichever areas they wanted to go to in the metropole.

Regarding the final closure, Cronje said: "That would mean that the last of the 20 000 (people) displaced by the May 2008 violence won't be there any more."

This month marks two years since xenophobic violence flared in the Western Cape.

On May 22, 2008, thousands of foreigners fled informal settlements in droves and settled in safety sites set up by the city, assisted by some provincial government departments and NGOs.

Last week Blue Waters was shut, and a group of 39 refugees living on an open field at the site were arrested for trespassing when they refused to leave the camp.

The 39 refugees were jailed for two days, then released last Friday following a court appearance.

They have since been staying in the parking area of a state-owned building, formerly known as Custom's House on the Foreshore.

Today will be the sixth day the group will spend in the parking area. They said they will report to the Cape Town Refugee Centre tomorrow to inquire about repatriation options.

Meanwhile, in De Doorns, about 1 000 refugees are still sleeping in tents on a rugby field after being driven out of the informal settlements there earlier this year.

Local farm workers had accused the group, mostly Zimbabweans, of stealing their jobs.

As of Thursday, the De Doorns site will be the only remaining safety site in the province.

- Cape Argus

'It is better to go home and die'

Some of the refugees facing eviction from the Blue Waters safety camp say that they would rather be deported than continue to be "harassed and intimidated" by the City of Cape Town.

"It is better to go back home to go die there," said Marcel Mahele, 26, originally from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.

On Monday city metro police arrived at the camp to dismantle makeshift structures that some refugees had erected on Sunday night.

City of Cape Town spokesman Pieter Cronje said they were keeping a close eye on Blue Waters for the eviction of the remaining refugees.

He said the city had obtained an eviction order from the High Court, Cape Town to compel the remaining refugees to leave the Strandfontein camp.

Those refugees who have remained behind are waiting for the Sheriff of the High Court to arrive at Blue Waters to serve the eviction notice, which came into effect on March 31.

Cronje said that basic services would be delivered until the eviction notice was exercised.

There were only 153 tents left at Blue Waters. All other tents and portable toilets not being used were being removed, he said.

The small community left alleged that their departed neighbours only left the camp because they had been intimidated into doing so.

The camp manager prevented the media from entering the site because he said he feared this may incite violence.

Speaking to the Cape Argus outside the camp, Mahele said he had arrived in Joburg almost seven years ago, and had been living in a refugee camp in Port Elizabeth when xenophobic violence broke out across South Africa in May, 2008.

He was moved to the Soetwater safety camp, then about three months after that, was transferred to Blue Waters.

Now, all that was left of his makeshift home was the kitchen section, but without a door.

Mahele had refused to leave his home. But he said he was left bleeding when he clung to a blanket as metro police dragged him out before they pulled down his tent home, he claimed.

"Tonight, I have to go sleep with some other friends. The wind is blowing, it is not safe for me to stay here," he said.

Mahele said city officials came knocking on Monday, but had refused to identify themselves.

He said they were there about the pending evictions, but had not shown him any court papers or a notice for his removal.

Tony Shoku, 29, also from the DRC, fears that his home will be next.

"We want a safe place, but we keep on being told we are (living) here illegally," he said.

Shoku has lived at Blue Waters since being moved from his home in Samora Machel in Nyanga, when the xenophobic violence broke out.

"We fear they will come to evict us. But they must evict us to our country - to the border - full eviction," he said, adding that he and other refugees were in danger outside the fences of the camp.

Shoku said they had been promised integration, repatriation and resettlement.

"We are waiting to be resettled. We stay here. We want a solution. We are not fighting for land or money," he said.

Bryant Mushishajay, 22, from Burundi, said he did not know where he was going to spend the night as his belongings had been left uncovered and exposed in the middle of the camp.

"I didn't take any money or rob anyone, and now I don't have a house," he said.

Mushishajay said the city was telling lies and evicting everyone in small groups at a time.

- Cape Argus

Eviction on the card for Youngsfield refugees

While refugees living at the Blue Waters safety camp anticipate eviction this week, the fate of those still remaining at the Youngsfield military base hangs in the balance.

This week the Sheriff of the Court is expected to execute an eviction order that will see the remaining 187 foreign nationals still occupying the Blue Waters site leave the premises, while the camp closes for repairs.

Meetings were expected to be held today between the city, police and the sheriff to discuss the move.

Meanwhile, those who settled at Wynberg, at the Youngsfield military base, are expected to continue living there until the landowners institute similar legal proceedings.

The camp is situated on land owned by the SA National Defence Force, but the city has been supplying basic services.

Youngsfield's Colonel Pieter Kobbie said that their "legal people are handling matters", and that it appeared that a similar eviction process may be on the cards.

He said the defence force was not obliged to provide services to the refugees, and that the land had been offered "in good faith" during the xenophobic attacks. It was intended to be used for a short period only.

While the camp did not have much to do with the base, it was "not an ideal situation" because it was a military facility.

The city has provided basic services to both camps.

The xenophobic attacks forced more than 20 000 refugees from communities nearly two years ago.

Five safety sites were set up. The others were at Soetwater near Ocean View, Silwerstroom near Atlantis, and Harmony Park near Strand.

There were 461 foreign nationals at the Blue Waters and Youngsfield safety sites.

The five camps were whittled down to two and today, 22 months on, 187 refugees remain camped at Blue Waters and about 64 at Youngsfield.

Those remaining at Blue Waters have refused to accept the skills training, trauma counselling or pro rata payment of R1 000 for reintegration purposes, offered to them by the city.

Last week about 30 families in both camps, identified as "vulnerable" by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, were moved to Blikkiesdorp in Delft.

- Cape Argus

Zim man stoned to death

A dedicated father has been stoned to death for being a Zimbabwean.

Those who knew him say Sergent Kanyimo was a quiet man whose only passion was his wife and five children back home in Zimbabwe.

The xenophobic attack happened in the early hours of Good Friday in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein, as Sergent left for work in Simon's Town.

Homeowner Maduna Mwahla, 56, says she was shocked to see the bloodied man in her yard.

"It just doesn't make sense. Why would one kill a man simply because he comes from another country?" she asks.

She says she heard a stone hitting her house then peeped through the window and saw Sergent sprawled on her doorstep.

"They hit him with a hammer until he fell down - he stood up but they hit him repeatedly until he could stand no more," she says.

But witnessing the murder is the least of Maduna's worries - she is scared Sergent's spirit will haunt her home and begged his family to conduct a ritual to cleanse it.

"Before they leave, they must say to him: 'Now we are collecting your body and we are taking it back to Zimbabwe'," Maduna says.

"I'm worried that his soul will roam around and cause bad luck."

A 22-year-old witness to the attack says Sergent's death is xenophobic.

"They [the attackers] said they wanted to rid our area of foreigners - and it hurts because I know him personally," she says.

Sergent's brother-in-law Adam Chairi, 22, says the older man hated alcohol and kept to himself.

"All he cared about were his five kids and wife he left in Zimbabwe," says Adam.

Police spokesman Captain Gerhard Niemand asks anyone with information on the attack is urged to call Kraaifontein Police Station on 021 980 5500.- Daily Voice