By Lebogang Seale, Shaun Smillie, Alex Eliseev and Solly Maphumulo
Fighting back tears, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela stretched out her right hand and touched Herbert Sibanda's wounded head.
She was just one of the high-profile visitors who on Wednesday went to Alexandra police station, where hundreds of people are living - displaced by xenophobic violence which raged for four days.
Sibanda was one of about 300 people living at the police station after the attacks.
Madikizela-Mandela's unexpected visit provided, for the first time, some hope.
"Please Mrs Madiba, help us!" shouted one man.
"I am very, very sorry about what has happened. We will try to help you with what we can," Madikizela-Mandela said.
Continues Below ↓
She condemned the attacks on foreigners as acts of "pure criminals".
"These are acts by criminal elements and not South Africans. That's why even the prisons here are overflowing with criminals. They are not South Africans but criminals," she said.
A large SAPS contingent and about 200 Joburg metro police converged on the township in a bid to contain the violence. About 10 armoured vehicles were stationed at the police station.
Police threatened to respond with live ammunition if they were attacked.
On Wednesday, Alex residents awoke to the sight of fires burning goods looted from foreigners overnight. Timber, cardboard, wooden and metal bed frames, plastic buckets and dishes were aflame.
Some locals moved into shacks previously occupied by the displaced.
This was after a night in which police battled to contain hundreds of residents in Extension 7 who sang war songs and brandished weapons - going from door to door intimidating and attacking foreigners.
Two more people were confirmed killed during mob action yesterday, bringing the death toll since Sunday to five.
At the police station a humanitarian crisis played out. Hundreds congregated safely - but not without having to deal with jeers from locals walking past.
Men, women and children spent yet another day on thin blankets, huddled beside baggage containing the few items they had managed to salvage from their homes.
Congregating in small groups, the refugees talked about their bitter experiences.
Religious and welfare organisations, including the Red Cross and Gauteng Social Development, were mobbed by the displaced and bombarded with stories of how they had been brutalised.
As night fell, the SA Red Cross choir huddled in a circle and sang.
For months they've been practising, but on Wednesday they sang for a different reason - to bring relief after a day of helping traumatised and injured people.
"Some of their stories are just so traumatic, and this is how we deal with it," said Lucia Mohalanyane, a tracing officer at the Red Cross.
They had heard tales of rape, of beatings, and families divided, and singing gave them courage.
By on Wednesday, the Red Cross had registered more than 400 refugees - an increase from the day before.
A part of the Red Cross's task is to distribute food parcels and clothing donated by members of the Sandton and Melrose communities. Food, which included fruit, bread and tinned goods, was packed into plastic bags for each family.
While the Red Cross distributed food, church organisations like Rhema cooked soup and pap.
Mohalanyane said she would like to involve the refugee women in cooking and washing up.
"In my experience it helps the women as it gives them something to do and adds a sense of purpose. But for the moment the women are too traumatised to take part."
The Red Cross is also trying to trace missing individuals.
Freedom Ngubeni, the chief Red Cross spokesperson, said they knew of four people - two females and two males - who were missing.
"We believe that the women were raped, and we will be asking Johannesburg Emergency Management Services to help us trace them."
During the day, the first 47 arrested people appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court. They all pleaded not guilty and had their cases postponed.
Sapa reports that Zimbabwean nationals wanting to be repatriated should approach their consul general's office.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on May 15, 2008
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
