Durban - The case of a Cato Ridge farmer trying to evict 31 refugees from his farm was adjourned indefinitely in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday after the judge chastised the farmer’s legal team for the “slovenly” manner in which the application was prepared.
Acting Judge Pingla Hemraj said she would not hear the application until such time that the application papers were in order and the proper parties were joined in the application.
Hope Farm owner, Andrew Wartnaby, has approached the court to help him evict the refugees who refuse to leave his farm.
In July last year, Wartnaby opened his 20-hectare Hope Farm in Killarney Valley, Cato Ridge, to about 143 foreign nationals, including children, displaced during xenophobic attacks in the province.
Most of the refugees are originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
According to Wartnaby’s affidavit, his wife, Rae, and their eight children (both biological and adopted) have suffered extreme emotional trauma because of the violence and aggression perpetrated against his family by the refugees after relations between them soured.
He identified one Vital Nshimirimana as the “ring leader” of the group of 31 refugees, now illegally occupying his property and are refusing to leave.
Wartnaby said in July, he made a verbal agreement with the Access to Justice Association of Southern Africa to provide temporary accommodation to the refugees while mediation proceedings took place.
The farmer said after this agreement, the relationship between Access to Justice, the refugees, government officials and the UN irretrievably broke down, leaving Wartnaby with no other alternative but to approach the court.
He said everything was going well until the refugees started to fight among themselves. These conflicts, Wartnaby said, occurred in full view of his wife and children, which caused emotional hurt and disturbance.
He also alleges that the refugees blockaded all entrances and exits to the farm, chanted and held up placards, and hurled violent threats and vulgarities at Wartnaby and his family.
After the violent altercations and threats, Wartnaby said he was forced to sneak his family off the farm and escape to a secret location to protect the lives of his wife and children, who have all been threatened with death.
In his replying affidavit, Nshimirimana, legally represented by Legal Aid advocate Ashok Kaloo, denied that the refugees had threatened Wartnaby.
Nshimirimana confirmed that he was a foreign national from Burundi and was in possession of a valid asylum seeker’s permit issued by the Department of Home Affairs.
He said he was the “spokesperson” for the group of refugees still on Wartnaby’s farm.
He maintains that Wartnaby’s application cannot succeed based on the fact that the farmer has not cited the Mkambathini Municipality, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Minister of Home Affairs as parties to the application, as these are the bodies responsible for the status of refugees.
“We are dealing with 31 people who comprise families, who will be rendered homeless if this application to evict us is granted.
“We have a basic right to dignity, asylum and protection in South Africa, as well as access to adequate accommodation. It is sad that we are faced with a situation of virtual statelessness through no fault of our own,” Nshimirimana said.
He added that the 31 refugees, which include women, children, the elderly, disabled and the sick, are currently living in makeshift tents, with little or no food to eat.
It is alleged that the children are also not receiving basic education or medical care.
Nshimirimana said the refugees were “desperate to be resettled in another safe country”.
“The government has a legal, ethical and moral duty to ensure that our placements is a top priority.
“To evict us without enforcing arrangements for our resettlement and to find suitable, temporary accommodation is prejudicial,” he said, adding that the matter should be referred for mediation before the issue of eviction is decided.
Nshimirimana revealed that he and the other refugees were victims of “heinous and atrocious xenophobic attacks”.
He said he himself survived a knife attack, was run over by his former boss with a car, and was violently beaten.
He also maintains that he and the other refugees helped Wartnaby and his family on the farm, performing chores which included planting vegetables, building walls and fences, digging a river, cleaning the farm house and caring for the family’s pets.
A date for the application to be argued is yet to be arranged.
Daily News