Isipingo, KwaZulu-Natal - The desperate cries of a young child can be heard across a transit camp hastily established near Isipingo.
They’re a haunting reminder that within this tented environment, fear and isolation are part of an unfolding human tragedy marked by xenophobia and violence.
The camp has been set up to secure the safety of 240 displaced foreigners, whose hopes for a new beginning in Kwa-Zulu-Natal have been dashed.
Attacked in Isipingo this week, they sought refuge at the local police station. Then they were moved to the camp.
Angry locals claimed the foreigners were taking their jobs and involved in crime.
The foreigners say they had to leave their countries and were simply looking for a better way of life for their families.
Adding fuel to the fire, according to some, was King Goodwill Zwelithini suggesting recently that foreigners involved in crime should be deported.
Social Development MEC Weziwe Thusi said the camp’s location was being kept secret to avoid further violence.
She said the foreigners were being housed in two large marquees, one for men and the other for women.
“They will be provided with three meals a day, with food donated by volunteer organisations,” she said, adding that the plan was to eventually send the foreigners back to the community.
“Meanwhile, we need to engage local communities and ensure the reintegration of the foreigners is peaceful.”
She said the Department of Home Affairs had already started a process of verifying documents.
The situation reached a climax on Monday when local workers accused businesses in Isipingo of hiring foreigners to replace local workers involved in industrial action and wage disputes.
Ethekwini deputy city manager of community and emergency services Musa Gumede confirmed workers in the Isipingo area were upset that foreigners undermined their job security.
It is understood that the aggrieved locals were engaged in continuing industrial action over wages when businesses started using foreigners to replace those taking part in the strikes.
Steven Pillay, human resources manager of Jeena Wholesalers, one of the companies accused of hiring foreigners, said that the rumours that they were hiring foreigners were not true.
“All I can confirm is that there is a court order against the union representing the workers. This is as a result of threats against customers and workers who did not take part in the action.”
But the real human drama is in the camp.
An asylum seeker, Kabango Hussein Ocean, 29, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said he was hit on the head with an iron rod while working at his family’s hair salon in Isipingo.
“I had to run for my life. People screamed at me ‘go back to your country - even the king says voetsak’.”
Ocean says he has legal documents that allow him to stay.
Trying to comfort her crying child, Adibisho Seza Oliver, a 29-year-old mother from the Kivu province of the DRC, said: “I came here to live a better life. I did not expect this madness.”
Religious leaders and politicians have been hard at work trying to prevent any further flare-ups.
SAPS spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, said the situation was under control with mobile units set up to patrol the area and ensure the safety of all concerned.
Sunday Tribune