Cape Town - The refugees who were moved from their encampment in Cape Town’s Greenmarket Square must be reintegrated into the communities they were in before the 2019 protest began, the acting chairperson of the portfolio committee on home affairs Mosa Chabane has said.
Chabane was speaking after he led the committee on a tour of both the Wingfield, Kensington and Paint City, Bellville temporary sites being used as shelters to accommodate the refugees.
Chabane said: “The committee re-emphasises its call for reintegration of the refugees into communities they were in before the protests. A comprehensive exit plan that includes reintegration into society must be urgently implemented through cooperative stakeholder action.”
“The committee remains concerned by the increasing number of people at the sites, which brings to question the bona fides of some of the members of the group,” said Chabane.
“The conditions are abysmal, with no social distancing and no adherence to regulations prescribed by the declared state of national disaster. The conditions place the lives of the refugees in danger and do not conform to the generally accepted living standard for human beings.”
“Furthermore, the committee remains of the view that accommodation of refugees at those sites is unsustainable especially in the context of the non-existence of an encampment policy in South Africa. The committee is also concerned by the conditions that women and children are exposed to, at the sites, hence the call for reintegration.”
Chairperson of the Wingfield group of the refugees, Papy Sukami said: “The conditions we have had since March and even before that,are inhumane. Now that the parliamentarians have seen it, we hope, there is going to be some improvement.”
“They just erected two marquees, one in Kensington and one in Bellville but with nothing inside. No mattresses, no blankets, nothing. People are sleeping like sheep, huddling together for warmth and there is no social distance,” said Sukami.
“It’s only by God’s mercy that we have been protected from Covid-19. Or else we would have died like cockroaches,” said Sukami
“The president released some disaster funding but it never reached us. Not one parcel of food reached the refugees. Where is the ubuntu?”
Cape Argus