Cape Town - Public Works Minister Patricia de Lille has accused mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis of shifting the blame for who is responsible for making arrangements for the relocation refugees at Wingfield Military Base in Kensington.
This follows an apparent video where Hill-Lewis is allegedly recorded, saying the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, and Home Affairs were responsible for the matter.
The video has since been taken down by the DA from its social media platforms, according to De Lille.
She said the tent was erected at the City’s request and expense on a temporary basis in March 2020.
But the City said it neither owned, operated or bore the costs of the Wingfield refugee site any longer.
The refugees were relocated to the camp during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, following weeks of protests outside the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
A number of refugees at the site have since been repatriated to their countries and others reintegrated to nearby communities.
A blame game has now ensued on who is responsible for the relocation of those remaining on the site.
De Lille said: “The City was granted permission to house foreign refugees and homeless people in tents bordering Kensington on condition that the land was vacated and restored to its original condition within a month of the lifting of the Covid State of Disaster. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has recorded a video falsely claiming that the national ministers of Public Works and Infrastructure, and Home Affairs ‘are responsible for this issue’.
The tent was erected at the city’s request and expense. The mayor must sit down, stop the lies, and do his work.
He’s had more than enough time since the lifting of the State of Disaster to make alternative arrangements to accommodate the people living in the Kensington tents.”
City spokesperson, Luthando Tyhalibongo however said the site was the responsibility of the national government.
“This is the responsibility of the national government, specifically the owner of the land – the Department of Public Works – and the Department of Home Affairs. The national Department of Public Works offered its Wingfield site to relocate the refugees from the unlawful occupation at Green Market Square. At the request of DHA, the City assisted at the time with the initial site set-up and costs. Once the site was established, ongoing inter-governmental discussions resulted in an agreement that DHA would initiate a programme of repatriation and/or reintegration.
On this basis, the DHA assumed full operational control for the sites accommodating refugees.
“Accordingly, national government bears the costs and, as the owner of the site is responsible for any rehabilitation of the site once vacated,” he said.
The DHA said a provincial joint operations committee (ProvJoints), chaired by SAPS was now awaiting an eviction order from the Western Cape High Court to remove the remaining refugees.
This after “all efforts to assist the occupants of the temporary shelter were exhausted”.
Kensington Factreton Residents and Ratepayers Association chairperson, Leslie Swartz, said they hoped that the matter would be resolved speedily.
“The community has never ever been apprehensive nor xenophobic, but the community has always felt gutted about the fact that the residents were never ever consulted about these decisions.
We are not satisfied with the undignified living conditions of the individuals there and there are also numerous and unsightly shacks that are being erected around the tent,” she said.
Cape Times