Cape Town – Three men are due to appear in court after one group of refugees turned on their leader, JP Balous, at the Central Methodist Mission in the CBD, accusing him of being a criminal.
The trio were arrested for being in possession of dangerous weapons yesterday, Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut said on Monday.
"Yesterday afternoon, police responded to an altercation between refugees who are seeking shelter at the Methodist Church in Cape Town.
"During our intervention, three male persons were arrested for being in possession of dangerous weapons. They are scheduled to make a court appearance in Cape Town once they have been charged.
"The situation has since been stabilised, while our members are still patrolling the area to ensure that law and order are maintained."
Balous had barricaded himself inside the church while screaming foreigners instructed police to go inside.
A spokesperson for the refugees, Papy Sukami, said on Monday: "We came here as a refugee community from everywhere outside Cape Town…
"We asked JP to lead us, but we notice we are victims here because of his behaviour.
"Since long time ago he started to abuse the power... We warned him many times. We said a leader can't be a troublemaker. You must be a peacemaker for us to find a solution…
"When the Human Rights commissioner was atttacked, he was the one who started the fight."
According to Sukami, yesterday's altercation was triggered by Balous telling foreigners there would be no church service.
"We said that is enough. This guy is misleading people because if a man is able to tell other human beings not to praise and worship their God, that is crazy. That guy can't lead us, we've had enough…
"He got the pangas… and yesterday we got a Quantum here full of guns... it's now with the police.
"So that guy's a criminal; he can't lead refugees like that. That's the reason he is always violent. So we are not going to give him a chance one more day."
Balous accused Sakumi, who he claims was essentially meant to act as a translator for a group of refugees due to him being from the DRC, "of starting to take advantage" and regarding himself "to be equal to me".
"He organised people from Kinshasa and said they had to topple me and get me out of the leadership… Just a few of them," said Balous.
One group of refugees also accused the other of being involved with illegal activities, such as robbing people in the CBD and selling dagga, EWN reported.
One man was allegedly stabbed in the head because of his affiliation with one of the leaders.