Cape Town - Public Works Minister Patricia de Lille and Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi have taken a swipe at the City over the recent events regarding the relocation of asylum seekers.
Mayor Dan Plato's statement on Sunday said: “The Wingfield site was identified by Minister De Lille as being owned by her Department, (despite challenges to this assertion being received from the Ndabeni Trust) and she instructed that it be used by the City for the housing of the non-nationals in our City. We immediately took occupation of that site for the purposes of preparing it for the erection of tents and basic services for this purpose, and we are doing so in a manner that ensures applicable social distancing for the duration of the National Disaster.
"We also jointly identified the Paint City site in Bellville to house the City’s homeless population and a tent was sourced by Minister De Lille’s office for this purpose.
"Unfortunately, for reasons that are still unknown to me, the removal of the refugees from the church at Greenmarket Square on Thursday carried out by SAPS, was premature and did not conform to our agreement in this regard. The Wingfield site was not yet ready for occupation and the church refugees were moved to the Paint City site by SAPS without the City’s agreement, while that site was also not yet ready.”
In a joint statement released on Sunday, the ministers said Plato’s statements are untrue.
“The removal of the asylum seekers and refugees from the Central Methodist Church and Greenmarket Square has been a subject of two court judgments issued on 17 February 2020 and 17 March 2020. In all instances, the City of Cape Town failed to enforce its by-laws even after being ordered to do so by the court.
“It is this dragging of feet by the City of Cape Town that led to the hearing by the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on 10 March 2020. The Portfolio Committee instructed the Department of Home Affairs and the City of Cape Town to work out together a comprehensive plan to resolve the impasse,” the statement said.
It added that De Lille invited Plato for site visits which led to the identification of Paint City in Bellville and Wingfield in Goodwood for temporary shelter of asylum seekers and refugees. The agreement to this effect was formally recorded in exchange of letters between De Lille and Plato.
“Over and above the letter, the officials of the City of Cape Town embarked on some clandestine activities to disrupt the plan and evacuation of the asylum seekers and refugees. These activities included contacting bus operators to discourage them from ferrying the refugees and veiling threats to the provincial officials of the Departments of Public Works and Transport,” the statement continued.
The foreign nationals who have been living at the Methodist Church in Greenmarket Square and those scattered near the District Six Museum were removed by SAPS last week.
They were moved to Paint City, Bellville, where temporary accommodation for refugees was being erected last week Tuesday.
“In the circumstances, the statement issued by the Executive Mayor on 5 April 2020 is clearly intended to mislead the public about the true state of affairs. Similar statements were attributed to Mr JP Smith, Mayco Member for Safety and Security who has been distorting the facts to suit their own unknown agenda. The attitude of the City of Cape Town deserves to be condemned in the strongest terms possible. What the country needs in this time of crisis is responsible and visionary leadership and not misguided bickering,” the statement said.
@MarvinCharles17