Cape Town - The journey to freedom for a group of refugees sheltered in Cape Town’s Central Methodist Mission is only just beginning.
On Saturday, hundreds of the displaced refugees - mostly parents and children - began packing their bags in preparation to leave Cape Town and embark on a perilous walk to Namibia.
The trek to the border is a journey that, on foot, would take an average of 135 hours or just over five-and-a-half days.
This is the difficult decision the group is now faced with following a heated exchange with religious leaders, NGOs and the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) this week.
Community leader for the displaced people, Jean-Pierre Balous, said on Friday they met with a group of leaders at St George’s Cathedral, but it turned ugly when they left the venue and returned to the Central Methodist Mission.
He claims that a Congolese pastor joined the delegation and addressed the crowd who took issue with this because the man was not well respected in their community.
“When that Congolese guy stood there, people knew him very well, and they were not happy,” said Balous.
In the ensuing scuffles, bottles were thrown at the delegation as the group of disgruntled refugees surged towards the group of men addressing them.
SAHRC’s Chris Nissen and Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba sustained blows to the head when plastic bottles were flung from the crowd.
Rev Alan Storey, of the Central Methodist Mission, reiterated his plea that people leave the church and find a more suitable place of safety - which the refugees believe lies beyond the borders of a “xenophobic” South Africa.
Balous said he saw no reason why local officials won’t open the border gates for them when they get there to allow them free passage to Namibia.
The Namibian consul-general in Cape Town, Nicklaas Kandjii, heard of these bold plans to cross the border via TV news reports.
“Next week we will contact our ministry in Namibia and discuss this issue and the way forward,” he said.
Questioned about the safety of the group and the many children who would be travelling with them, Balous said it was not an issue for them.
“We are going to walk.
“If it is going to take a month of us walking, so let it be,” he said.
By late on Saturday, the group appeared to be thinning out as some families had already left the Central Methodist Church either on foot or by car.