Court action looms as xenophobic fallout hits posh suburb

The hundreds of refugees who set up a makeshift camp in front of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR's) office in Brooklyn, Pretoria, want to be sent to new countries. But only the US, Canada and Europe will be acceptable to them.

The group is entering the fifth week of a stand-off with the UN and the government, camping out on pavements outside multi-million-rand homes in the capital's upmarket suburb, which is home to diplomats and businessmen.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn and Waterkloof Residents Association has approached the courts to have the City of Tshwane force those camping outside their homes off the street.

In a letter sent 14 days ago to the municipality, residents said their rights were infringed by protesters camping on pavements, and defecating and littering in the streets.

Attorney Derick Nel, representing the Brooklyn residents, said the city had not bothered to respond officially to their letter of demands.

"Because of the lack of response we launched an urgent court application against the city, the police and home affairs department, which will be heard on Tuesday in the high court in Pretoria.

While the UNHCR says there will be no resettlement, the nearly 700 refugees, who come from Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and the Free State, say they will not budge unless their demands are met.

The demands have been made by refugees who claim they have borne the brunt of years of xenophobic violence.

The families, from Ethiopia, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have had to rely on help from strangers to survive.

Dr Beni Mala, along with doctors from across SA, has been distributing aid, including sanitary wear, nappies, clothes and sweets. "A colleague drove past and saw what was happening. We could not sit back and do nothing," he said. "We raised money to help these people. We also hired portable toilets for them."

Nanette Kabemba bathes her son next to their tent set up outside the UNHCR office in Pretoria. (Sebabatso Mosamo)

For now, the water to bathe their infants and wash clothes comes from a fire hydrant.

Refugee leader Alex Mongo, who fled to SA in 2008 from the Congo, said they had rejected an offer by the UNHCR, the government and city officials to be placed in camps.

"We fear the camps will be permanent and we will be forgotten about," he said.

"President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africans must be kind to us, but those in his government talk about how immigrants and refugees are a problem."

Mongo said they believed they would find peace in the US, Europe and Canada.

"If people want us gone they must do to us what they did to our people in Cape Town this week."

A man sleeps on a pavement. The local residents' association has approached the courts to force the campers off the street. (Sebabatso Mosamo)

On Wednesday, police and refugees clashed violently on Greenmarket Square in Cape Town, where water cannons were used to evict refugees staging a sit-in outside the UNHCR offices.

John Kashalo, who has lived in SA since 2008, fled to Pretoria three weeks ago after he was attacked in his Bloemfontein hair salon. "They pulled me into the street, put a tyre over my neck, poured petrol on me and were trying to set me alight when a man with a gun chased them off."

He heard the UNHCR could help.

"I can't go back to my home in the Congo, but I can't live here any more either," he said. "I want to live somewhere where my family and I are safe."

In a statement, Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa, taking note of the Brooklyn residents' court application for the city to evict the refugees, called for the central government's urgent intervention.

I can't go back to my home in the Congo, but I can't live here any more either. I want to live somewhere where my family and I are safe
— John Kashalo

"This debacle extends beyond our mandate," he said, adding that the national government was responsible for managing ports of entry and refugees.

Mokgalapa said the police, home affairs and international relations departments should collaborate to collect information on foreign nationals to arrest those breaking the law and repatriate those illegally in the country.

UNHCR spokesperson Helene Caux said it was not facilitating resettlements.

"It's not a UN decision, but that of the destination country," she said.

"We recommended to these refugees that they return to their South African homes. We are working with government to assess their needs so we can help them rebuild their lives. They have refused our help."