Gauteng may close more shelters

2008-09-02 13:19

Johannesburg - The Gauteng government will decide later this week whether more xenophobia refugee shelters should be closed, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"We only closed two shelters in Johannesburg yesterday (Monday) and one in Ekurhuleni," said provincial government spokesperson Thabo Masebe.

The SABC reported on Tuesday morning that the Boksburg shelter was expected to be closed down on Tuesday, but Masebe said this was not the case.

"We won't be closing the Boksburg shelter now. We will assess the situation in the next few days and then decide if more shelters need to be closed down."

The Gauteng government announced on Monday that it would close down a shelter in Midrand, housing about 130 people and one in Corlett Gardens, with about 110 people, and move them to one shelter in Glenanda.

Residents of the Springs shelter were relocated on Sunday. The Rand Airport shelter, housing about 1 400 people, and the Boksburg shelter, would stay open.

The Constitutional Court recently ordered that the shelters stay open until at least September 30 to give the government and legal representatives of the shelters' residents time to discuss options for those who said they had nowhere else to go.

Xenophobic attacks swept through the country in May, killing more 60 people and displacing about 15 000.

The courts were dealing with more than 400 cases related to the violence.

- SAPA