Refugee shelters to stay open

2008-08-15 16:54

Johannesburg - Shelters for the victims of xenophobic violence will have to stay open until the Constitutional Court hears the matter on Monday.

Constitutional Court judges were locked in deliberations on the matter for most of Friday, before issuing a direction at 15:30.

In it, the court advised that it would hear an urgent application, for leave to appeal an August 12 judgment of the Pretoria High Court at 14:00 on Monday.

The hearing would be limited to two issues:

• whether the application should be brought directly to the Constitutional Court, and if so, whether it should be granted; and

• whether the court should grant the applicants their urgent interim relief, should the application be refused.

No shelters closed down

"This court has noted the undertaking provided by the MEC for Local Government... and supported by the City of Johannesburg... to the effect that pending adjudication of these proceedings, these respondents will not close down any of the shelters that are the subject matter of this application."

The appeal to the court was brought by foreign nationals Odinga Mamba, Vasco Mitabele, Kiza Milinga Issa and Davidzo Aabidah Maduviko from the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa.

All of them had been granted refugee status or were documented asylum seekers, their attorney of record, Tesneem Bhamjee, noted in an affidavit to the court.

"(They) sought refuge in South Africa because they either face persecution in their countries of origin, or because their lives, safety or freedoms were threatened there," she stated.

They were challenging the Pretoria High Courts' August 12 ruling that the government was not obliged to provide victims of xenophobia with temporary accommodation for more than 10 months.

Reintegration plan

More than 60 people were killed, hundreds were injured, and nearly 20 000 displaced in a wave of xenophobic violence which started in Alexandra on May 12 and swept through the province and other parts of the country.

Six shelters, consisting of tent camps, were set up to house the displaced, who initially sought help at police stations and community centres.

On August 12, the Pretoria High Court held that plans to dismantle the shelters were not a violation of their rights. Nothing more could be expected of the government than what had already been done, the court ruled.

The foreigners have asked the Constitutional Court to order the government to publish a plan for reintegration of the victims of xenophobic violence within 30 days.

They also asked the court to order the government to implement the plan within 60 days.

Pending the implementation of the plan, they want the dismantling of the shelters stopped, and those already taken down, restored.

Provincial authorities had set Friday as the deadline for the dismantling of the shelters.

- SAPA