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4 000 still in Jhb shelters
01/07/2008 20:25 - (SA)
Johannesburg - About 4 000 displaced foreigners were still being housed in temporary shelters in Johannesburg, said the Gauteng provincial government on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Thabo Masebe said of the 6 000 displaced foreigners after the May xenophobic attacks in Gauteng, 4 000 were still in temporary shelters.
"There were more than 6 000 when we moved them to these temporary shelters," said Masebe.
He said some foreign nationals moved back to their homes and some were repatriated.
Masebe said the largest shelter that housed foreign nationals at present was in Glenanda on Rifle Range Road.
"The people in this shelter came from the Jeppe and Cleveland police stations. There were more than 1 000 from each police station," said Masebe.
Providing only temporary shelter
However, he emphasised that services would be stopped and tents would be dismantled "sometime" in August.
"As a government we do not want to create permanent shelter for foreign nationals. The plan was to provide temporary shelter for two months, and that period ends sometime in August," said Masebe.
He said the foreign nationals were moved to these temporary shelters as they had been kept in unsuitable places, such as police stations and government buildings.
Masebe added that the government was working with police to ensure the xenophobic attacks did not take place again in the affected places.
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