DA slammed over refugees

2009-11-19 16:41

Cape Town - The Western Cape government was more concerned about the media than the well-being of the De Doorns xenophobia victims, refugee rights group Passop claimed on Thursday.

Premier Helen Zille and her MECs had not yet apologised to the refugees for the pain they had suffered, the organisation said in a statement.

"Provincial government... is concerned only for some miraculous reintegration in order to avoid further embarrassment," it said.

It said neither safety MEC Lennit Max - who had "kept busy addressing numerous media outlets" - nor Zille had visited "the site".

More than 3 000 foreign nationals, mostly Zimbabweans, evacuated shack settlements in the De Doorns area on Tuesday following confrontations with local residents, who claimed they were robbing them of jobs on farms in the area. Most of them have been given emergency shelter in tents on a local sports field.

Alarmed and insulted

Passop (People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty) said it was "alarmed and insulted" by reported comments by De Doorns mayor Charles Ntsomi that authorities were "considering" reintegrating the refugees into the community as soon as possible. His comments were reported in the Cape Times on Thursday.

"No community forcefully displaced can possibly reintegrate successfully in such a short time without a proper process for healing, counselling, and negotiations," Passop said.

It also said the Freedom Front Plus's (FFP) "xenophobic statements" on the issue were an attempt to gain political mileage.

"The lack of sensitivity to the real issues displayed in these statements is disconcerting and unacceptable."

FFP home affairs spokesperson Corn Mulder said in a statement on Wednesday that the xenophobia was "due to the government's actions" and poor border control.

- SAPA