What was supposed to be a peaceful march by March and March through Che Guevara Road on Thursday descended into chaos when refugees were pelted with rocks and other objects.
The demonstration, organised by the anti-illegal immigration group, saw members lying on the ground and claiming they had become refugees too, while the eThekwini Municipality mayor, Cyril Xaba was chased away by members amid escalating tensions.
The group’s leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, warned protesters against approaching police, claiming that officers were armed and had tear gas.
Police in the crosshairs
“Don’t come close to the police. They like shooting people in South Africa. They are scared of their friends, the NGOs who have gathered here,” Ngobese-Zuma said.
She alleged that the police presence had been requested by organisations supporting the refugees.
“These police officers are here because those people wrote a letter saying they should come. I don’t want you to fight them because they have set a trap for you. They have tear gas and firearms,” she said.
Ngobese-Zuma also blamed President Cyril Ramaphosa for the Marikana massacre and questioned whether the activities at the makeshift refugee camp complied with municipal bylaws.
Image: Leon Lestrade / ANA Studio
“That’s because of your president who caused the Marikana massacre… According to the municipal bylaws, what they are doing by staying here is not allowed,” she said.
As tensions continued to rise, Ngobese-Zuma challenged men who had allegedly threatened her and called on women and children to leave the area.
“To the man who threatened me, he should come over. We want all the men who threatened us to come forward. The women and children should leave this area,” she said.
She also questioned why refugees were allegedly being protected from accusations of criminal activity.
“You don’t protect the community from them when they are mugging people. What kind of refugee swears at you, takes out money and says they’ll bribe the police?” she asked.
She told IOL that the refugees should have been protected by the police from the objects that were thrown at them.
Refugees head to Lindela
Earlier on Thursday morning, Princess Adjei, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said refugees were being taken through a verification process at Home Affairs before being transported to the Lindela Repatriation Centre.
“People are going inside Home Affairs and coming out for verification as they are taking us to the Lindela Repatriation Centre for shelter,” Adjei said.
She said she would also go to Lindela, claiming the refugees had little choice because they did not feel safe at the makeshift camp.
The move to take the refugees to Lindela was confirmed by Xaba.
“They have been given the option to go to Lindela. What is required now is the logistics to take them there,” Xaba said.
He said Home Affairs was conducting verification checks before the refugees could be transferred.
“So what Home Affairs is doing now is checking and verifying them before they can transfer them to the centre,” he said.
Xaba said he expected to receive the final verification report by the end of the day, after which a decision would be made on when the refugees could be transported.
Human rights concerns
Alim Leung, a member of the Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign, said she was at the scene as a human rights monitor to ensure the refugees’ rights were protected during the planned march.
“I’m acting as a human rights monitor to ensure that the rights of the refugees are protected against any March and March activity today,” Leung said.
Leung raised concerns about the decision to offer Lindela as accommodation, alleging that the facility had previously been refused by the refugees because of its reputation as a deportation site and reports of human rights violations.
“Lindela was offered to these refugees when they were first dumped at Home Affairs by the mayor, which at that point was refused because of the fact that Lindela was known to be a deportation site and there were many reports of human rights violations there,” she said.
She questioned whether the refugees’ rights and basic needs would be protected if they were transferred to the centre.
“My only concern is that, wherever they are placed in Lindela, are their rights going to be protected? Will they get adequate shelter, food, water and medication? And will their documentation still be upheld? Because these are all documented refugees and asylum seekers,” Leung said.
Solidarity with refugees
Elana Bregin, who was at the demonstration in solidarity with the refugees, said the situation should concern South Africans because anyone could potentially become a target.
“I’m here today because these people need our solidarity. So many South Africans think that what is going on with the legitimate Congolese and other refugees who have verified papers has got nothing to do with them,” Bregin said.
“It’s got everything to do with them because it could have been any of us that was targeted. These people were targeted because they were the most vulnerable and they made the best scapegoats, so that people don’t have to think about who is really responsible for the joblessness and the homelessness and all the other troubles of SA, because those people are too powerful to go after,” she said.
Bregin also argued that South Africans needed to embrace diversity rather than treating people from different backgrounds as outsiders.
“You can’t live like that because diversity is what feeds in, different skills and different strengths. We have to get over this thing that everybody else is non-belonging and only us has the right to be here,” she said.
The group handed the memorandum and complaints at the Umbilo Police Station.
