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[FILE] KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli leads a major operation at Durban’s infamous Albert Park/Maydon Wharf intersection.
A large group of foreign nationals has gathered outside the Durban Central Police Station seeking shelter after alleging they had received threats from some community members in areas where they live.
The group includes mothers and children from townships and the surrounding parts of Durban.
Some say they spent the night outside the police station in cold weather conditions after fleeing their homes.
Wivine Bahati from the Democratic Republic of Congo says foreign nationals have been repeatedly threatened.
“The comments have been getting from the community, they are claiming that we must be out of the country by the 30th of June because whatever happens, we must not blame them.”
“We are also being told that, why are we still here, so basically it’s the same thing over and over, asking us why we are still here, that is why I am here”, she adds.
Bahati says some foreign nationals are now seeking assistance from the police.
“We are seeking deportation from the police. We are telling them that we are being threatened by the communities.”
She says some people are also facing intimidation while working.
“Some of us are doing garden work. So we are inside the garden doing our garden, and they will be screaming saying hey Sis, hey mama, when are you going back to your country so you can leave the garden for us?”
Foreign nationals claim they are being chased away and threatened
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM-iMz6CqfI
Another foreign national, Aridja Awezea, says the situation has affected children.
“I have five children, and we slept here last night, and it is not easy just to leave your home and sleep here because you don’t feel safe at home. Most of our kids now have the flu, and we cannot even go to the clinics.”
Leanne Sefu says she had no option but to sleep outside with her child.
“The reason to sleep here with my child is that I am not happy, but I had no choice, and I had to sleep with my child here, and as I am talking to you, my two-year-old child is sick, she has the flu, and there is nowhere I can go with my child.”
The South African Refugee Organisations Forum has called on the government to intervene in the matter.
Forum chairperson Jean Butoki says many foreign nationals no longer feel safe in the communities where they live and work.
“We are here for our safety, and we are not feeling safe in the communities. In our workplace, in our trading place, we’ve been chased away. Some of them have now taken over, and we have been paying the municipality for years. So we decided to come here to be safe from the police. For now, there is no assistance yet.”
