“We came here for safety. If you don’t want us, don’t keep us here like animals. Send us home. We would rather die in our country, than live here like despised dogs.”
Elmy, a Somali woman at the shelter camp in Pretoria North.
Elmy is crying and shaking. She’s a fifty year old Somali woman who lost her children and husband in the civil war that plagued her home country. (For a short overview of the war in Somali watch this Youtube report.) Elmy came to South Africa ten years ago in the hope of forging a new life, but following the xenophobic violence everything she has is gone. Burnt and looted. Like the dream she had for starting over. “I beg President Thabo Mbeki to let me go. This government allowed me to come here. They let me into this country. Now they must please let me go home.”
Elmy is one of 1200 victims of xenophobic violence at a camp for refugees and displaced persons near Klerksoord in Pretoria North. The refugee camp has been in the news after some Somalis went on a hunger strike refusing South African aid. They have repeatedly called on the United Nations to intervene in their plight, saying that the South African officials and police who are supposed to be protecting them are themselves xenophobic.
Refugee holds up rubber bullet cartridge
“We have been in the cold and rain without food for four days,” said one victim. “South Africa can no longer help us because they have failed us. We believe some 70% of people in this country are xenophobic and hate foreigners. This is an old problem. It is not a new problem. We can’t even believe the police anymore. We cannot trust them. Last night they opened fire on us with rubber bullets. Some even used live rounds. They have told us that if we do not move tonight they will kill us.”
Somali man shows rubber bullet wound.
Somali refugees show box with rubber bullet cartridges.
The situation at the camp is fraught, complex and tense. There are essentially two areas a couple of metres apart on a sandy stretch of road. The one is dirty, filled mostly with angry Somali men, some women and a couple of children. These people are protesting in an appeal for UN intervention. They all view themselves as refugees and are demanding international intervention and aid. They say they will not move to the tented camp set up by SA government’s disaster management, nor will they accept any help from the South African government, South African aid organizations or local citizens. They say South Africa has failed them. They say they live in fear and that when aid workers and journalists leave at night the Metro police shoot them with rubber bullets. They say the very people charged with safe guarding them are xenophobic and want to do them harm.
News reports this week offered varied accounts of the situation at the camp.
The refugees in this area refuse aid saying that they will only trust the United Nations. Said one refugee: “Who stands for refugees internationally? Why are we not getting help? Why are we being ignored? Nobody cares for us. We are being treated like despised dogs, and we will die here like dogs.”
Live round cartridge.
Another Somali refugee, Brean, begged for Thabo Mbeki’s to do something saying: “You are our brother. When you were in exile in London you were well treated. You were a victim like us. You must come up with a solution. You must teach South Africans not to hate us. Now that the struggle is over for South Africa, have you forgotten your brothers and sisters?”
Little did Brean know that his plea would likely fall on deaf ears. Thabo Mbeki jetted out of South Africa earlier on his way to Japan, amidst mounting criticism of his failure to deal with the crisis.
Just before leaving I thought I would ask the government employed security guards what they thought of the situation. They looked smug. Almost happy. “They must go back to their country. This thing is right. The people were right to attack these aliens. They take our jobs. They steal from us. Do you know that Sunnyside is completely full of Nigerians and Somalis? This is our message to government. These people must go.”
I was taken to the refugee camp by The Institute for Islamic Services. The institute is desperately looking for blankets, utensils, plates and bowls to help feed victims of xenophobic violence. If you are in the Pretoria area and can help please call them on Yusuf Mustafa on 012 374 1584 or 072 158 4088.
If you are a member of the media or are blogging about victims of xenophobic violence, please feel free to use the photographs here. These photos are free for commercial and non-commercial use with attribution.
POST SCRIPT: This morning when I opened The Pretoria News I was reminded of how ideology shapes news, and that news is not objective despite popular opinion to the contrary. Graeme Hosken and I were at the same story, for roughly the same amount of time, however have reported on the issue completely differently. Hosken’s story is headlined Somali’s ‘profiteer’ by selling food aid. The headline states this information as fact, while the story states this as an allegation saying profiteering is “apparently” happening. While at the camp I spoke to scores of refugees of all nationalities, as well as South African guards and many aid workers. None of them reported on this issue, nor did I see any evidence of refugees selling food. This morning I clearly saw how news is ideological, to a degree is opinion mixed with fact that is largely reported as a truth. That is why when you open Beeld, The Star, Sowetan or The Mail & Guardian, the news aspects covered in this crisis are disparate. Each story is shaped by a media agenda, by what is reported on, by what is left out and how the news is reported. I will cover this in greater depth next week, when I hope to speak to experts about the media agenda. What it is and how it works. Lastly this is largely a Somali account of what happened at this refugee camp, like all news reports what must be considered is that there are many perspectives to one story.
A prince with dignity and determination
Prince Ngarambe’s goals are to become Rwanda’s first transgender model and to uplift the country’s youth
The EFF’s principles are unshakeable
Unlike the ANC, the core values of the freedom fighters do not change with each leader it elects
