The tented camp in Primrose, set up to house victims of xenophobia, was vacated, along with the Elsburg Community Hall, on Thursday.
The victims were either setting off back to their communities, or back to their home countries.
Const Daphney Phooko, the communications officer for the Elsburg police, told the GCN that 158 people were temporarily accommodated in the Elsburg Community Hall.
They arrived on Wednesday, April 16, many of them from informal settlements in Primrose.
On Thursday, as the foreign nationals packed up their belongings, Phooko said there were 26 Mozambicans who were returning to their home country.
“Only two of them have passports, so we are trying to help the others,” she said.
She added that the three Malawians housed at the hall were also returning to their own country, while most of the 74 Zimbabweans were returning to their communities (many were from the Marathon informal settlement).
All in all, 29 children, 91 men and 38 women were accommodated at the hall.
In Primrose, the situation was much the same on Thursday, with foreign nationals packing up their belongings and returning either to their home countries, or to their communities.
The camp, opposite the Primrose Police Station, had housed over 1 000 foreign nationals since the beginning of the xenophobic attacks, on April 16.
People were lining up for buses to transport them home.
Ekurhuleni executive mayor Clr Mondli Gungubele has expressed gratitude to the residents of both Makause and Marathon informal settlements for welcoming back the displaced foreign nationals with open arms.
“This is a very emotional moment; today we are witnessing reintegration in the true sense of the word,” he said.
“Indeed, this has been a tough couple of weeks for the city and the rest of the country.
“I must thank the President and various leaders of country, church community, civil society and all the structures that made sure that we could reach this point so quickly.”
The mayor, however, also warned that this process marks the beginning of even tougher process, that of ensuring long-lasting peace and stability in the region.
“The hard work starts now,” he said.
“We must guarantee the safety of all our communities, while coming up with a sustainable process of social cohesion among the people, so that we do not find ourselves in this situation again.”
He said the next couple of days will be a major test in determining the future of those communities that were affected by the xenophobic attacks.
“While every precaution will be taken to ensure that the violence does not erupt again, after extensive engagements with the leaders of the affected areas we are quietly confident that peace, order and stability will be the order of the day in these areas,” he said.
“We are all Africans and we must demonstrate to the whole world that we are one by living together in peace and harmony.”
While a majority of the displaced people chose to return to Marathon and Makause, a few opted to go back to their countries – a process that was facilitated by the Department of Home Affairs.
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