A safe place for migrants
Of the 861, 227 were children and the numbers have been fluctuating ever since.
After the xenophobic attacks which have been happening in Katlehong, foreign nationals have been left with no place to stay.
However, the metro has organised them shelters in Katlehong at the DH Williams and Tsolo halls.
Kathorus MAIL spoke to a few of the migrants at the DH Williams Hall and the following is what they had to say.
Johanna Masie, originally from Maputo in Mozambique said: “I came to South Africa in 2018. It has just been over a year. When I got here, my family and I stayed at the Mandela squatter camp in Katlehong.
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“My daughter is a year and two months and I collect and sell bottles so that I can be able to raise my child and also take care of some things in the house, such as buying paraffin for my paraffin stove.
“When these riots started, my husband and I took our daughter and we ran away, we slept in the veld for two nights before coming to DH Hall on September 5.
“What’s going on makes me feel bad, but what can we say? This is not our birth country, so we don’t have rights.
“The situation back home is bad and we don’t wish to go back.”
Celia Tsombela from Mozambique, a mother of a four-month-old daughter said, “I came here in 2013. I came to try make a living.
“The situation back home was bad. Everything was extremely expensive.
“When I got here, I settled in Phenduka, Thokoza and started doing hair for a living.
“These riots break my heart as South Africans attack us and we don’t know what it is that we did wrong.
“I don’t wish to go back to Mozambique as I don’t believe that the situation has changed. I lost almost everything that I had before I came to this hall.
“I pray that peace will be restored so that we can be able to go back to where we stayed before all these riots began.”
Luis Chauke, who is originally from Mozambique but a South African citizen who acquired his citizenship as he held a permanent resident permit for over five years, said, “I came to South Africa when I was 14 years old in 1994.
“I ran away from Mozambique just after the Frelimo and Renamo wars. I was not sure when they’d start the wars again.
“I left my family in Mozambique and came alone to South Africa as the country had just got its independence. I then thought it could be a peaceful place for me.
“I have since stayed at the Mandela squatter camp and used to work as a crane operator.
“I grew up in this country and all these attacks don’t make me feel safe at all. I’m no longer used to the Mozambican life and my parents are no longer alive.
“One of my brothers lives in Soweto and my other brothers are in Mozambique.
“I have one three-year-old child and a wife.
“My wife and I sold vegetables for a living.
“Our vegetable stall was destroyed by protesters and they also took our stock.”
Chauke said the Mandela community leader called a meeting to warn everyone about the attacks before two of the foreign-nationals, who stayed in Mandela, were burnt.
“My family and I used to lock ourselves in the house as soon as we heard that there were attacks being planned.
“A few days before people were burnt, our neighbour saw the protesters as she was coming from the shops. She then warned us and we left our house with some of our belongings.”
According to Chauke, the situation in Mandela became violent on September 2.
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They went to seek protection at the Katlehong North Police Station and slept there.
The following day the situation was slightly better so they went back to their house.
On September 4, the situation got worse. That was when they went to seek refuge at the DH Williams Hall.
“I am a permanent citizen, hence I don’t understand why I should also be terrorised,” said Chauke.
Agape Family Church Katlehong donated food and mattresses to the migrants.
The senior pastor of the church, Pastor Joshua Mtanyelwa said, “We have been donating food here since September 4. We couldn’t just sit and watch our fellow African brothers suffering.
“The main thing which drew us here were children.
“We went out to the community and to other churches to ask for their help with food donations and they’ve been really helpful.
“We have also donated mattresses to the pregnant women and children as they were sleeping on the floor.
“Some of them are even without blankets.
“I pray that we find peace and that our fellow brothers and sisters get reintegrated back into the community and that we are able to live as one as Africans. We are all Africans. I believe that the protesters and attackers are controlled by self-hate.
“It is unfortunate that we have to suffer from borders, which were created by colonisers.
“We should stop embracing borders and start embracing being African.”
William Ntladi, spokesperson for Ekurhuleni Emergency and Disaster Services said, “The metro used two halls in Katlehong and the migrants were divided according to their nationality.
“At the DH Hall most of them were Mozambican nationals and in Tsolo Hall most were Malawian nationals and Zimbabwean nationals.
“This was done for easy communication with embassies and we have to say the feedback has been good from all embassies.
“The embassies are organising transport for those who would like to return back home. For those who are not willing to go back home, the metro is in talks with community leaders and community organisations to take back the migrants to where they stayed safely.”
Ntladi emphasised that the most important issue is safety within the communities.
According to Ntladi there were 861 migrants at both halls on September 4, which was the first day the migrants moved to the safe places.
Of the 861, 227 were children and the numbers have been fluctuating ever since.
On September 10 the halls received an extra 10 from Tembisa.
“The ones from Tembisa were only fearing for their lives so they went to their local police station before being taken to Katlehong,” Ntladi concluded.
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