'Govt did nothing to reintegrate refugees'

The government has done nothing to help victims of xenophobic violence be reintegrated into communities, the Constitutional Court heard on Monday.

All it has done is extend the deadline for the closure of the shelter camps to give refugees more time to make their own arrangements, the court was told by advocate Nadine Fourie.

It was only after a high court ruling last week that the government undertook to help those who approached it with specific needs, she submitted.

Fourie was appearing for foreign nationals Odinga Mamba, Vasch Mitabelee, Kiza Milinga Issa, Davidzo Aabidah Maduviko and the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa.

They have asked the Constitutional Court to compile and publish a plan for the reintegration of the victims of xenophobic violence within 30 days.

They have also asked the court to order the government to implement such a plan within 60 days.

The court action has given occupants of the camps a reprieve.

The shelters were to have been dismantled on Friday. However, the Gauteng department of local government has undertaken not to close down any of the six shelters in the province until the court action is finalised.

The hearings, which began on Friday, seek to determine whether the case should indeed be considered by the Constitutional Court, which is the highest court in the land, instead of on appeal in a lower court.

The court is also hearing arguments on whether it should grant the foreign nationals interim relief, even if it does not hear their appeal.

‘There is no room for arrogance’
Meanwhile, although some hostility towards immigrants in South Africa persists, many foreigners have been reintegrated into their communities, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Monday.

“Communities affected by the violence have engaged amongst themselves and, although hostility still continues in a few communities, the vast majority of those displaced have been reintegrated,” she told a conference on xenophobia in Pretoria.

“It is now time to listen to victims of violence, it is not time for us to accuse each other ...

it is time to restore peace,” she said.

Speaking of her visit to Atteridgeville, Pretoria, in March, she said she noticed that people were talking “past each other” about foreigners.

“It will take time for wounds to heal. There is no room for arrogance.”

She added that the loss of more than 60 lives in the xenophobic attacks was due to “pure criminality”.

This opinion was shared by Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, who described the xenophobic violence that started on May 12 “dastardly” and “systematic attacks” that have no place in a democratic South Africa.

He said the lives of everyone in the country, including documented and undocumented persons, have to be protected.

Pahad said most immigrants contribute to the country’s economy.

South African Human Rights Commission chairperson Jody Kollapen said although the Constitution makes provision for diversity, this is still a very “romantic and elusive” notion.

“We are grappling with who we are,” he told delegates.

He said the nation has been deeply damaged and that the stereotyping of people needs to be discussed frankly.

Marivic Garcia of the Centre for Study of Violence and Reconciliation said reintegration is a complex process that should be done properly. Xenophobia also adversely affects immigrant children.—Sapa