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THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 10 2012 21:38 | LAST UPDATED Feb 10 2012 21:38 |
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A Somali resident of Cape Town's Blue Waters shelter for refugees disappeared when he went swimming in False Bay near the shelter on Saturday, a City of Cape Town spokesperson said. The man, in his 20s, went swimming with two other residents of Blue Waters when he disappeared. He was not found in a search by police divers and the National Sea Rescue Institute, but the search would resume on Sunday, spokesperson Pieter Cronje said. Earlier on Saturday, relocation of the people displaced by xenophobic violence in the Cape Town area continued, with residents of some camps being moved to Blue Waters, Cronje said. About 200 people would be relocated, Cronje said, and, because most were Muslim, they would be allowed to stay until at least the end of Ramadan. The city had arranged facilities for people within the safety zones to observe the holy period, he said. About 58 people from Chrysalis manor community hall two from Solomon Mahlangu settlement and a group from Soetwater were expected to move. They would live either in tents provided by the United Nations or in formal structures. After that, the City of Cape Town hoped to be more "persuasive" than "forceful" in closing the camps. By Saturday evening everybody had left the Soetwater camp, Cronje said. About 30 people stayed behind at the Chrysalis community hall. Cronje said reintegration was going well, with communities like Masiphumelele welcoming residents back and apologising to them.  CONTINUES BELOW Many had moved into one of the approximately 220 informal settlements around Cape Town that house about half-a-million people. However, a letter claiming to be from a group of people associated with the National African Chamber of Commerce and warning Somali residents to move on the grounds they were taking business away did not help, Cronje said. "It is unacceptable and it bedevils the situation," said Cronje. He understood that a case of intimidation had been opened with police, but it was not known how this case was progressing. Thousands of people across the country were displaced by xenophobic violence in May, which also left more than 60 people dead. Shelters in Gauteng are also gradually closing and consolidating. -- Sapa TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
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