Residents of a Hout Bay squatter camp are harassing Ovambo immigrants, claiming that the Namibians are stealing their jobs, reports Mondli waka Makhanya
OVAMBO residents of a Hout Bay squatter settlement are living under a virtual state of siege after clashes with Xhosa-speaking residents, in which several people were injured.
Conflict has simmered in the Imizamo Yethu squatter camp for the past three years but erupted into violence a week ago when about 100 Xhosa-speaking fishermen tried to lauch a pre-dawn attack on the Ovambos, whom they accuse of taking away their fishing jobs by accepting lower wages from fishing companies. The Ovambos fought back and injured their assailants.
A peace settlement was brokered by the local civic body and peace monitors. But the Ovambos, who number about 100, say the clash was only the tip of the iceberg. They say they are harassed daily and targeted by criminals.
“We can’t buy anything because it gets taken away from you. One of our people bought a new car recently and they came and smashed it,” said one Ovambo fisherman.
They move around in groups: to walk alone would be an invitation for an assault.
“All this time we have been running and running. This time we decided that if they beat (us) we will fight back,” said Saxon Karinga, the Ovambo community’s leader.
Even the local civic has had a tough time persuading the fishermen and the community not to use violence.
“We told them not to harass the Ovambos because Cosatu was sorting out the whole problem of exploitation,” said the civic’s Kenny Tokwe. “But they say they’ve waited over five years for Cosatu and nothing has happened.”
The conflict is rooted in the steady influx of Ovambos from Namibia into Hout Bay since the late 1980s. While most have SA identity documents or permanent residency, police this week deported more than 40 to Namibia after they were found not to have the necessary papers.
The Ovambos’ arrival in the area co-incided with the establishment of the Imizamo Yethu settlement after a long struggle by Hout Bay squatter communities who resisted their removal from the affluent suburb. They moved into Hout Bay, settling in Imizamo Yethu _ also known as Mandela Park _ in dribs and drabs. It is not until they became a big group that they started posing a threat to the locals.
Local fishermen in the settlement _ who rely on jobs from the fishing trawlers which operate out of Hout Bay _ felt the intrusion of the Ovambos in their pockets.
They claim the Ovambos are often prepared to settle for as little as R30 a shift from boat owners _ almost half the normal rate. They put up with labour conditions the locals will not tolerate and are seen to be favoured for employment as hard workers by trawler owners.
“Sometimes they are sneaked on to boats at night and by the time we get there in the morning we are told the ship has left aready,” said a fisherman.
Because of their being foreigners and the fact that some of them are illegal immigrants, the Ovambos have also been less inclined to engage in collective bargaining, making them the bane of African and coloured fishermen.
The Ovambo fishermen concede they work for less, but say they came to Hout Bay to work and not to argue with the white man.
“Dis die baas se skip en die baas betaal as hy wil (It’s the boss’ ship and he pays as he likes),” said Paulus Kabinda.
The strained relationship has bred intolerance and prejudice. Rumours do the rounds that some of the Ovambos are former Koevoet members who fled Nambia after its independence. Some local residents refer to them as “those black people” _ a reference to their much darker complexions. They are accused of promiscuity and winning local women over by flashing R50 notes in shebeens. They are derided for having poor manners and showing no respect.
But they want to stay. Said Paulus Kabinda: “We are South Africans. Some of us have got children here now and we are going nowhere else.”