Tebogo Monama and Sibongile Mashaba
Tebogo Monama and Sibongile Mashaba
The Gauteng department of local government says it has successfully relocated 13000 displaced foreigners to temporary shelters, while 600 Malawians have returned to their country.
By yesterday, the only foreigners who still had to be moved were those accommodated at Jeppe and Cleveland police stations.
The department said only a few were at community halls in Ekurhuleni.
The foreigners at the two police stations were expected to be moved to a temporary shelter in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, today or tomorrow.
They were originally to be moved to the Old Kaserne shunting station in Benrose but the Johannesburg high court granted an interdict preventing their relocation to the site.
The court action was lodged by Doctors Without Borders and the Central Methodist Church, who raised concerns about the site's location and its conditions.
The proposed site, which is situated in a veld and sandwiched between George Goch and Jeppe hostels, was dismantled on Monday.
Local government spokesman Thabo Masebe said: "We have successfully relocated thousands of people from police stations and community halls around the province. If people choose to return to their homes then we will have less people to find shelter for.
"We are expecting to move the people at Jeppe and Cleveland police stations hopefully by the end of the week."
Masebe said that they were expecting to relocate all immigrants to temporary shelters by the end of the week.
When Sowetan visited the Rosettenville camp site yesterday, tents were still being erected.
Masebe said about 2000 people were to be moved to the site.
DA Gauteng leader Jack Bloom said: "We understand that the government is trying to help the people but they could have done better.
"How long are they going to shelter the people at these camps? Why don't they move them to Doornkop military camp? The camp has all the facilities and it will be much cheaper than setting up camps."
To which Masebe responded: "People must remember that the shelters are only temporary.
"If we move them to that kind of environment, it might cause problems when they have to be moved."
more move to shelters
Tebogo Monama and Sibongile Mashaba
Tebogo Monama and Sibongile Mashaba
The Gauteng department of local government says it has successfully relocated 13000 displaced foreigners to temporary shelters, while 600 Malawians have returned to their country.
By yesterday, the only foreigners who still had to be moved were those accommodated at Jeppe and Cleveland police stations.
The department said only a few were at community halls in Ekurhuleni.
The foreigners at the two police stations were expected to be moved to a temporary shelter in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, today or tomorrow.
They were originally to be moved to the Old Kaserne shunting station in Benrose but the Johannesburg high court granted an interdict preventing their relocation to the site.
The court action was lodged by Doctors Without Borders and the Central Methodist Church, who raised concerns about the site's location and its conditions.
The proposed site, which is situated in a veld and sandwiched between George Goch and Jeppe hostels, was dismantled on Monday.
Local government spokesman Thabo Masebe said: "We have successfully relocated thousands of people from police stations and community halls around the province. If people choose to return to their homes then we will have less people to find shelter for.
"We are expecting to move the people at Jeppe and Cleveland police stations hopefully by the end of the week."
Masebe said that they were expecting to relocate all immigrants to temporary shelters by the end of the week.
When Sowetan visited the Rosettenville camp site yesterday, tents were still being erected.
Masebe said about 2000 people were to be moved to the site.
DA Gauteng leader Jack Bloom said: "We understand that the government is trying to help the people but they could have done better.
"How long are they going to shelter the people at these camps? Why don't they move them to Doornkop military camp? The camp has all the facilities and it will be much cheaper than setting up camps."
To which Masebe responded: "People must remember that the shelters are only temporary.
"If we move them to that kind of environment, it might cause problems when they have to be moved."
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