Francis Hweshe
30 December 2008
Refugees at Blue Waters camp near Strandfontein said they were deserted over the festive period and had been left to go hungry.
Speaking to the Cape Argus on Monday, the refugees said they were looking to 2009 in the hope they would finally be repatriated to their homelands.
Burundian Emilienne Nikwakwira, a mother of four and a leader in site B, said there were 45 children in the camp who needed food urgently as they risked malnutrition.
"Someone had promised to do something for them on Christmas Day but they did not turn up," said Nikwakwira.
"It is like (the children don't know that Christmas ever happened," she said,
The refugees said that 2008's had been marked by hard times, following the May xenophobic attacks which drove them from their homes.
Around 600 refugees remain at Blue Waters after the camp was closed, with both the government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urging even those insisting on repatriation to reintegrate with local communities first.
Christmas was a non-event, and it was expected the same would be the case over the New Year, said Emmanuel Gasparo, who was in Grade 11 in Lower Crossroads in 2008, but had been forced to leave school after the attacks.
The teenager said he was constantly hungry and hoped to be resettled in another country where he would continue his education.
"I want my life to change, I want a better future," he said.
Some of the refugees said the highlight of the festive season was an all-night prayer session held on Christmas Day.
Pastor David Kamwanga, who conducted the service, said dozens from both sites had attended "to pray for the situation".
The church had been operating for the past five months, said Kamwanga.
Mother Maman Pelagie Minani said the church services were therapeutic, as they gave her hope to live.
A leader from Site C, who declined to be named, said they had been receiving food every Friday from a non-profit organisation.
She said on other days refugees had to fend for themselves, particularly to feed the little children.
"What we are getting is better than nothing," she said, adding that despite the challenging times they would not return to local communities.
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