Francis Hweshe
2 January 2009
Hundreds of refugee mothers across the Cape Flats may be off to a better start in the new year as they are set to receive milk formula for their babies.
Braam Hanekom, chairman of refugee lobby group, People Against Suppression, Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (Passop), said leading food company Tiger Brands had donated large quantities of the product to his organisation for distribution to the mothers.
Refugee mothers living in communities such as Khayelitsha, Du Noon, Masiphumelele near Simon's Town and Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay were to benefit, said Hanekom.
Some of the donated product would also be distributed to needy South African women with babies.
The distribution was planned for New Year's Eve.
Hanekom expressed gratitude for the gesture as he said the donation would go a long way towards helping refugee mothers, particularly those who were displaced in the May xenophobic attacks last year.
Meanwhile, refugees at Blue Waters camp near Strandfontein said there was nothing to cheer about in 2009.
They have repeatedly called on the authorities to repatriate them to their home countries or allow them to be resettled in other countries.
About 600 refugees remain in that camp as they have refused to reintegrate into communities they fled, although the government and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have encouraged them to do so after the official closure of the camp.
The refugees said they feared renewed attacks if they returned to local communities.
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