Nigerians are among over 200 foreigners living in desperate hardship, following an outbreak of fresh xenophobic violence in South Africa. The foreigners fled their homes last and are taking refuge in an old hotel in Grahamstown. As at Monday, many who could not wear their shoes before fleeing were seen wandering around barefooted.
A Grahamstown anti-xenophobic group has sprung up to respond to the sudden outbreak of violence that took police by surprise. Violence reportedly broke out after locals accused a foreign businessman of targeting people for fetish purposes.
Police said several hundreds of homes and shops were destroyed.
Grahamstown anti-xenophobic group spokesman, Matthew Mpahlwa, was quoted by timeslive.co.za as sying 456 foreigners were displaced but 188 had been taken in by friends and family. There were about 20 children sheltering at the hotel.
Another member of the group, Anjum Naveed, a medical doctor, said threats that mobs would move on the hotel had forced some of the refugees to move on.
Mpahlwa said there was a shortage of blankets for the groupfrom Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Mali, Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh. He said food was also running out.
Lucy Grinker, a 19-year old journalism student, who visited the refugees on Sunday, said people were still wearing the clothes they had on five days before.
She said: “The hotel owner has been feeding people from his own pocket. People need clothes, food, toiletries and soap.
“They looked morose. They do not know what their future holds. They were just sitting around looking traumatised.”
Mpahlwa said it was still not clear when the foreigners would return and be reintegrated into the communities they fled because they feared for their lives
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