Zimpapers Logo

Thupeyo Muleya
A health hazard is looming at the two holding camps in Durban, South Africa where more than 4,000 foreigners have sought refuge following xenophobia motivated attacks on immigrants.

Two camps have been set up at Chatsworth and Phoenix area where people from Malawi, Mozambique, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Botswana are accommodated.

A visit to the two centres by a Chronicle newscrew this week revealed a shocking shortage of sanitation facilities at the centres.

There are very few ablution facilities used by both women and men. Most of the toilets have filled up and authorities are yet to act.

Very few water points were also seen onsite with most of the immigrants indicating that they haven’t had a bath for almost a week.

The area around most of the ablution facilities was littered with human excreta including diapers for babies. There was a pervading stench of urine throughout the camps.

Long winding queues of more than 600 people have become common at both centres as the victims scramble for meals.

The business community around Durban and other civic groups are providing food to the displaced immigrants.

In interviews most of the migrants said they were very anxious and wanted to return to their countries as a matter of urgency.

They said they have been living in South Africa for more than over five years, most of them legally. “We’re sitting on a time bomb. We now fear an outbreak of cholera and other waterborne diseases because of the set up here.

‘‘We’re overcrowded and are always struggling for everything including water, food, sleeping points. In some cases people gang up on nationality basis for the scant resources and many have come close to exchanging blows,” said Andrew Shumba, a Zimbabwean.

Other immigrants also complained about the unavailability of decent meals and electricity.

“We’re not happy with the situation here. We’re calling on the authorities to speed up the repatriation process so that we can go back to our respective countries. We’re not used to having one or two meals a day.

“As you can see women and men are bathing in the open, there are no proper sanitary facilities for both women and children. The toilets have filled up and life inside this camp is just unbearable and no longer safe” said Thompson Chauke from Mozambique.