"Why are we being treated like animals?"

THE first thing one senses when entering the refugee camp at the Glenvista rifle range in Johannesburg is, isolation. Here is a group of destitute foreigners who are in South Africa because they fled their respective countries because of either war, famine or whatever other problem that the African continent has inherited, and they come to our country, only to be treated like a distant cousin.
When the xenophobic attacks first broke out, I felt ashamed as a South African, but when I visited the camp and saw a one month old baby wrapped in nothing but a dirty rag, I felt ashamed as a human being. As I was walking around the camp I was drawn by the sound of a crying infant and upon further inspection I saw a mother and her three infants sitting around a camp fire with two pots on the fire. The mother told me that she’s preparing their first meal of the day (it was approximately 11am) and her infant was crying because she was hungry. It took everything in me not to break out in a sob right there in front of them, so I just walked away. The majority of the people said they had opted to cooking their own food because the food provided at the camp gave them diarrhea.
I came across a teenager who was carrying two knitting needles and wool. She’s a grade 8 student in a school in Pretoria and she said they were given the needles and wool by the Red Cross to keep them busy. She was knitting herself a scarf for winter. But before I could escape she asked me, “Why are they doing this to us? Why are they treating us like animals?” I didn’t know what to say, so I just looked at her and assured her that things will get better and everything will be back to normal soon and she could go back to school.
I certainly hope that something will be done to remedy the situation; either by being integrated back to their old communities or improving their current living conditions.

WOH! WOH! WOH! IS SOUTH AFRICA OUT OF THE AFRICAN MAP?

There are about three thousands people from different African countries who are sttaying in a refugee camp at the Glenvista rifle range in Johannesburg following xenophobic attacks. When you arrive at the camp, you see white tents which are in close proximity and people moving up and down and their faces show alot of crisis. The camp is closed with a wirefance to protect the refugees. I spoke to Simon Muchangazike from Zambia and he told me that South Africans attacked them and they said they must go back to their countries because they are foreigners. He said they call them KWEREKWERE. Simon further said that he has been living in the country for more than six years, but this year he was attacked by the same people he called his friends and the people who were working for him. Simon said he had a photocopying and photo studio but all his equipment was stolen by his workers. He said he has a wife and child but his wife is back in Zambia but his baby is still in South Africa. He carried on to say that there is not enough food and not enough blankets to sleep and its cold because its winter. Simon said they feed them expired food and if they are sick they give them expired tablets. He said they want to go back to their countries. I also spoke to Mzilakaweh Folochawye from Gana told me that he was in love with a South African lady and she took all his staff and money and said she will kill him if he doesn't go back to his country. Life is really bad there as they sleep together in the tents and there is no privacy, they bath infront of others and even toilets are closed together. Some of the refugees drew a replica of the African map, but showing South Africa as not being part of the continent. Many of those people are skilled, one of them told me that he is an aeroplane engineer and is afraid that he has lost his job. The refugees said they don't want to stay in South Africa anymore, even if you can promise them one million rand NO NO NO. They want the South African government to take them back to their countries because South Africans call them MAKWEREKWERE.