Cape Town - A fight among refugees living in Paint City in Bellville turned bloody as one group evicted about 150 people.
Some asylum seekers were left with bruises and cuts during the violent expulsion from the tent on Friday. They have been living on Robert Sobukwe Drive outside the shelter.
The refugees illegally occupied the Methodist Church on Greenmarket Square in 2019. An estimated 600 of them were placed in Bellville.
The shelter was established under the Disaster Management Act regulations. Dutamo Azazh said cracks started to show when their leader Jean-Pierre Balouse implemented a military system.
“He was arrested for his own things, but when he was released on bail we found out that he had been lying to the committee, and to the people, and I tried to expose him. I told him we wouldn’t pay the R100 which we paid for him to assist us with the documents,” Azazh said.
“I was alerting the community and telling them we didn’t need JP’s leadership; he was making business off the refugee camp. I was one of the first 10 to be evicted. I was assaulted.”
Azazh has been living on the streets since the incident.
“No one has come out to see us, not even the City. We don’t know what is going to happen to us because the refugee camp was split into two, and the group that remains are JP’s people,” he said.
Aisha Musa said Balouse might no longer be in the camp but his influence was felt.
“There were things he was telling us, that if he came out of leadership, we are going to get hurt. He is no longer in Cape Town. We found out he went to Namibia.
“When we found out about the money-laundering business we wanted to expose him. JP took action that we must be thrown out of the camp,” Musa said.
South African Human Rights Commission’s Chris Nissen said he was informed of what happened at Paint City.
“We are going to engage with relevant organisations and take it from there. This humanitarian crisis was created by the in-fighting, and it’s about power because the group outside was asking questions about monies they paid which ended up in Congo or Namibia, he said.
“It was created by the leaders who were manipulated by people outside the country, like JP Balouse. We need the police to investigate the allegations. The people were evicted by people who are not in government.”
Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said Bellville police were investigating a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
“We can confirm that two adult males (foreign nationals) were arrested and will appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court this morning,” he said.