First published by GroundUp.
The priest who runs the Central Methodist Mission on Cape Town’s Greenmarket Square is concerned about the “fallout between the refugee leadership” at his church. The Reverend Alan Storey said in a statement on Friday that the leadership wrangle had caused a “volatile” and “hostile” environment in the church.
Services scheduled for the church this Sunday have been moved to Observatory’s Methodist Church.
Hundreds of refugees have been staying inside and outside the church in the city centre for months.
Storey said violence broke out on 29 December following an argument between two refugee leadership figures and the police were called in.
The opposing leaders are Papy Sukami and Jean-Pierre Balous and some refugees sheltering in the church have taken to wearing T-shirts supporting one or the other.
Both men were arrested in recent days – Sukami for robbery and Balous for assault. Sukami was released on bail on Thursday, while Balous appeared in court on Friday and was granted R2,000 bail on condition that he not enter the Cape Town central business district without permission.
“As a church we cannot provide sanctuary to violent groups,” said Storey. “Nor are we equipped to deal with them. It is within this context that, as a church, we will now pursue other avenues to address the situation.”
The refugees have been protesting their plight for months — initially outside the UN High Commission for Refugees offices on St Georges Mall, from where they were forcefully removed in chaotic scenes on 30 October.
After the UNHCR melee, many of the refugee families took shelter at the Methodist Church.
They are demanding to be resettled, as a group, in another country – a demand that nearly all parties trying to assist them describe as unrealistic.
Storey cited “ongoing health and safety risks within the overcrowded sanctuary” and a “threat of violence between the groups” as reasons for moving Sunday’s services.
He said church members had worked hard to prevent fires and the spread of disease and the refugees had been asked to “vacate the sanctuary numerous times”.
This week the refugees, led by Aline Bukuru, founder of Women and Children at Concern (WCC), have been meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs and the City of Cape Town to organise a safe temporary shelter where UNHCR and government officials can interview and screen the refugees on an individual basis.
However, JP Smith, Mayoral Committee member for safety and security for the City of Cape Town, told GroundUp a temporary shelter was “not on the cards”. – DM
