Last of displaced foreigners to leave Blue Waters

By Khanyisa Tabata
30 March 2010


Displaced foreigners tomorrow will be out of Blue Waters site ahead of the 31 Mach deadline when the City Of Cape starts with the process of closing down the site.

The move comes after the City successfully applied in the Cape High Court for their eviction.

City’s spokesperson Pieter Cronje says the city hopes that all of the people at Blue Waters will move voluntarily. Throughout the two-year process, the City has not used force or coercion, but persuasion, patience and assistance.

Cronje says vulnerable people and others in need of care have been identified and will be relocated to an emergency shelter at the Delft Temporary Relocation Area.

According to Cronje the city will provide life skills training to the refugees up to three hundred and forty refugees to the value of three hundred thousand.

The group numbering 404 at the start of the closure process are the last remaining people of a group of some 20 000 that were displaced during xenophobic violence in Cape Town and surrounding areas during May 2008.

“The whole process has cost the City of Cape Town nearly R200 million, with only R17 million being refunded by National Government.

Damage to the site, its facilities and equipment totaling several million Rand will have to be repaired before the site can be reopened for public use.

In granting the City of Cape Town an eviction order, Judge Erasmus commended the City for the steps it had taken to promote dialogue and help those staying at Blue Waters.