Temporary shelters in Cape Town dismantled

The Blue Waters temporary shelter, which is adjacent to Muizenberg, is expected to be dismantled on Friday.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the City of Cape Town indicated that there were 147 people still remaining at Youngsfield, with some having entered the site in the past week with the view of receiving financial assistance.

Most of the remaining people have been given opportunities to relocate and have to date declined the assistance.

At the beginning of the closing process of the temporary shelters, there were 608 people in Youngsfield of which the majority have already relocated to their respective communities.

According to the municipality, all people who want to repatriate, will have to relocate to communities first, where the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) will process their repatriation applications.

The UNHCR has been assisting government since the outbreak of violence against people from other countries in May this year.

They have assisted those who wish to repatriate or reintegrate into communities, and have provided other assistance such as tents and technical expertise.

Once Blue Waters is closed, the provision of food, shelter and other services to displaced people by government will cease.

The matter of closing down the temporary shelters, according to the city, was repeatedly communicated with the displaced people in various gatherings.

The disaster which led to the establishment of the safety sites is over and the five month long process is wrapping up. Temporary shelters were never designed as a permanent solution.

From an initial total of some 20,000 displaced people in five shelters, community halls and only approximately 1,100 people remain, with the majority being men.

Currently, there are no displaced people in community halls.

The vast majority of the displaced people have made use of various forms of assistance to move out and to return to their countries or communities.

This includes repatriation or reintegration assistance (rental assistance from the UNHCR, a food parcel, and transport to communities). It was only a minority who refused all assistance.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews