Paint City refugees anger taxi bosses
TENSION is brewing at Paint City, in Bellville, as it comes to light that the site occupied by refugees was intended for use by minibus-taxi operators who are now demanding it back.
The City's law enforcement had to intervene at the site on Tuesday after a stand-off between the taxi operators and refugees.
Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers were relocated temporarily to Paint City and Wingfield in Kensington because of the Covid-19 lockdown. As lockdown levels were lowered, traffic and congestion increased in the vicinity because minibus taxis had to wait in adjacent roads because of the occupation at the site.
According to the transport Mayco member, Felicity Purchase, tensions arose after the City tried to remove a fence around the tent to make space for the taxi operators.
“The City reclaimed a portion of the land by way of a temporary fence, called a speed fence, to provide a holding area for minibus taxis at the site. This was much-needed because the surrounding roads became very congested,” she said.
Purchase said several attempts to have the fence removed had failed because the refugees protested. She claimed there was no authority in place to keep the fence up, and it needed to be removed as a matter of urgency.
Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association (Cata) spokesperson Mandla Hermanus urged the government to speed up the process of removing the refugees.
“We have been using that site as our holding area for years. We cleaned it up and maintained it.
“The occupation of the refugees is highly affecting us because now our taxis have to park by the residential area where Codeta does, which could cause problems. The taxi rank is full to capacity, and the government needs to urgently make an alternative (plan). We have been patient and understanding for a long time now,” said Hermanus.
Hafiz Mohammed, one of the leaders at the Paint City site, said they needed the fence for safety, especially for children, and they were not going anywhere unless they were resettled to a “safe” country.