South African churches mobilize as anti-foreigner violence flares
Church and community centers have been providing refuge for tens of thousands fleeing recent anti-immigrant violence.
from the May 27, 2008 edition
Page 2 of 3
A dense, treeless expanse of shacks built of cardboard and aluminum sheeting, Ramaphosa is the picture of South Africa's continuing struggle with unemployment and impoverishment.
Last weekend, gangs of South Africans roamed the maze-like dirt streets, shouting that Africans of other nationalities were the cause of their problems, and that it was time for revenge.
"This was something that was building up," says Ms. Davids, who has lived in Reiger Park for 16 years. "Still, I'm just shocked that it happened like this."
Jean Louw got a call on Saturday. Father Hobby Kekana was on the other end of the line, asking her to come to the St. Vincent's Anglican Church complex.
He told her that hundreds of exhausted, terrified foreigners were camping on the church grounds – their only place of refuge from xenophobic violence consuming Ramaphosa.
He needed his parishioners.
Heeding the call to help
For a week, she has been cooking porridge, vegetables, ground beef, anything to feed the shell-shocked crowd – she's not sure whether to call them refugees or neighbors.
"Our hearts are just so sore," says Ms. Louw, taking a break from cooking in the church's small kitchen.
She says that she has recognized acquaintances in the crowd seeking refuge at St. Vincent's – a gardener from down the street, for instance, and the man who used to pick up the church's garbage. "You just don't know what to say."
The church courtyard today is a surreal calm; people sitting on plastic chairs, chatting quietly, playing cards, watching children make castles in the dirt.
Piles of belongings – blankets, big plaid plastic duffle bags stuffed with clothes, the occasional television or electric heater – form a hilly landscape.
Laundry hangs from the metal fence around the church property.
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