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Namibians Caught Up in Violence

The Namibian (Windhoek)

NEWS
29 May 2008
Posted to the web 29 May 2008

By Denver Isaacs

THE Namibian High Commissioner in South Africa is expected to fly to the
Western Cape today to look into complaints by Namibians there who say they have
fallen victim to anti-foreigner attacks.
Commissioner Phillemon Kambala yesterday told The Namibian that his office was
still verifying the authenticity of a letter received earlier this week, which
called on the Namibian Government to help get a group of 29 Namibians living in
a Western Cape refugee camp back to their home country.
The group claimed that their homes have been destroyed and their properties
looted by one of a number of groups of South Africans who have been taking out
their frustrations over scarce resources on foreigners for the past two weeks.
Kambala said he intended to meet with all Namibians affected by such attacks to
discuss the way forward.
"Some of them may want to go back home to Namibia, others may have intentions
to stay.
I'll be going down to see what can be done," Kambala said.
Although the attacks, which started in a township north of Johannesburg on May
11, have reportedly simmered down, Kambala was reluctant to predict an end to
the violence.
"So far it seems to have quietened down, but it's cold and many people don't
have places to go to at the end of the day.
So who knows," he said.
According to the Red Cross Society, more than 4 661 incidents of xenophobic
violence have occurred since the start of the attacks, and at least 519 people
have been arrested.
The attacks have spread from Johannesburg to areas such as Mpumalanga, the
North West, Limpopo, Kwazulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.

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