Somali killed as tensions rise in South Africa camps (2nd Roundup)

May 29, 2008, 16:13 GMT

A child carries a plastic plate of food as Mozambican and Zimbabwean refugees from xenophobic violence queue for food aid from the South African Red Cross Society at a refugee camp in Johannesburg, South Africa, 27 May 2008. EPA/JON HRUSA

Johannesburg - A Somali man was killed by a fellow Somali Thursday in a fight in one of the many informal shelters around South Africa housing migrants fleeing a spate of xenophobic attacks.

The man was stabbed in the arm and neck in a quarrel over a piece of donated clothing at the shelter in George, Western Cape province, police said Thursday. He later died in hospital of his injuries.

Tensions are mounting in the makeshift camps and shelters housing tens of thousands of African migrants who fled their homes in the slums around Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and other towns nationwide when they came under attack from local residents.

At least 56 people were killed and hundreds injured in the attacks that began in Alexandra township north-east of the city on May 11.

Johannesburg's slums saw some of the worst violence against African migrants by residents variously accusing them of taking jobs, jumping the queue for public housing and involvement in crime.

The government of Gauteng province, where Johannesburg is located, on Thursday announced the establishment of 10 state-run camps to house migrants.

Calling them 'temporary places of safety' acting Gauteng premier Paul Mashatile said a task team would be assigned to identify sites for the camps, which will hold 1,000-2,000 people each.

In Johannesburg, some 20,000 migrants fleeing attack took shelter in nearby police stations, churches and civic centres, while in Cape Town a further 20,000 are displaced, some of whom are being accommodated in outlying municipal camps. Another 30,000 Africans have left the country, via Mozambique mainly.

Many of the displaced migrants still in South Africa have expressed concern at the prospect of being moved to government-run shelters, saying they no longer trust South Africa to protect them and insisting the United Nations take over.

One group of several hundred Somali, Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees in a camp north of Pretoria has embarked on a hunger strike to press its demands for UN intervention.