I spent part of this morning at the refugee centre that has been set up at Soetwater recreation area, near Kommetjie - a pretty little village - near Cape Town. The refugee centre was set up to house Somalis who live in Masiphumelele, close by, and also people from DRC, Rwanda, Mozambique, Congo and Somalia who have been driven out of their homes in other areas of the city. There are new born babies in the centre, people who have TB and HIV who require treatment, people suffering from trauma - physical and mental - and because of the sheer numbers - the day to day medical problems that crop up in any population. There is a clinic - it is offering TB and antiretroviral treatment - triage and referal to False Bay Hospital in Fish Hoek - not far away - and general medical care. It has been set up and is being run entirely by volunteers from a local NGO - Living Hope - who run a health care centre and hospice in Masiphumelele. On their own initiative the False Bay Hospital are sending staff through in rotation. The city health authorities were conspicuous by their absence. The entire relief effort - starting on Friday - has been run by volunteers, without any tangible input from the authorities. This morning the police were there - but appeared bewildered - the disaster management people admit that they are not set up to cope with an emergency on this scale - our local councillors were there - the premier had been there yesterday for a photo opportunity, but, even after spending time talking to people, doesn't seem to have contributed much. As I left a nasty situation was brewing at the entrance the recreation area as Somalis from other parts of Cape Town were arriving in numbers - and there is no room for them at Soetwater. So far, the response of the authorities has been to send in the Metro police with riot gear. There was also a group of young local blacks hanging around close to the recreation area who didn't look as though there were there for a day out. I only hope that False Bay Hospital is on full alert. What is government doing? Apparently very little. So let's all do our little bit to help in our own communities and show them how things should be done.
Bridget Farham Editor https://www.bizcommunity.com