The stampede was said to have happened on Monday morning at the centre in Pretoria, where 14 Zimbabweans were injured in a similar incident earlier this month. Four women were reportedly rushed to hospital after being crushed in Monday’s stampede. SW Radio Africa was then told on Friday that one of these women died in hospital.
A source, who works near to the Marabastad centre, also told SW Radio Africa that a five year old girl was crushed to death in Monday’s stampede. The source explained that the incident was the result of serious overcrowding, with hundreds of people trying to secure their place in line to register at the centre.
“People have been sleeping on the streets waiting their turn to register, but some people are paying bribes to jump the queue. So when the doors opened on Monday people were rushing to get inside and some were crushed,” the source said.
But Manusha Pillai, a spokesperson from South Africa’s Home Affairs department on Friday denied that a stampede had occurred. She also strongly denied that there were any deaths.
Gabriel Shumba from the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), who visited the centre on Thursday, said reports of the deaths are very disturbing.
“We are terribly depressed and traumatised that this has happened. We call on the government to instigate investigations to prevent this from happening again,” Shumba said.
The Marabastad centre is notoriously congested with asylum seekers, a situation that has worsened since the closure of the Crown Mines centre in Johannesburg last month. Shumba said on Friday that the stampedes indicate that a new centre is critically needed to accommodate the number of people trying to register as asylum seekers.
South Africa has the highest number of registered asylum-seekers in the world and about 95% of asylum seekers enter the country from Mozambique or Zimbabwe. The authorities are now trying to toughen immigration laws, including changing the amount of time asylum seekers have to register at Refugee Reception Centres.
The current time limit of 14 days could be reduced to five if the department of Home Affairs succeeds in passing its Immigration Amendment Bill, which is before Parliament. The amendment could prevent many asylum seekers from receiving refugee status because already the 14 day period is not long enough.
Post published in: Africa News