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MORE than 30 people from Chipinge are among the first group of Zimbabweans repatriated by the Government following xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
Although the exact number of those destined to Chipinge was not readily available at the time of going to press on Wednesday night, Civil Protection Unit head in Manicaland, Mr Fungai Mbetsa, confirmed that they had been advised that one of the buses was destined for Chipinge.
He said half of the passengers in one of the buses were destined to Chipinge, while the remainder were headed for Chiredzi where another fully loaded bus had been dispatched.
“The latest information we have is to the effect that two buses had left from Beitbridge heading to Chiredzi and Chipinge. We were advised that half of the passengers in one of the buses are destined for Chipinge. Details are still sketchy, but as CPU we are fully geared to receive them and give them the necessary support to reintegrate them into the society. Our Chipinge District Civil Protection Unit has been advised and has put all the modalities in place. The Department of Social Welfare is still to give us names of those coming to our province.
“Although we were advised that those returning home were given the necessary assistance at Beitbridge, our psychological services department is already on standby to give the necessary support to those traumatised by the xenophobia attacks. We will also be assessing their original homesteads to see whether they are fit for occupation and render the necessary assistance where it is needed,” he said.
Mr Mbetsa said they were expecting the number of people returning from South Africa to increase as some were using alternative means of transport to get away from the xenophobic violence.
“We are closely monitoring the situation because we want to create the necessary environment to rehabilitate our affected brothers and sisters for them to lead a normal life like everybody else. We know they went through painful experiences and it is our duty to help them remove these scars in their lives by making their lives as comfortable as possible,” said Mr Mbetsa.
Zimbabwe Red Cross Society Manicaland provincial programmes manager, Mr Paddington Munjoma, said their role was to complement Government efforts in repatriating those affected by xenophobia.
“We are closely working together with the CPU in monitoring the prevailing situation and offer our support where it is needed. We want to give all those returning a comfort zone for them to heal from their traumatic experiences. Apart from offering psycho-support services, we will also be offering what we call the restoration of family links. As you are aware that whenever displacements happen, families tend to break up with members running in different directions. Children are separated from their parents and through the restoration of family links we will help to reunited some of the affected families. We usually track and reunite families as what recently happened at Tongogara Refugee Camp where we managed to reunite a Congolese family which has been staying at the camp for four years with the father who was in the United States of America,” he said.
Two Zimbabweans were this week battling for their lives after being shot in Alexandra, Johannesburg, the same area where Mozambican Emmanuel Sithole was brutally murdered by xenophobic hoodlums at the weekend.
The two, Ms Proud Ncube (33) and Mr Innocent Sibanda (33), were shot in their necks, while Mr Ncube was also shot in the leg.
The shooting of Ms Ncube and Sibanda follows the death of Mrs Naume Garusa who was decapitated and her body cut into pieces last week. The body parts were found in Killarney in Johannesburg.
Mrs Garusa’s body was repatriated home and buried in Chikombedzi, Chiredzi. President Mugabe has since expressed shock on the current xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa, saying Africans must treat each other with dignity.
Online Reporter