Jo'burg sets up aid centre in Alexandra

Eight weeks deadline for displaced foreigners

The City of Johannesburg has set up a Joint Operations Centre in Alexandra to provide humanitarian aid to the victims of recent attacks on foreigners in the township.

Spokesperson Gabu Tugwana said the city had erected five tents, placed 10 chemical toilets and a water tank, and had connected electricity to the site at the Alexandra police station. City of Johannesburg figures indicated there were currently 618 displaced people sheltered in the station, he said.

He acknowledged there were "challenges" in housing, unemployment and other issues in South Africa, but said government had already started an intensive programme to find solutions to that crisis.

Tugwana appealed for Johannesburg residents not to participate in the attacks on foreigners and said there could be no justification of resolving challenges by violent means. "Violent attacks, robbery and abuse of women and children can never be justified in a democratic South Africa," he said. - Sapa