The role of civil society in promoting greater social justice for forced migrants living in the inner city of Johannesburg

3.3. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the Inner City

As mentioned above, 10 interviews were conducted with members of seven different CSOs, including: the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), Department of Pastoral Care for Refugees (DPCR) of the Catholic Diocese of Johannesburg, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), Zimbabwe Torture Victims Projects (ZTVP), Johannesburg Child Welfare (JCW), Wits Law Clinic (WLC), and Trinity Congregation Church (TCC).

This section aims to provide the views of CSOs regarding challenges facing FMs, and the strategies that they implement to facilitate greater social justice for refugees and asylum seekers living in the inner city. This chapter comprises two main parts. The first will present my «scoping exercise» of different CSOs, and the second part will discuss their projects that promote greater social justice for FMs.

3.3.1. Scoping Exercise

The purpose of the scoping exercise is to present a list of all CSOs I visited, including their

mission (services they deliver), their physical addresses, and the names of people I

interviewed. This is what the table below present, while the maps show where these CSOs are

located.

a) Table.

Organisation &

type

Mission Address Representative

1. Department of

Pastoral Care for

Refugees (DPCR)

2. Jesuit Refugee

Services (JRS)

3. Johannesburg Child Welfare (JCW)

4. Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR)

5. Trinity Congregation Church (TGC)

6. Wits Law Clinic

(WLC)

Provision of social

services (accommodation, referral letters, etc.

Provision of social services (accommodation, referral letters, and funeral assistance).

Psychological Counselling Services

(counselling and therapy)

Provision of legal assistance (on unlawful arrest, detention, and deportation).

Provision of social services (Soup kitchens, referral letters, etc)

Provision of legal assistance (advice and assistance with asylum application, and appeals and reviews of rejected

cases).

08 Web Street

Yeoville

2^nd Floor Dynamo House

130 Commissioner Street

Johannesburg Central

1^st Floor Edura House

41 Fox Street, Cnr. West Street

Johannesburg

1^st Floor, Braamfontein Centre

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Cnr Muller and Bedford Streets

Yeoville

Tel: [phone]

University of the Witwatersrand

1 Jan Smuts Ave Braamfontein Johannesburg

Tel: [phone]

Sister Sandra

(Programme Co- ordinator)

Mr. Blaise Nzuzi

Dr. Jackie Loffell (Advocacy Co- ordinator)

Mr. Jacob

Wena Wright

Tesneem Bramjee

(Attorney)

and Naazneen Madla

(Candidate Attorney)

7. Zimbabwe Psychological 2^nd Floor Dolores Cortes

Torture Victims

Project (ZTVP)

Counselling

(paralegal advice, funeral assistance, and medical and psychiatric

referrals).

Braamfontein centre

Located within CSVR offices

NB. This table presents the names of people and organisation, as well as physical address and

mission as they have been provided to me. Privacy of people and some details regarding their position and telephone numbers are strictly respected.

b) Map.

Map One: Central Johannesburg

Source : Central Johannesburg (after Safaris). INTERNET. http://hotels-tours-

safaris.com/south_africa/johannesburg/citymap.htm. Cited 04 October 2006.

Map Two : Yeoville

Source : Yeovile (after Yahoo Travel). INTERNET. http://www.yeoville.co.za/online.htm. Cited 05 October

2006.

Map Three : Braamfontein

Source : Johannesburg (After Yahoo Travel), INTERNET. http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-577388-

map_of_johannesburg-i. Cited 04 October 2006.

Important

Map One: Central Johannesburg

This map shows where the organisations below are located: Jesuit Refugee Services (2), Johannesburg child Welfare (3), Lawyers for Human rights (4) and Zimbabwe Torture Victims Project (7).

Map Two: Yeoville

This map shows where the following organisations are located: department of Pastoral Care for refugees (1) and Trinity Congregation Church (5).

Map Three: Braamfontein

This map shows where Wits law Clinic (6) is located.

3.3.2. The Viewpoints of the CSOs

This section will summarise the many challenges facing FMs living in the inner-city and will review some of the actions taken by local CSOs to facilitate greater social justice.

a) Department of Pastoral Care for Refugees (DPCR)

The DPCR is a church organisation created by the Catholic Diocese of Johannesburg in the

1990s to provide social care to refugee communities. It is almost entirely funded by the Diocese of Johannesburg, but receives some financial aid from external donors, including international charity organisations. Sister (Sr.) Sandra, the programme co-ordinator, told me that her organisation deals with FMs from all over the world, providing them social assistances such as food, accommodation, fees and jobs.

Food

According to Sr. Sandra (2006), the majority of FMs lack sufficient financial means to feed themselves and their families. For this reason, her organisation is committed to provide meals, once a week, in order to alleviate their misery. At the Saint Francis Parish of Yeoville,

additional food hampers are also made available, once a month, to families who find

themselves in extreme poverty situations. «We make food provision available once a week simply because our budget is very limited and cannot allow us to make it available to all FMs... our priority is to focus particularly on the poorest of the poor» (Interview with Sr. Sandra, 2006).

Accommodation

The majority of FMs also lack a place to stay when they first arrive in Johannesburg. According to Sr. Sandra, the DPCR provides a shelter to FMs, particularly women and children, for a period of six months. `Bienvenu Shelter' (`Bienvenu' means `welcomed' in French) (located in Betrams) is the DPCR's residence for FMs. «When couples come to Johannesburg for the first time with their kids, and need our help, we can provide places only

to ladies and kids... we usually send men in other City's residences such as Ekhaya Overnight Shelter, in Hillbrow, which is a place for men» (ibid, 2006). Sr. Sandra regrets that her organisation is obliged to separate families but argues that she does not have a choice, given that the `Bienvenu Shelter' cannot accommodate couples and their children. Priority is usually given to women and children because they are the most vulnerable.

The six months temporary shelter allows FMs to familiarise themselves with Johannesburg and to look for jobs or to start a small business. For those who may have difficulties in getting their permit, the DPCR recommends them to the Wits Law Clinic (WLC) for legal assistance, and for those who have qualifications and need to work, the DPCR may recommend them to companies. The DPCR usually encourages FMs to look for jobs; and, once job opportunities

are found, it just provides recommendation letters to support applications.

As an organisation working with FMs, the DPCR lobbies and networks with other CSOs and health facilities such as the WLC or LHR (for legal advises), the JRS (for humanitarian help), and the JH (for health problem).

Fees and Other Services

Sr. Sandra also states that the majority of FMs are not able to afford school fees when they first arrive in Johannesburg. To resolve this problem, the DPCR usually recommends parents

to the JRS for help.

In the case of illegal detention, the DPCR sometimes intervenes with the South African Police Services (SAPS) in order to release FMs who are unjustly arrested. For example, SR. Sandra intervened for the release of a FM woman who used to stay at `Bienvenu Shelter'. She was arrested for not having her documents when trying to find a family member living in Hillbrow. According to Sr. Sandra, many other similar cases happen daily.

Social Justice

Regarding social justice, SR Sandra says that there is a need for greater social justice for FMs living in the inner city. Every day they are, for example, victims of exclusion from the work place: «recently, a Congolese came to see me in order to tell me how companies refuse to hire him because of his asylum seeker permit» (Interview with Sr. Sandra, 2006). Police harassment and xenophobia are also some of the challenges facing FMs in the inner city. To address these issues, Sr. Sandra organises meeting with local associations, such as Yeoville Community Forum at the Yeoville Police station. She also contacts the media (radio and television) to build an awareness campaign. Finally, she engages in dialogues with the DHA and local government authorities to discuss issues regarding the integration and participation

of FMs in the daily life of the city. The aim of such dialogue is to invite local authorities to create structures that may facilitate harmonious cohabitation between FMs and local people (ibid., 2006).

b) The Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS)

The JRS is a charity organisation founded in the 1970s by Catholic priests belonging to the

Society of Jesus (SJ). It operates in 67 countries in the world. The JRS opened its two offices

in SA, in Johannesburg and Pretoria, in 1980, but only in 1997 did it start to focus on forced migration issues. The two JRS offices in SA depend on the regional bureau based in Harare (Zimbabwe). According to Nzuzi, a project co-ordinator, almost 80% of the JRS funds come

the Society of Jesus, international donors, international charity organisations, and private

individuals. The UNHCR SA used to provide the JRS with financial support, but since 2001

this financial support has been significantly reduced, causing negative effects on its capacit y

to provide services to FMs. The South African Department of Education may also respond positively to the JRS requests for the exemption of school fees (Interview with Nzuzi, 2006).

The principal mission of the JRS is to provide social services to FMs, to campaign positively

for them, and to fight for the rights of victims of human right abuses. In Johannesburg, its main activities are co-ordinated around three main programmes: education, health and social grants, as well as the provision of pastoral care for unaccompanied children. It is in this way that the JRS attempt to facilitate greater social justice for FMs living in the inner city.

Education

In the education sector, the JRS offers financial support to a limited number of refugee children attending primary and secondary schools. Eligibility is based on the financial situation of parents and on the academic performance of students. Bursaries vary between R150 and R 200 per child per term.

The JRS also plays an advocacy role in gaining an exemption from the school fees for the refugee children. According to Nzuzi, this year, of the 100 applications presented to the Department of Education, 99% were successful. This because of a lobby that JRS formed with other CSOs, asking the government to provide to refugee children (ibid., 2006).

Due to the language challenges facing many FMs, particularly those from francophone countries, the JRS is also implementing an English learning centre called «Saint François de Sales» in order to teach English course to those who are not able to speak English. According

to Nzuzi, this centre has increased the capacity of many refugees; and as a result, some have found jobs in the security industry and at restaurants because they are now able to speak

English (Ibid, 2006).

Health

Both refugees and asylum seekers used to have free access to provincial health facilities, but,

in 2003, this right was changed by the management of the Johannesburg Hospital (JH), which decided to exclude and stop providing free health care to asylum seekers. This decision was due to the fact that certain FMs used to invite their family members (who had health problems) to SA for health care, and once in the country, they could get free treatment at JH before returning to their home countries. Corruption at the DHA facilitated this practice, as Home Affairs officials used to sell asylum and refugee permits to people, without control.

Following the death of several asylum seekers in 2003 (who could not afford the hospitalisation fee at JH), the JRS facilitated an initiative to bring together other CSOs to resolve this problem. After negotiating with the management of the JH, the JRS convinced the authorities of the JH return to their previous policy. The JRS office of Johannesburg now collaborates with the JH in order to avoid irregularities. Currently, all asylum seekers are required to bring a letter of recommendation from the JRS prior to any treatment at JH. In other words, both JH and the JRS signed an agreement stating that no asylum seeker could be treated at the Johannesburg Hospital without a referral letter from the JRS confirming his/her FM status. According to Nzuzi, this decision has been welcomed by all members of the CSOs operating in Johannesburg (ibid., 2006).

Micro-Loans and Pastoral Care for Unaccompanied Children

In the past, one of the JRS solutions to issues of poverty was to provide micro-loans to parents, in particular to women, in order to allow them to start a small business to feed their families. But two years ago, this lending programme was suspended due to a lack of sufficient funds. «The number of FMs increases every day and our resources are very limited. We are unable to satisfy the needs of those who need our help... Sometimes I work under stress, simply because people come with different problems that often remain unsolved because of

the lack of funds, and the government is not doing enough to improve the quality of the life of

FMs» (ibid., 2006).

In 2006, the JRS started a new project to assist unaccompanied children who come to

Johannesburg alone or with friends fleeing wars and political instabilities in their home countries. According to Nzuzi, most of these children are abused and are the victims of police harassment. The JRS, in collaboration with other CSOs, is engaged in dialogues with the Departments of Social Development and Home Affairs to assist those children by providing them with permits and social grants.

Regarding social grants again, Nzuzi has emphasised that his organisation was engaged, since last year, with other refugee aid organisations to ask the South African government to start providing social grants to the disabled refugees living in the entire country. A proposal has been handed in to the authorities of the country, and in January 2006, according to an article received from Nzuzi, the Department of Social Welfare «have been ordered to formulate a plan to assist disabled refugees, and must start processing refugees' applications for disabilit y grants immediately» (Lange, 2006).

c) The Johannesburg Child Welfare (JCW)

The JCW is a South African CSO founded 45 years ago, and its mission is to deal with abused

children in the city of Johannesburg. According to Dr Jackie Loffell, a third of its funds are provided by the state, and the rest of the money comes from private individuals, the National Lottery, and overseas donor organisations. According to Dr Loffell, the fact that the JCW receives government subsidiaries does not prevent it from being autonomous. «We never cease to challenge government policies regarding children... even though we received our mandate from the government» (Interview with Dr Loffell, 2006).

The JCW is divided into units which are listed below.

- Sexual abuse of children: this unit deals with children who are sexually abused and those who are involved with drugs.

- The dropping centre and life skills (Joubert Park): aims to provide technical training to children in order to give them the opportunity to participate in the economic development of

the city.

- The adoption service: provides advises to people who want to adopt orphans and abandoned

children. The organisation owns two centres that take care of pregnant children and babies.

- Health: the organisation has a trauma centre which deals with sexually abused children, including those coming from countries engaged in civil wars. According to Loffell (2006), the JCW does not have a particular programme for refugee children; it includes them in the existing programmes because it seeks to promote the dignity and the well-being of all children living the CoJ.

- Advocacy: with regards to this particular task, the JCW lobbies with other CSOs to challenge government policies. According to Loffell, her organisation has contributed to the amendment of legislation such as the Children's Act (currently called New Children's Act), Sexual Offences Bill, Child Justice Bill, and the Social Assistance Act. The JCW also networks with organisations against child labour, exploitation, exclusion from the social grants, violence, child conflict with the law (which is currently under debate in parliament), and the trafficking of children (ibid., 2006).

The most successful contribution of the JCW for the welfare of refugee children is that this organisation facilitated their free access to primary health care in all health facilities around

the City. During the apartheid era, together with other CSOs, the JCW challenged the old Immigration Act by asking the apartheid government to remove the section asking South Africans to report to the police all those foreigners who sought to remain illegally in the country for fear of being persecuted in their home countries. This used to happen because the apartheid regime had not signed any international legislations relating to the status of refugee (ibid., 2006). Recently, the JCW, in collaboration with other CSOs, challenged the government decision prohibiting asylum seekers from working and studying in SA.

d) Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR)

LHR is a South African Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) founded in 1979 to assist

people with legal advice. This organisation employs qualified lawyers to achieve its objectives. LHR started dealing with refugee issues in the early 1990s, following the increase

in the number of FMs to the country. As discussed in Chapter Two, during the apartheid era,

no other law or legislation existed to protect the rights of FMs, apart from the Aliens Control

Act which governed all foreigners living in the country.

According to Jacob (2006), LHR is funded by international donors such as Oxfam and the

UNHCR. He also emphasises that his organisation is not interested in government subsidies;

it may accept them only if they are provided in order to train people (particularly police officers and government officials) on human rights issues. Jacod emphasised also that LHR prefers to remain independent of the state so that its members can challenge government policies and legislations (Interview with Jacob, 2006).

With regards to the FMs, LHR works in partnership with other CSOs. According to Jacob, LHR provides the services listed below to the FMs.

- Legal advice: there are a number of FMs who do not know how to obtain a permit when they first arrive in Johannesburg. LHR guide and show them where to go and how to proceed.

- Assistance to the UNHCR: LHR assists the UNHCR in the repatriation process of FMs to their home countries.

- Lobbying and advocacy: together with other CSOs, LHR and its partners challenge some government legislations and policies, particularly those relating to the protection of refugees and asylum seekers. According to Jacob, Parliament usually asks his organisation to send proposals when formulating new policies. This proves how important this organisation is.

- Monitoring the illegal detentions of FMs: according to Jacob, the majority of FMs are harassed and abused by police officers. Police often arrest them and send them to the Lindela Detention Centre in order to be forcibly repatriated in their home countries; and yet, they fled their countries because of the fear of being persecuted. In such cases, the LHR may send its lawyers to Lindela to investigate and ask for their release (ibid., 2006).

- Training: The LHR provide training for newly graduated lawyers, teaching them how to promote the culture of human rights in SA. They also provide workshops and training to the Johannesburg Metro Police officers and the government officials on issues regarding human

rights.

Regarding the achievements of LHR, Jacob makes the statements below.

- In 2000, LHR and other CSOs challenged the government to give FMs the opportunity to open bank accounts.

- After the abolition of the apartheid, LHR lobbied and networked with other CSOs to push

the government to put in place a legislation that could help the country to manage the flow of FMs; and this legislation is the 1998 Refugees Act, number 130. LHR also challenged, in collaboration with other CSOs, the government legislation which prevented asylum seekers from working and studying in SA (ibid., 2006).

e) Trinity Congregation Church (TGC)

The TGC is an organisation founded 40 years ago, in order to assist vulnerable people,

particularly the poorest of the poor. According to the director, Wena Wright, her organisation

is funded by private people and some companies (such as Woolworths and Barrow Construction). Recently, one of its sponsors (a private person who preferred not to be named) died and left all his/her money for the poor who are supported by TGC. Wright says that this private «person left a lot of money in the TGC's bank account. I am sure that it will help our people for many years to come» (Interview with Wright, 2006).

Regarding FMs, the TGC's main activities consist of providing FMs with foods almost every day; and concerning matters such as health care and education, the TGC lobbies and networks with other CSOs. It sometimes provides patients with medicines, which it receives from its local and international donors. For this purpose, the TGC employs the services of well-trained nurses who may provide FMs primary health care before recommending them to local clinics and hospitals.

f) Wits Law Clinic (WLC)

WLC is an organisation founded almost 20 years ago by the University of the Witwatersrand

(Wits University) in order to provide legal assistance to all those who cannot afford legal

services. It is also a place where some postgraduate law students from Wits University do

their vocational training.

According to Naazneen Modla (a candidate attorney) and Tesneem Bramjee (an attorney), WLC deals with a range of people, including FMs. With regards to the FMs, the services provided are listed below.

- Asylum seeker and refugee permits: as the DHA may also reject an asylum seeker's applications, WLC can provide advice to unsuccessful candidates by providing them with lawyers to appeal on their behalf. It does the same thing for asylum seekers whose applications for the refugee status are rejected.

- School fees: WLC does not pay school fees for refugee children, but may assist those seeking bursaries by providing them with letters of recommendation to support their applications.

- Illegal detention: when an FM is arrested illegally, WLC has the power to provide him/her with legal support.

It is important to note that WLC also lobbies and networks with other CSOs on issues regarding the improvement of the quality of life of FMs, as well as for their human dignity (Interviews with Modla and Tesneem, 2006).

g) Zimbabwe Torture Victims Project (ZTVP)

The ZTVP is a new organisation founded in 2005, and its mandate is to rehabilitate

Zimbabwean torture victims who live in SA. It is funded entirely by international donors. For security reasons, Dolores, the director, did not want to reveal the list of these donors (Interview with Dolores, 2006).

In Johannesburg, the ZTVP deals with the physical and psychological problems facing Zimbabwean FMs. It also runs workshops with torture victims in order to help them to decrease feelings of isolation and increase their self-esteem. Sometimes, the ZTVP (together

with some other Zimbabwean organisations operating in SA) may ask the South African

government to intervene in the Zimbabwean crisis by proposing solutions. It also lobbies and

networks with other local CSOs in order to condemn crimes and other types of violence facing FMs in the inner city, inviting the SAPS to take measures that can decrease violence against them. The ZTVP's office is located inside the offices of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), which is a South African NGO.

3.4. The Relationships between Forced Migrants and Civil Society Organisations

Through the previous sections, one can understand that there are strong relationships between

FMs and CSOs, based essentially on the search for a greater social justice for FMs. The Johannesburg CSOs play an advocacy role for FMs, and bring challenges facing them to the local and national governments. They contributed to the publication of the 1998 Refugees Act, as well as in the amendment of government legislations, particularly those preventing FMs from studying, working, and opening bank accounts. Apart from that they successfully convinced government to start providing exempting refugee children from school fees and providing social grants to unaccompanied refugee children and disable refugees. They also managed to protect them from illegal detention and police harassment.

On the side of the FMs, their relationships with CSOs are based on trust and the services that these organisations continuously provide. FMs do not have the opportunities to challenge directly and alone some government exclusionary policies and decisions; consequently, they regard the CSOs as being those those who may bring their voices and present their needs to both local and national governments. That is why they continuously rely on the advocacy role

of CSOs for the improvement of their conditions in the inner city.