At Hope Farm, a real-life tale of goodwill has gone up in smoke and mistrust
After the April-May 2015 xenophobic outbreak in South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal farmer Andrew Wartnaby assisted 139 victims mainly from DRC and Burundi, by providing them with shelter on his farm. Refugees worked on the farm in exchange for the shelter, but after several months, the relationship has turned sour. After a lengthy period of intervention by various organisations to establish peace at Hope Farm, efforts were made to bring the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) on March 1, 2016. Since this meeting, Wartnaby has been adamant that the refugees must leave as they are reluctant to continue working on the farm. At least 101 refugees from the farm were moved to the Shirley Chambers building in the Durban CBD. Others, however, remain on the farm. CHINA NGUBANE spoke to Vital Nshimirimana, a refugee at the farm, as well as Wartnaby to establish what exactly happened.
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