“Back to square one, because of xenophobia

He says, “I am back to square one after enjoying three months of stable income.”

Bazolo had relocated to Durban from Cape Town three months ago and was working as a travel guide.

“I thought I was progressing. The little hope I had gained is gone,” said Bazolo.

He studied science at the University of Brazzaville and taught high school maths and physics in Congo Brazzaville before fleeing to South Africa in 2001.

“I received my refugee status in 2004 but I battled to get work. During that time, employers were not familiar with asylum seeker documents. Not only did I struggle to get work in line with my profession, but even a sweeping job. Everywhere I searched for work they asked for a green ID.”

“Even today other employers still do not recognise asylum seeker work permits even though it is stated that we are allowed to study and work. Some now accept it, but are reluctant to hire us because renewing it is challenging, you end up taking almost three days off work.”

Bazolo said he was staying in Durban when xenophobia broke out earlier this month. The people he stayed with were friends with a South African colleague who had been giving them updates on the attacks.The colleague gave them a lift to the airport when the area they were staying in was attacked; he said he’d seen houses petrol bombed and foreigners attacked.

“I am scared,’ said Bazolo. “I am not going back to Durban. Xenophobia perpetrators will always recognise that I am a foreigner. There was no security in the house we were staying in … People who were sharing accommodation with me have moved to temporary refugee camps.”

As former president of the youth league of the Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (MCDDI), he said his life was under threat in Congo from political enemies who killed his younger brother.

He said, “My family disowned me. They do not want anything to do with me. My parents said if I had not got involved in politics, my younger brother would be alive today. I have never been home again.”

His journey to South Africa was long and hard. He said they would walk at night and hide in the bush during the day. Bazolo walked from Pointe Noire to Cabinda, then to Luanda in Angola, to Windhoek, Mariental and Keetmanshoop in Namibia, and then to Upington. By the time he reached Upington, he was sick, thin, and his throat was too dry for him to eat. He had to be hospitalised for a day. He stayed at the police station for two weeks waiting for immigration officers who only came there twice every month.