'SA is making us cry'

"We came here so that South Africa could wipe away our tears but now the country is making us cry again."

These were the words of Fatima Nirabashiti, 33, a Rwandan refugee who has lived in South Africa for the past 11 years and who had to flee from Nyanga after her house was plundered.

Nirabashiti, her husband and their child fled Rwanda after the rest of their family was killed in the genocide. Now they feared for their lives again.

Looking for acceptance

"Eleven years are not eleven days."

"I fled Rwanda without any belongings. Now I have nothing again," she said through her tears on Sunday at the Youngsfield Military Base where she has found temporary shelter.

While she spoke, Nirabashiti held her hands open. Her tired, pleading eyes testified to a difficult life.

"When I fled Rwanda, I was a young woman with only one child. Now we have two children who were born here and I don't know whether I have the strength to start over."

Nirabashiti said they considered South Africa to be a place of joy and never wanted to steal the bread from the mouths of its citizens.

"I'm not here to take away South Africans' jobs but God gave me three angels for whom I must provide," said Nirabashiti, who worked with her husband as a car guard, as she looked over to her children worryingly.

She begged the United Nations to intervene.

"Please take me away from this country to any place where my children and I will be safe."