Delani Mncwabe, the coordinator of a peace committee set up to reconcile African and Indian communities in Phoenix in the aftermath of the deadly July 2021 riots, says the process was a sham because racial tension is still simmering in the area.
“There was no effort from government. They treated this thing as a PR and tick-box exercise. Racial tensions persist in Phoenix. I wouldn’t be surprised if the tensions flare up again. Blacks and Indians are treating each other with suspicion,” Mncwabe told Sunday World this week as the country marked three years of the deadly upheavals in which more than 320 people were killed.
While in other parts of the country there were random deaths, where alleged looters clashed with security guards, in Phoenix, the unrest took a nasty turn. It degenerated into a full-scale racially based attack, seemingly aimed at Africans in the historically Indian neighbourhood.
Vigilante groupings, who barricaded entry and exit points, unleashed terror on anyone who had been found in Phoenix, killing 36 people. They were aided by security companies who were armed to the teeth. They claimed they had been protecting their businesses and homes from being looted by the people in the neighbouring townships of Inanda, KwaMashu and Ntuzuma.
A Phoenix-based civic movement calling itself the Voice of Phoenix said political parties such as the DA were not helping in the reconciliatory efforts between Indians and Africans.
“The EFF and DA political messaging had fanned racial tensions. We also said our Indian brothers should swallow their pride and apologise for what happened. This is how true reconciliation will begin to unfold,” said Reverend
Theron Daniels, a member of the organisation.
There has also been an outcry over the state’s failure to arrest the key instigators of the deadly violence. Many other victims have yet to receive justice for their loved ones who were brutally murdered and their hope for justice is slowly fading.
It was widely believed that the violent and deadly unrest, which culminated in the looting of shops, sabotage and vandalising of public infrastructure, was triggered by the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma.
This week, standing on the side of a road in Amaoti, which forms part of Durban’s Inanda township, carrying a packet of sugar and a bunch of onions, which she bought from a local spaza shop, a woman, probably in her 40s, lashed out.
“You people are heartless! All you want is take our photos and parade our sufferings. I lost my young boy and my only sister in the most brutal form and your intention is for us to relive the trauma,” she said.
The woman, who identified herself as MaBiyela, said her 17-year-old son, who was in matric when he was callously murdered in Phoenix, was on his way home from a football match.
Siphesihle Ntuli was, according to her, dragged into a vehicle, shot dead and his body dumped at a dump site.
Her pregnant sister, Senamile,was on her way to a local clinic when she was dragged out of a car and shot dead. The driver was also murdered.
“His dreams were shattered prematurely, all my son wanted was to play football. The racists shot him dead. My sister’s situation was also terrible because she was shot dead while pregnant. And you people want us to simply forget?” she asked, before stormimg off.
Another family, which lost two brothers during the massacre, also has a heart-wrenching story to tell. Pensioner, Buyisani Nhleko, spoke painfully about the killing of his two sons.
“My wife has not recovered since the murder of my sons, Dumisani the eldest and Tholinhlanhla the youngest,” he said.
Tholinhlanhla was a petrol attendant and was on duty when he was killed.
“I was told the Indians killed him as a form of revenge. They said an Indian male had been killed that day and Indians were searching for anyone who wasn’t their kind to pay revenge. He was then shot dead,” lamented Nhleko.
“The eldest was a security guard. We found his body in a pond near Phoenix. His fingers and nose had been removed.
“They left four children behind. I had to go look for work because I had retired, and we relied on my two boys to look after us. I know I’m powerless, but I will never forgive the Indians for what they did,” he said.
In its final report into the riots and killings, the SAHRC concluded that the killings had nothing to do with the incarceration of Zuma but that it was driven by the socio-economic conditions facing the citizens.
