Daily News: Police ‘shoot’ Macambini protesters

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Police ‘shoot’ Macambini protesters
5 December 2008, 11:47
By Mpume Madlala

Angry Macambini residents near Mandini on Thursday said they were shocked at the brutality of the police, saying that the treatment meted out to them smacked of the apartheid regime.

At least 10 people were arrested and several injured when a crowd of 3 000 people clashed with police.

The community is opposing a R44-billion Dubai development proposal by the provincial government on their ancestral land – a move that will see them relocated.

The crowd blockaded the N2, after Premier S’bu Ndebele did not respond to the memorandum that they had given to him a week ago regarding their grievances over the development.

Police spokeseperson Superintendent Vincent Mdunge denied that police were brutal, saying the use of rubber bullets was necessary.

“These people placed burning tyres on the road and threw stones at passing motorists and that, according to the Gatherings Act, is illegal. Police asked them to disperse several times, but they refused and this was the end result,” he said.

Khayelihle Mathaba, the chief for the area, said he was angry about what had happened because the police were there to protect the community and not to harm them. He said that there was no difference between the police of today and those of the apartheid era. “We just want our premier to protect us by stopping the development because thousands of people will lose their homes. I have been advised to sign with another developer and that is what I will do.”

Residents said they were still very shocked at the force used by police. A 76-year-old woman could not contain her tears as she described how police allegedly pulled her son down from a tractor, which he had been driving just outside his home.

“They pulled him down and tied his hands behind his back before beating him and shooting him with rubber bullets. What had he done to be treated like that? They even went into my room and emptied my wardrobe and turned my bed upside down. I was pushed to the floor when I tried to protect him. I must say this has reminded me of the pain we went through under the apartheid regime,” she said.

Mthembiseni Dube, who was hit several times with rubber bullets, said he was just standing on the side of the road when he was hit in the legs and back. “It was so painful that I fell to the ground. I really don’t understand why we had to be shot at, because we were not abusing anyone. What we are against is being moved off our land. I will never leave my parents’ graves here. This is where I come from and this is who I am,” he said.

Resident Thulani Mathonsi said they were very angry that the premier had not responded to their memorandum.

“Until he does, we will continue doing what we have started today. We want him to understand we really are against moving. I have been living here for 57 years. I am going nowhere,” he said.

Logan Maistry, the premier’s spokesperson, said they understood that people were worried about their heritage in the area.

Maistry said they would only do what was in the best interests of the people of Macambini, the people of KwaZulu-Natal and the people of South Africa.

“The premier has responded to the people on numerous occasions by consultation, which is what they had requested in their memorandum,” Maistry said.

In a statement issued by the ANC on Thursday, the party expressed great disappointment over what had happened, saying it was unfortunate and unnecessary.

ANC provincial general secretary, Senzo Mchunu, said they would like to assure the community that no-one would forcibly remove them from their land.

They also called on the government to engage with the community so that the present confusion was cleared.

* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Daily News on December 05, 2008