Umlazi Political Violence Crisis – Press Release 1-4 + Background

Press Release – From Concerned Residents and Organisations in Umlazi
Tuesday, 6 June 3:00 p.m.

Hundreds of residents of E-Section, Umlazi, were waiting for Mayor Obed Mlaba yesterday at Mazolwandle High School where he was scheduled to plant a tree. They wanted to show their anger to Mlaba for his failure to offer any public response to the recent slew of political murders and shootings in Umlazi. Mlaba didn’t come.

Also yesterday the case of two accused of the muder of Komi Zulu who were arrested at Councillor Xulu’s house on Thursday last week was postponed till 12 June in R court, Umlazi. Xulu and his henchmen were in the court as were a large group of community activists who circulated a ‘no bail’ petition. The Umlazi SAPS had also independently prepared their own petition requesting the prosecuter not to grant bail. Bail was not given. There was no media present. This is astonishing. Imagine the media frenzy if two suspects had been arrested in the councillor’s house after shooting and killing with apparent impunity in Westville or Reservoir Hills….It would be a national and international scandal. Only Isolezwe is covering this story on an ongoing basis. There were also articles in yesterday’s Ilanga and the Sunday Tribune. This is appreciated but it’s still hardly an adequate response to these ongoing brutal attacks on democracy that have left three people dead, one paralysed and others with relatively minor injuries.

There will be a second mass meeting in Umlazi this Sunday to keep people’s spirits up and to campaign for fair and effective prosecution of the murderers and their pay master. It is currently scheduled for noon at Mazolwandle High School.

Contact:

Mr Sithole 0829704586
Zamani Mthethwa 0839984567
Mr Vukani Gumede 0725479882

Press Release – From Concerned Residents and Organisations in Umlazi
Thursday, 1 June 6:00 p.m.

Umlazi Crisis – Two Arrested at Councillor Xulu’s House This Afternoon

After the 500 strong mass meeting with the Umlazi SAPS on Sunday the multiple political killings and shootings in Umlazi got some coverage in Isolezwe on Monday. On Tuesday MEC for Saftey and Security Bheki Cele angrily replied, in Isolezwe, that the killings and shootings were not political and were merely criminal – just ordinary township life he implied. Cele went on to say that the private police station around Xulu’s house was neccessary as people bringing development to the community needed to be protected.

But at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon the police left Xulu’s house. He only had private Securicor Guards left. At 4:00 p.m. the Umlazi SAPS, working with the Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, entered Xulu’s compound and arrested two men for the murder of Komi Zulu. Khushu Ngubane, Xulu’s bodyguard and driver was the first to be arrested. This is not his first arrest. Some time ago he was arrested and charged with firing the shot that permanently paralyzed Lizwi Mthembu. The charges were dropped. In E-section it is widely believed that that was after large bribes were paid by Xulu. The other man arrested this afternoon was S’phiwe believed to be a hired hitman from Umbumbulu who has been working with the Xulu gang for sometime. His surname is not know at present.

People are celebrating and dancing. They say that tonight they will walk their streets freely. People are laughing from the belly and holding on to each other as months of stress is released. But this struggle is not over. It will now be neccessary to ensure that there is no bribery from Xulu and that, in fact, the man behind the men who actually pulled the triggers is also brought before the courts. it will also be neccessary to continue the struggle for social justice that resulted in Xulu’s reign of terror in the first place.

Mayor Obed Mlaba never once visited E-Section during the Xulu gang’s reign of murderous terror. On Monday he plans to come to plant a tree at the local high school. People are very angry that he thinks that planting trees is more important than a series of political assassinations. Mlaba has lost all credibility in E-Section and that will be made known to him when he comes to plant his tree.

Mr Sithole, shot the night before the mass meeting last Sunday, is now well enough to take calls. For comment please contact:

Mr Sithole 0829704586
Zamani Mthethwa 0839984567
Mr Vukani Gumede 0725479882

Press Release – From Concerned Residents and Organisations in Umlazi
Sunday, 28 May 4:30 p.m.

Last night Mr Sithole, was shot 5 times near his home in E-Section, Umlazi. Mr Sithole was well aware that he was risking his life by speaking to the media (he had been interviewed on Ukhozi FM after the first press release went out) and by helping to organise today’s mass meeting aimed at getting the police to addres the crisis. He left his home at around 8:30 last night to drop off a friend at her house near King Shaka High School. He didn’t want to risk walking and decided to quickly drive the short distance. On the way back the road was barricaded and he was forced to stop. He was shot 5 times and his attackers vanished. His family and comrades have been told that he is in a ‘serious but stable condition’.

Despite the shooting more than 500 people attended today’s mass meeting. The Umlazi police came to the meeting. The most urgent issue arrising from the meeting was deep concern that Councillor Xulu’s home has become a private police station at which the people believed to be responsible for the spate of murders and attempted murders take sanctuary. The Umlazi police said that they understand the concerns but that their instructions came from ‘above’.

A large groundswell of bitter anger is being directed at Mayor Mlaba. Mlaba lives in N-Section, which is close to E-Section, and has never visited any of the bereaved families or made any attempts to find out what is going on or to have the killers apprehended. His very loud silence can only be read as tacit support for the reign of terror in E-Section. We are, it seems, on our own.

The people at today’s meeting also expressed their deep anger and sadness at the cheapness with which most of the media and political elite view the value of our lives. If the victims were rich, or if they were white or Indian, these murders and attempted murders would be a national scandal. Our constitution guarantees us freedom in principle but in practice our lives count for nothing. We fought for a free and democratic South Africa and believed that we had won it. Now we are being killed and no one cares. We are desperate. Desperate. All we can do is to stand together and to to tell the truth together.

Press Release – From Concerned Residents and Organisations in Umlazi
Friday, 26 May 6:00 p.m.

Residents of E-Section, Umlazi, are waging a brave struggle against a reign of terror by their councillor Bhekisa Xulu. There have been 3 murders this year. At 13:00 on Sunday 28 May residents will risktheir lives to hold an open community meeting at Manzolwandle High School, E-Section, Umlazi. The police have been asked to come and to explain what they are doing about the murderers in and out of their ranks.

For comment please contact:

Mr Sithole 0829704586
Zamani Mthethwa 0839984567
Mr Vukani Gumede 0725479882

Concerned Residents and Organisations in Umlazi – Statement 2, 26 May 2006

Although our first statement received welcome coverage from Ukhozi FM and the Daily News the Umlazi crisis continues unabated. We want to start by reminding people that three lives have been lost. Three people are dead and yet everyone is acting as though everything is normal. Everything is not normal. We are being killed at the rate of one a month for daring to stand up to our councillor, Bhekisa Xulu

The full story of the muder of Monica Ngcobo (25) has not been told. Monica, as we explained in our first statement, was killed when she passed a protest against Xulu’s blatant electoral fraud. On the day that she was shot police spokesman Bala Naidoo said that she had been shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet because she was throwing stones. Most of the media reported this as if it were the truth. We said that this was a complete lie. We said this because we were there and we saw what happened when Officer Cele ordered his men to fire into the unarmed crowd. We saw that shot guns and pistols were being used, as they had been used against Abahlali baseMjondolo on 14 November 2005. We saw the wounds in Monica’s body. But what we saw and the truth we told counted for nothing. The results of doctor’s post-mortem are now out. It clearly states that lived ammunition was used and that Monica was in fact killed by shot gun fire at very close range. This is exactly how Michael Makhabane was killed at UDW on 16 May 2000. Monica was the only person in her family with a job. She was a waitress at Cafe Fish.

The surprise slaughter of innocent Monica at the hands of the people entrusted with protecting the weak and the vulnerable has severely affected her mother to the point where she has now had to be admitted to hospital.

After the senseless murder Xulu and his gang (this is how we know them in ward 80) added insult to the injury. They arrived at the Ngcobo homestead, introduced themselves as people from the government and offered 2 buses to ferry mourners to the graveyard, V section community hall as a venue to conduct the funeral service and a tent. However the family said that the government had was responsible for their daughter’s death and the government must take full financial responsibility for the funeral. They government, they said, must also cover the mortuary expenses, the coffin and the graveyard fee.

In an endevour to regain lost political ground Xulu and his gang returned, toyi-toying, to the Ngcobo homestead a few days later. They attempted to score political points by summoning the Ngcobo family to a memorial service which they Xulu gang had organised without consulting the Ngcobo’s at all! It was rumoured that ANC political heavyweights would take centre stage and deliver heavy intellectual speeches at the funeral. These political manouvers did not go down well with the family. They voiced the strongest objections to Xulu’s attempt to turn their daughter’s death into battlefield. They insisted that they wanted to bury their daughter in a normal, decent and dignified manner. They refused to allow the politicians use the funeral as a platform for themselves. This angered the Xulu gang. In retaliation they withdrew the promised buses, community hall and tent leaving the victim’s family to fend for themselves at the 11th hour.

In solidarity with the Ngcobo family’s desperate situation the E-Section Community organised donation sheets and bought enough food for the funeral to be held in a proper way. The generosity of the undertaker, Mr Celani Dumisa, a neighbour of the Ngcobo’s, must be especially commended. He covered the mortuary expenses, a decent coffin and transportation to the Ngcobo’s rural homestead of Imfume (South Coast) and Monica’s final resting place (12 march 2006). Yet she was buried amid heavy SAPS and Durban Metro Police presence.

On 31 March the Women of Ward 80 led a march demanding the immediate and unconditional removing of Xulu as Ward 80 councillor, an end to all the police brutality in Durban, an end to police brutality to women, the bringing to book of Monica Ngcobo’s killer/s and a proper explanation of why Monic was killed and why S’busiso Mthethwa (brother of Zamani Mthethwa, the independent candidate who stood against Xulu) suffered multiple gun shot wounds while at his home some distance from the protest scene.

Mr Sinethemba Myeni (36) was part of the march demanding Xulu’s resignation. He was a committed and widely respected SACP activist in ward 80. He has also served on the Branch Executive Committee of the ANC. On this committee he has raised the views of the people in the ward and suggested that Xulu be replaced for his corrupt and violent behaviour.

Mr Sinethemba Myeni was gunned down on the night of 12 April 2006 by 5 assasins who pumped bullets into his head. He had opened the door to people who identified themselves as ‘the police’. He is survived by hos mother, 2 sisters and 2 sons.

Mr Mazwi ‘Komi’ Zulu is the latest victim of the Xulu gang’s carnage. Zulu worked closely with the independent campaign to replace Xulu as councillor with Zamani Mthethwa. He was a very vocal, brave and eloquent SACP and worker rights activist. He was also present during the 31 March Women of Umlazi organised and led anti-Xulu and anti-police brutality march. Zulu, as we explained in our first statement, was assasinated while on the way to work on 3 May 2006.

The Xulu gang’s armed rampage against all opposition has claimed one life a month since the first murder. No one in Umlazi knows how many more of us will be sacrificed before the onslaught against democracy stops. We know that the Xulu gang have a hit list. Even we we all stand together we are under threat. Xulu himself was actiely disturbing, threatening and intimidating the 31 March protest. He drove up and down and all around the march in his car with its tinted windows. One of his gang was video taping the march. The highlight of the march was when the man videoing the march for Xulu was attacked with stones by some twenty of the young activists. They were all arrested and the video camera is in Umlazi SAPS custody.

The Ward 80 community lives in fear. We are terrified. The Xulu gang roam around the ward wielding firearms. Gun shots ring out at night right next to our houses. We are threatened that we will be next if we speak out. Guns are pointed at us, we are physically assaulted and even whipped in the streets. When we stand together and challenge the Xulu gang the flee to Xulu’s house which is under heavy 24 hour protection from very heavily armed Area Crime Combatting Members. There are often three armoured vehicles at the house. It looks like it has more armed men and armoured vehicles than most police stations. Yet we are not safe and are also terrorised by criminals and the the killers that have taken 3 of us are still at large. Because of all this we have invited the Umlazi SAPS to attend the Sunday mass meeting. We want answers on what they are doing about the terror inflicted on us by the Xulu gang and the Public Order Policing Unit. We want the police to serve and protect us!
. We can not accept a situation where the police to kill us and protect our killers.

Concerned Residents and Organisations in Umlazi – Statement 1, 12 May 2006

Background to the assassination of Mazwi Douglas Zulu (Komi)

Comrade Mazwi Douglas Zulu (46), affectionately known as Komi, of E515 Umlazi Township, was barbarically gunned down by two assassins at around 5:30 in the morning on Wednesday 3 May 2006. He had just left home to board a bus to work in New Germany. He was shot 8 times and died on the scene. The assassins vanished into thin air.

Comrade Komi was a very vocal SACP and worker rights social activist who from very early in life dedicated himself to the struggle for the betterment of the poor. He worked tirelessly in the struggle to end apartheid and continued to fight with the same dedication in the post apartheid era in an endeavour to bring about true and meaningful freedom for the poor.

Comrade Komi worked closely in the underground movement in the anti-apartheid struggle. He worked particularly closely with MK operatives such as Comrade Blessing Mabaso, Comrade V.O. Memela and others who were lost during a shoot out with the apartheid security forces in R-section Umlazi at that height of the war against apartheid in the 80s.

He was also very instrumental in the building and strengthening of the civic organisation in E-section, Umlazi, in the 80s and 90s. The civic made significant inroads with regard to addressing housing problems, stamping out rampant municipal corruption and taking up the day to day challenges that ordinary people encounter in life.

Comrade Komi also worked very closely with his childhood friend and Comrade, FAWU worker rights activist and SACP giant, the late Comrade Freedom Dlamuka. He also worked hard to support Comrade Dlamuka’s 1996 local government election campaign. But in the end Bhekisa Xulu ascended to the position of councillor. It is understood that Councillor Xulu’s camp marked Comrade Komi as an enemy in 1996 by virtue of his support for Comrade Dlamuka’s candidacy. Their strong hatred for Komi was clear.

The strong feelings against Komi in the Xulu camp worsened in the build up to the hotly contested 1 March, 2006 local government elections in Ward 80, Umlazi. This emanated from Comrade Komi’s courageously open challenge to the various unjust practices and blatant corruption in Xulu’s offices. Comrade Koni’s huge popularity with the workers and poor in the ward, and his open support for Zamani Mthethwa’s independent candidacy against Xulu, heightened the hostility and lead to open threats from the Xulu camp.

Comrade Komi is the second SACP member in Ward 80 to be gunned down after standing up to Xulu. Comrade Sinethemba Myeni of A-Section, Umlazi was assassinated at 10:00 at night on 12 April 2006 when 5 gunmen forced their way into his home and fired multiple shots at him. He also, like Comrade Komi, died at the scene. Myeni was hated in the Xulu camp because he was a vocal, openly critical and disciplined comrade with the respect of the people. In 2005 they had him expelled from the Mxenge Branch (Ward 80). Comrade Sinethemba and Comrade Komi shared similar political views and worked closely together in the SACP. He was 36 years old when he was murdered and was buried at Umlazi on 22 April 2006. His assassins, like those of Comrade Koni, have not been bought to book.

It is rumoured, and widely believed, that there is a hit list of all those perceived to be holding political views different from the Xulu camp and all those who supported Zamani Mthethwa’s independent candidacy. The Xulu camp call these people “reactionaries hell bent on destabilising the ANC and ward 80.”

Counsellor Xulu won the 1 March election. Many residents believed that there had been open fraud because Xulu has been seen by various people with piles of ballot papers. On 2 March more than a thousand people protested against what they saw as Xulu’s return to office by electoral fraud. The Area Crime Combating Unit was called to break up the protests and a young woman passing by, Monica Nomthandazo Ngcobo who was on the way to catch a bus to work, was shot in the back with live ammunition by the police and bled to death on the road. Police spokesman Bala Naidoo said that she had been shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet because she was throwing stones. This was a complete lie.

A march was arranged by Women of Umlazi working together with Abahlali baseMjondolo to protest against the murders of Monica Nomthandazo and Sinethemba Myeni on 31 March. Xulu followed the march in a car with tinted windows and his henchmen intimidated, physically assaulted and photographed marchers. When people stood up to this the police stepped in and arrested 20 people.

Counsellor Xulu’s house has been under 24 hour guard by the SAPS’s Area Crime Combating Unit since 2 March 2006. The thorny issue here is that the E-Section community has long appealed for a mobile SAPS station to be set up to decrease the unacceptably high crime rate. But the community has consistently been told that there are not enough resources for an E-Section police station. While ordinary people reel under worsening attack by criminals Xulu and his gunmen are protected by Monica Ngcobo’s murderers. Xulu’s gunmen continue to harass and intimidate residents, often firing shots into or next to their houses, but then, every night, they retreat to the sanctuary of Xulu’s house where they know that they are safe from the public and ordinary honest police officers. People are terrified and feel unsafe. No one knows who is next on the hitmen’s list.

In all three murders neither the eThekwini Metro Mayor Obed Mlaba, who resides in Umlazi, or ANC and SACP officials have bothered to lift a finger or to even show up. The situation is explosive. Something must be done.

Comrade Mazwi Zulu’s Memorial Service was held at E-Section’s Christian Assemblies Church on 11 May 2006. He is to be laid to rest on Sunday 14 May at the Merebank Cemetery after a funeral to be held at E-Section’s sportsfield from 10:00 to 13:00.