IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said he was ashamed of the people involved Umlazi’s violence at the weekend.
|||IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said he was ashamed of the people who were involved in the violence that recently erupted in Umlazi’s T-Section between the IFP and the NFP.
Buthelezi was addressing more than 300 IFP supporters who had gathered at a local soccer field in the area.
Since Friday one person has been killed, a woman died of a heart attack after watching her neighbour’s house burn, one person was wounded and hundreds were assaulted and threatened with death and more than 10 houses and cars were set alight.
Seventeen men are expected to be charged with public violence at the Umlazi Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Two guns recovered by police will be sent for ballistic tests to confirm if they were used in the attempted murder and murder cases.
On Monday, Buthelezi said the violence reminded him of the 1980s and the 1990s when more than 23 000 people lost their lives because of political violence. “We must not go back to that hell. We don’t want to recall that painful period. It shames us as black people to be doing this to each other. We are now free. People should be free to belong to any political party,” he said.
“Umlazi has been plunged into a crisis that must be resolved, for we cannot endure the further loss of life. We are here to address the tensions and solve the crisis. Our message is clear, the violence must stop,” he said.
The IFP rejected any form of violence, Buthelezi said.
“My entire legacy stands as testimony to this truth.
Pleading with the community and members, Buthelezi said: “I know that there is a great deal of energy and passion in this community. Your political allegiance runs deep. I would therefore like to plead with all of you today to channel this energy into finding a solution to end the senseless bloodshed. Let us make it clear that the creation of so-called “no-go areas” is unacceptable.”
Buthelezi said they would continue to engage with the leadership of the NFP to ensure the violence ends.
Kwanele Ncalane, spokesman for KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Willies Mchunu, said at a closed meeting, members of the IFP and NFP agreed that they all needed to take responsibility for violence perpetrated by their members. “Police will remain in the area until the situation improves – leaders in turn need to calm their members,” Ncalane said.
NFP leader Zanele KaMagwaza Msibi, said she had not attended Monday’s meeting, nor had she received a report on it yet – she visited affected people in the area on Saturday.
She said that it was important for leaders in the community to make themselves available for any meetings.
“We need assurances from them that the violence will stop – we can’t get that from regional leaders. There were only 17 arrested out of 1 500 who participated in the violence,” she said. - Daily News
Additional reporting by Kamcilla Pillay