Whoonga Park: Councillor calls for drastic intervention

THERE has been no response from City Hall regarding Monday night’s attack by a group of vigilante men on residents of Whoonga Park and the subsequent attacks on the homeless and innocent bystanders who found themselves in the path of the mob as it tore through the streets of lower Glenwood and Umbilo.

Ward 33 councillor Nicole Graham posted the following statement on Facebook:

“On 9 June, tensions between the surrounding communities and whoonga users in the lower Berea came to a head. A mob of residents from Dalton hostel, reportedly fed up with having themselves and their families regularly robbed and harassed, went on the rampage with knobkerries, sticks and bricks, seriously injuring a number of people.

“Innocent bystanders were also injured, right up into the Glenwood community. People are understandably frightened that something like this will happen again, and also completely fed up with the harassment, crime and chaos the whoonga users have inflicted on the community, including students from DUT who must pass the new ‘whoonga park’ on a daily basis.

Graham said the affected area covered a number of wards – 33 (Glenwood and Umbilo), 28 (lower Berea and the CBD), 32 (Albert Park) and increasingly 31 (Musgrave and Berea) and 27 (Morningside).

“The city embarked on a plan called Operation Qalakubusha to attempt to deal with the problem a number of months ago. A task team was set up under Dr Musa Gumede, a deputy City Manager. To date, I believe this has been more of a publicity exercise than an actual intervention. Park dwellers were given caps and shirts emblazoned with the city logo, and a tent was erected in King Dinizulu Park.

“A deadline was set for the end of June, by which the park would be clear of whoonga users. To date, there has been little change in the status of whoonga park, with many arguing that it is in fact getting worse. There has been rampant displacement, with many people taking up residence in the parks and open spaces of Glenwood, Umbilo and the Berea,” she said.

“It is overwhelmingly clear that to date, the city has been largely ineffective in managing the Whoonga Park situation, allowing it to fester into a life-threatening and terrifying situation for a number of communities. We acknowledge that there was a task team put in place, but cannot accept that it has sufficiently influenced the situation.

“A number of people have been referred to rehab, but the broader problem continues unabated. There is little faith that the authorities are able to manage the situation, which led to unacceptable mob violence that threatened many innocent lives.

“This problem is now way beyond the scope of ward councillors, and needs urgent and drastic intervention from the Mayor, Councillor James Nxumalo, and the City Manager, Sbu Sithole in partnership with provincial authorities. I have also contacted Dr Musa Gumede and asked him to address a meeting of Glenwood residents on Thursday this week. I await his response in the sincere hope that it is favorable,” she said.
“This cannot be a PR exercise. The city must establish a processing centre, where different government departments must be present to deal with the large number of drug users. There must be a social element to this solution: those who need and are willing to accept help and rehabilitation must be able to receive it, but those who are not must be dealt with criminally.

“I completely disagree with eThekwini spokesperson Tozi Mthethwa, who recently claimed that this this is no longer a safety matter but purely a social one. The communities surrounding this area cannot continue to face increasing crime levels, harassment and chaos. The situation has reached crisis levels and must be dealt with accordingly.”