Resident shot during protest

Michelle Singh was hit by a stray rubber bullet during a protest that turned violent on January 29 in Phoenix, Kwa-Zulu Natal. She said they were marching peacefully due to taps running dry for several days which left the community without water.

Singh who resides in Lonehill said she joined the march because Phoenix is her second home and was mainly there to help like she normally does through her non-profit organisation Love Light Care Foundation.

“It’s our people, we wanted to go stand with them and lean support. We have a 98-year-old grandma, 82-year-old uncle, and 79-year-old aunt who live there. They are old people but faced with this challenge daily They can’t get water, even if water tankers come, we can’t expect them to run after them with buckets.”

“We heard their plight, we saw their struggle, so we thought we were younger and that is our home, let us go and support them. It was a peaceful and legal march because we had to go and ask permission from the municipality.”

“No one had weapons and ammunition on them. We were just standing there with placards and posters using our voices to fight the good fight. The residents in the area have had issues with water for about two years. It has become so difficult for people to live their daily lives. That is my second home, I travel between Durban and Joburg every month as a result.

“We stood on the road chanting ‘We want water’ because that is all we were fighting for. Suddenly, the police started to fire tear gas at us. I was at the forefront because it was also in support of women’s empowerment. The gas landed on our feet. I am asthmatic and so is the woman who was next to me, and this tear gas just blew right in front of us.

The march, according to Singh, started at 04:30 and ended at 09:00. She said they came across a separate group of people who started another protest at a different point on their way back home.

“There was an altercation between an Uber driver and the police. The driver refused to remove his vehicle off the road, and they started antagonising him, grabbing him, and pulling him out of the vehicle. When this happened, the crowd went wild. They started screaming and asked why they were hurting this young man. The police fired tear gas and it happened that it hit my neighbor and me for the third time. “

That is when a hail of rubber bullets was shot just seconds after, she said.

“People started screaming and running for their lives. Unfortunately, I got hit in the back of my knee with a rubber bullet. My neighbour was hit across her chin, and then the other one got hit in the ear. It was three of us out of seven that got injured.”

Singh said she is sharing her ordeal with Fourways residents because she is pleading for help. She said she needed help with legal fees for a civil lawsuit against the police.

“I was advised by the organisers of the march to open a case against Phoenix Police Station. They opened a charge for attempted murder, we were able to get an attorney, so were doing a civil claim. We don’t know the costs of the legal fees; this matter could go to court; or trial because it has now become a human rights case. We are taking the Independent Policing Forum (Ipid) and this is now a case against the state, and it is not going to come cheap.”

She said she has depended on the community for most of her charity work, and that is why she pleads for help.

“I opened the case because the police took their own decision to open fire at a bunch of innocent people. No one was armed or anything. The community has done it before, we have had so many raising funds with their help. That is why I am now asking them to help me in this case. This is something I also went to assist another community because it is my hometown, it is my people and now with this injury, I can’t walk or move around to continue with the good work that we do.”

Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that police are investigating a case of attempted murder following an incident that occurred at Corner Eastbury and Phoenix Highway.

“It is alleged that the 48-year-old woman was shot with a rubber bullet during a protest. The report indicates that the woman was shot behind her right knee and was rushed to hospital for medical attention.”

Singh can be contacted on 083 788 1966 or WhatsApp 072 373 5229 for more information about the donations.

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