Communities shaken by the chaos in Phoenix

The North Coast Rising Sun spoke with residents on both sides, who are calling for an end to chaos and the racial divide. The Ringford community in Phoenix, which is situated directly across the road from Bhambayi, shared their experience.

A resident, who wished to remain anonymous in fear of reprisals, said, “Last Sunday, we heard that there would be a protest of some kind and we were already on edge. While in my home at around 6:30pm, a crowd of people that had gathered, began pelting our homes with stones. Our flat was attacked first as we are right in front. Stones and rocks came hurling through the windows, shattering them as well as doing damage to our roof and pipes, I was shivering in fear when a rock shattered a mirror against the window, I screamed for help and fled.”

Residents gathered their family members and left their homes unlocked, fleeing to Highstone Primary to seek safety.

“We left our homes unlocked and all ran to the school. Unable to get in from the side, we had to cut open the fence to gain access. There are a number of elderly members in our community, the oldest being 73. There where children as young as four-months-old being held in their parents’ arms as they ran,” the resident added.

After some time at the school, residents grew fearful when they heard gunshots. It was at this time that they found refuge in the local mosque.

“While huddled inside the school, we received a call from the moulana at our mosque, he sent armed guards to escort the members of the community to the mosque where he provided shelter and blankets to keep us warm. We, as a community, are grateful and continue to be grateful to the moulana, who is still helping the community where he can,” the resident continued.

The next day, many of the residents of Ringstone left their homes to seek refuge with friends and family in the days that followed. They maintain that the looters, who attacked their homes, were not residents of Bhambayi.

“Our neighbours, those we recognised as residents of Bhambayi, were not the ones attacking us. They could only watch on helplessly as the criminal element overwhelmed both our communities,” he said.

On Sunday, a concerned Phoenix resident, Colin John, was at Mandela Park, when he met with a resident of the area, who has family in Zwelisha.

He decided to engage with the chief of Zwelisha to establish peace. Chief Nkosiyewe Mhlongo revealed that in Zwelisha, residents have also been facing issues due to looters and expressed disappointment at the chaos and unrest.

“This thing is taking our country backwards. If we see something moving us backwards, we as community leaders need to take a stand, we cannot be taken back to the days of segregation and boundaries. We are very disappointed that this level of chaos has taken place. I had never thought I would see this kind of thing in my lifetime,” he said.

The chief blamed misinformation on social media for the chaos and said leaders need to rise above the situation they are presented with.

“We feel a lot of blame goes to misinformation of social media. We have all seen the messages making the rounds, claims that a particular community is planning to attack the other. These kinds of messages have caused panic on both sides. Both communities are moving in groups, afraid of being attacked by the other. Groups are clashing but they don’t know why. This is why I respect residents such as Colin. who has risen above the situation. It is clear he has the best interests of everyone at heart. It was he who approached us and began meeting to find how we can move forward,” said Mhlongo.

When asked what were some of the issues being faced by the residents of Zwelisha, Chief Mhlongo added, “We have been having problems utilising services, a number of women were pregnant in our community and were unable to get to hospital due to the barricades. These women were forced to give birth at home without medical assistance and in one case, a mother and child, both of them had unfortunately passed away. One morning, a man came to my home, he had been shot while walking from Cornubia. We needed to get him to hospital but could not get fuel to transport him. Most of the shops in Zwelisha have also been looted. In order to buy food and necessities, we need to be free to move. Many of our community members work in the Phoenix area, and many children attend schools in Phoenix, we need to be allowed to get to work and school.”

When asked how he sees the community moving forward, he said, “After forming an integrated committee with leaders from Phoenix, Zwelisha, Amaoti and Bhambayi, we have been focused on achieving social cohesion, however, steps must be taken in order to reach it. First and foremost, justice must be served. We are encouraging all those affected to open cases at the police station as all criminal activity must be reported. There are also many, who have lost loved ones during this time of chaos and were unable to bury them. These grieving families need to be counselled. People also need to be able to return to work. Since the start of community meetings, we have seen fewer reports of people being assaulted so we have begun taking the first steps in a return to normalcy.”