Chaos as group demand Mamelodi flood victims vacate local church
“The men threatened my life and demanded that those who were seeking shelter at the church return to their destroyed homes.”
A group of Mamelodi residents caused chaos at a local church on Friday evening when they allegedly tried to force flood victims out of the facility.
The group of around six men arrived at the Mamelodi Baptist Church at around 16:00, according to Pastor Thembelani Jentile.
Jentile said the men ‘caused chaos’ as they demanded over 470 flood victims be returned to their shacks following this week’s devastating floods.
“The men threatened my life and demanded that those who were seeking shelter at the church return to their destroyed homes,” he said.
“It appears these are the same men who sold the stands to the people who were living in the area where the floods were.”
The men also reportedly demanded that any aid provided to flood victims be handed over to them to distribute.
“We tried to calm them down as some of them appeared to be drunk,” Jentile said.
“When they noticed police were on their way three hours later they finally left.”
Jentile said there were still 479 people seeking shelter at the church.
“When the Gauteng premier [David Makhura] was here earlier in the week these same men caused chaos and now they returned.”
The organisation Not in My Name SA condemned the actions by these men.
“We condemn people who want to force flood victims to return to the area which caused them so much pain,” it said.
“We also condemn those who want to use the aid given to flood victims for their own personal gain.”
Police confirmed the ‘misunderstanding’ between residents and those staying at the church.
“We managed to calm the situation and there was no damage to property,” said police spokesperson Sergeant Tsietsi Lamola.
“No arrests were made. We are monitoring the situation.”
ALSO READ: East flood victims told: ‘don’t rebuild your shacks’
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