Geluksdal – The residents of Geluksdal have vouched to fight alleged racism and work towards building unity between the coloured and black communities.
They voiced their opinions during the social cohesion event hosted by acting Chief whip of Ekurhuleni Council eader Jongizizwa Dlabathi on Friday.
The event comes after Geluksdal Secondary School Grade 10 learner Shaun Mphela (17) was stabbed to death by an alleged racial gang group two weeks ago.
Seven of his friends, who witnessed the crime, have since gone into hiding after receiving threats on their lives from the gang that allegedly killed Shaun.
The three suspects arrested for Shaun’s murder appeared in the Tsakani Magistrate’s Court last Wednesday. The suspect accused of stabbing Shaun has since abandoned his bail application and the two other suspects were released for wrongful arrest.
Councillor Dino Peterson said as a democratic country, they are not supposed to still be fighting racial division, especially among young people.
“We cannot afford to go back to those years. We are all Africans. Let us stop classifying each other through our skin colour,” he added.
Dlabathi said though work had been done to fight racial division in the area in 2019, they failed to follow up to ensure that its ugly head doesn’t rear again.
“What we are facing is some of the social ills from the community spilling into different institutions, including Geluksdal Secondary School.
“We are from a history of racial segregation and we cannot allow this community to turn back to that period in our lives. Ours is to find a common goal to win this fight,” he added.
Dlabathi added that as a community of Tsakani and Geluksdal, they cannot watch as young people turn to destructive ways by killing each other senselessly.
He urged parents to educate their children about the dark days of racial segregation and the importance of co-existing and setting boundaries.
