Gauteng MEC for Community Safety, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane was swept off her feet by sweet-talking indunas from hostels in Alexandra and Soweto when they pledged to do all in their power to stop any form of xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals.
“I am delighted to hear this from our indunas as the leaders of these hostel dwellers, and together we can move forward and restore peace and normality in our communities again,” said Nkosi-Malobane as she closed one of the most cordial, though brutally frank, meetings between herself and the indunas.
“Isn’t this sweet,” she remarked.
It was in sharp contrast to an earlier proposed public meeting for hostel residents at the Rotary Grounds which had to be canned following what the indunas said was the MEC’s failure to observe protocol.
This required her to address the indunas first to explain her reasons for wanting to meet hostel residents. The indunas would then take her message to the residents, after which a meeting could then be organised. When she succumbed and adhered to protocol, the meeting was then moved to another venue at the Provincial Constituency Offices at the Thusong Multipurpose Centre.
After mending the fences, the indunas’ meeting went ahead cordially, with the indunas further stressing that anti-xenophobic meetings should include all members of the community in Alexandra, and not target hostel residents, as this implied they were the xenophobic element in the community.
“Such targeting was tantamount to Zulu bashing and will not be helpful to the cause. I can assure the MEC that we will heed her call to join the fight against xenophobia. Those under our leadership who connive to commit crimes, of whatever nature, will be apprehended or reported to the police so the law can take its course,” said the chairperson of indunas at Madala Hostel, also known as M1 Hostel, Bafowethu Sokhela.
KwaNobuhle Hostel induna, Musawenkosi Gcaba said the indunas had worked hard to change the image of hostels as no-go zones. He pointed out that they were the ones who had advocated the erection of a road through a revamped Madala Hostel, as was promised by the now-defunct Alexandra Renewal Project, though this project never took off.
“This will help towards destigmatising hostels as belonging to a certain language group of the South African population. We want everybody in Alexandra, regardless of the language they speak, to feel free to walk past and even come in to the hostel for visits and establish friendships as well,” Gcaba said.
Nkosi-Malobane also assured the induna that if need be, she was always available to assist them spread the peace gospel in their constituencies. “Marumo fase – izikhali phansi [ceasefire]. Some of those foreigners are our blood brothers, especially those from Mozambique and Zimbabwe, if people can recall their history – and we go as far as sharing surnames like Ndlovu and the murdered Sithole.”
FILLER: What do you have to say to the encouraging news that sweet-talking hostel indunas have swept MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane off her feet with their pledge to fight xenophobia? Tweet us @AlexNewsZA with your comments
