An article which appeared in the Midrand Reporter, headed, ‘Informal dwellers trash local councillor’s home’, Week ending 20 April regarding the vandalism that took place at Ward 78 councillor Stephen Makamo’s home in Ivory Park, refers.
An eyewitness alleged that some of the people who were seen vandalising the house were dressed in Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) T-shirts. The crowd was estimated to be over 100 in number.
Makamo is an African National Congress (ANC) councillor and members of the community, who wished to remain anonymous, alleged that the violence which was seen on that day was politically motivated.
The EFF has rubbished all accusations made against them, stating that they are not to be blamed because they were not involved in the violence that took place on 13 April.
Chief whip of the EFF, Sepetlele Raseruthe said many people live at the Dali Mpofu informal settlement and not all of them are EFF members, therefore the EFF cannot be held accountable for actions which they did not instigate or condone.
“Being dressed in an EFF T-shirt does not make someone an EFF member because the T-shirt is easily accessible to members of the public, therefore any individual could have worn the T-shirt.
“Pictures of the people suspected to be involved were shown to me, but I was unable to recognise them and have never seen them at the party’s gatherings, therefore the EFF should not be held responsible for what took place at the councillor’s house,” said Raseruthe.
Makamo said he and his family are still trying to come to terms with what happened and have been able to fix the more important things, such as doors, windows and the gate.
“My family is still traumatised by what took place on that day and the insurance has not given us the go-ahead to remove some of the damaged items, therefore we are forced to see constant reminders of what happened each and every day, which then makes the healing process much harder,” said Makamo.
“No form of counselling has been given to the family but the City of Johannesburg granted the family temporary accommodation but we decided not to spend even a single night there because we felt isolated and it felt more like solitary confinement rather than a home, so we decided to continue living in our home and deal with what happened together, in the comfort of our home.”
The Metro police provided 24-hour security to the councillor since 13 May to ensure the family’s complete safety.
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