What began as an act of goodwill during a water crisis ended in violence when a Bombay Heights community volunteer, in Pietermaritzburg, was allegedly assaulted while distributing water to residents earlier this month, reports The Witness.

Tasneem Ismail (28) and her brother were distributing water to residents on Polurar Road when tensions escalated over how much water individuals were allowed to collect.

The pair had been assisting the community, at their own cost, for four consecutive days when the alleged incident occurred.

No water for four days

Ismail said they had parked their water truck outside her sister’s home on Polurar Road to make access easier for residents.

“We had been assisting the community for some time and saw that the area had no water, so we decided to help. We assisted for four days, and the incident happened on the fourth day,” she added.

According to Ismail, a man driving past stopped to enquire about the water distribution and later returned with about 20 empty buckets.

“I told him it was not possible to fill all the buckets at once because we had to ensure everyone received water,” said Ismail.

“My brother then asked him to move to the other side of the truck so we could assist him, but he became upset. His son and a neighbour who were standing nearby began shouting and swearing at us,” she explained.

She said the men demanded that the truck be brought directly to their homes.

“I tried to explain that we were distributing water in our personal capacity and not on behalf of the municipality,” she added.

Assault

Ismail alleged that the situation turned violent when she began packing away the hoses used to distribute the water.

“The son grabbed one of the hoses and pushed it against my throat before punching me. My brother tried to intervene, but they began hitting him, and he fell to the ground. I was in shock, my throat started to close, and I passed out,” she claimed.

She said the incident subsided only when another resident and guards from Shaka Security Force intervened.

Ismail said she has worked in high-risk areas before but had never felt as threatened as she did during this incident.

Attacked and threatened

“I was trying to help the community and we were attacked instead. We will no longer go to other areas to assist. We will only help within our own suburb,” she added.

Ismail claimed that she has since received threats from family members of the alleged attackers.

uMgungundlovu District SAPS spokesperson Sifiso Gwala said a case of common assault has been opened at Mountain Rise Police Station.

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