VRYHEID KZN: Zululand District condemns looting, vandalising and barbaric behavior

Phumlani Mchunu, who is the secretary of Operation Sukuma Sakhe (OSS) in the Zululand District, recently visited the Vryheid Herald and addressed issues surrounding the unrest that took place last week in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

He mentioned that infrastructure was destroyed last week in some of the municipalities that fall under the Zululand District. eDumbe and Nongoma municipalities were negatively impacted by the destruction of infrastructure, and the N2 road in Phongola also ‘came under attack’ as trucks were burnt on that route.

Mchunu said that Nongoma Municipality was the worst hit in the district, saying that about 90% of the shops in kwaNongoma were looted last week. A few shops were burnt and vandalised. Looting in other municipalities was not as bad, with the protesters mainly targeting shops owned by foreign nationals, such as tuck shops in the townships.

“We need to applaud the Joint Operations Committee (JOC), SAPS, RTI, Public Safety, community structures, community volunteers, private security companies, business owners, leadership from the municipalities and SANTACO for working tirelessly during the day and night to protect towns, jobs and businesses,” Mchunu said.

All shops are now operating, but under certain rules. Some close earlier than usual and are regularly monitored. In addition, there is a shortage of goods in the entire Zululand District, especially fresh produce and fuel, which means that people now have a limit when they purchase goods at supermarkets and fill up with petrol at service stations (limited litres are sold). People are now prohibited from buying fuel in containers or bottles; only SABS containers are permitted.

As there are fewer goods in some supermarkets, long queues are expected, as people will be travelling to the nearest town not negatively impacted by the looting to buy their essentials.

“We want to place on record that there are no racial issues in the Zululand District, especially in AbaQulusi and Phongola municipalities, as these places have mixed races. We are all working together very closely with stakeholders, as a team, with an emphasis on all media platforms such as radio stations and municipal notices. We are all working together as community forums towards the same goal. These joint operations are always led by the SAPS; they tell us what to do. It is not business people or other stakeholders doing this by themselves – they are instructed by the police in terms of protecting our towns. The Department of Education has formed a team to guide and monitor schools, as there have been threats to burn and vandalise schools. The government will be working alongside police and other law enforcers on social media. Clean-up campaigns are said to have started in areas where there was extensive looting. Political leaders and community volunteers will be cleaning up, especially in eDumbe and kwaNongoma.

“We also want to put on record that the vaccination sites ‘got distracted’ last week due to the unrest, but the programme is now continuing in the hospitals. In the Zululand District, 41% of elderly people who are 50 years and above have been vaccinated and the Department of Education has recorded that 88% of their employees have been vaccinated in the district. We encourage people who are 35 years and above to register in order for them to receive their vaccine.

” “We condemn barbaric behaviour in the district, and we say no to looting and vandalism. JOC activities are still taking place; we don’t want to focus more on the looting and forget that Covid-19 is still around us. We hold weekly meetings and we still monitor funerals, retail stores and businesses to see that they are following the rules of the Alert Level 4 Lockdown. We remind people that no night vigils can be held and we also remind funeral parlours that they cannot take the body of the deceased the day before the funeral. We are still making sure that the spread of the virus does not increase,” he concluded.

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