VRYHEID KZN: Zululand Mayor applauds Emondlo community

Last week Wednesday, Zululand District Mayor Thulasizwe Buthelezi visited the residents of Emondlo Section A (Mondlo Taxi Rank). The visit focused mainly on the looting and unrest that gripped the province last month.

Mr SA Zwane, who is the chairperson of Santaco in Zululand, welcomed everyone who was present at the meeting and Mr Mazibuko introduced all the guests. Present at the meeting were Speaker Khumalo (AbaQulusi Local Municipality), Pastor Cele from Zululand, Mr Buthelezi from Vryheid SAPS, pastors, local businessmen and women, councillors and the community of Emondlo.

Mr BS Dlamini outlined the purpose of the gathering, saying, “The whole community is aware of what has been taking place in South Africa since July 10. On July 12, it was official that people were looting shops and destroying infrastructure. As self-made entrepreneurs, we had to do something and stand firm. In the area of Bhekumthetho, we heard that they planned to do something – we saw debris and rocks on the road that leads to town. That is when we put our heads together and stopped any incident from taking place in Emondlo. We had to involve pastors and business people to spread the word. During that whole week, we worked tirelessly. The whole community worked with us against the looting and we would like to thank everyone for what they did for our little township.”

Pastor Cele mentioned that everyone has a right to express their grievances, but it does not make sense to destroy things. “We need these shops, businesses and trucks that people destroyed, so we are very thankful to the community of Emondlo for working together during the days of unrest. We made it clear to the people that we want peace within our area, so no firearms or weapons were used. We address issues with non-violence and up until now, there has been peace in our area.”

Mam Gugu Zulu from the Emondlo business sector said, “Emondlo is known as a place with a high crime rate. Back then, this place was known for war, but people were amazed when we told them there was no looting in our area. We want to applaud the people of Emondlo for seeing that looting is the wrong thing to do and that it’s better to fight against it. I would like to thank the councillors, Mondlo Taxi Association, pastors and business people for working together, and most importantly Mr Mazibuko from Bhekumthetho for handling this matter, as well as the people of Bhekumthetho. As we all know, Bhekumthetho is the most dangerous place in Emondlo.”

Mr Buthelezi from Vryheid police said that on behalf of Mr Zwane, he would like to thank the employees in the SAPS for doing their job, as it was not easy. Speaker Khumalo mentioned that the world needs prayer, as the world is influenced by social media and not the Holy Spirit. He urged the pastors to pray for the whole world. “We are not bewitched by anyone, but this world is full of demons and that’s why we need payers; a lot of prayers,” he said.

The Zululand District mayor then took to the stage and said, “I really want to applaud Emondlo! Certain places now do not have shops because of their (looters) behaviour. AbaQulusi Local Municipality must help us create a town for the people in this community so they are able to generate their own income. We need our children to work and be hired, as the government does not speak about job opportunities, just R350. Our people need work! If Martin Mtshali was still alive, the place of Emondlo would have been further along in terms of service delivery. He did not ask which political party one belonged to, but helped everyone who was in need in the community,” he concluded.

A tent and 50 chairs were donated to the people of Emondlo by the Zululand mayor, in case there’s a family in need of them for funerals.

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