Gang warfare in KwaMashu township has grown out of old anti-apartheid alliances, writes Enoch Mthembu
AT least eight people were killed in Durban’s KwaMashu township this week after a feud between rival African National Congress factions broke out into open warfare.
Former Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) exiles and members of the township’s self-defence unit began fighting each other in KwaMashu’s L section last Friday, and spent much of Sunday in running gun-battles. Four of the deaths occurred the next day.
One woman told how her son was cornered and shot in front of her, after days of being hunted down. His killers then turned their AK-47s on animals.
The killings are a chilling counterpoint to high-level talks currently underway between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party to seek peace in the province.
Witnesses say about 12 people died although the police say only eight deaths have been confirmed so far. At least 13 people were wounded.
Both sides are now calling for troops to be deployed to end the fighting, claiming the local police are powerless.
Police arrived in the township last Friday night, collected AK-47 cartridges but made no arrests. The fighting continued after they left.
“We do not want the police, we want the soldiers to come and stop this war,” one gang leader said.
The ANC’s provincial security spokesman, Bheki Cele, says party officials tried to broker peace talks on Monday. But police say there were still reports of gunshots in the area on Wednesday morning.
The poverty-stricken township to the north of Durban has long suffered from clashes between ANC and IFP groups, fomented by local criminals.
But the latest violence stems directly from rivalry between former exiles and MK soldiers – in a gang called Serajee – and self-defence unit members, who stayed through the struggle, in a gang called the Phofu.
The former mounted an anti-crime campaign in the township, which the latter gang took as a threat to their influence. The Serajee, meanwhile, accuse the Phofu of being responsible for much of the crime in the area.
“Exiles want to dictate to us how we must live our lives,” says Phofu member Andile Ngcobo.
“We are not employed, therefore we must gista [steal cars] to get money. We live in the poorest section. We want money to extend our houses.”
Ngcobo says that the ANC national chairman, Jacob Zuma, “has tried to stop the war, but peace only prevails for a few months. “The anti-crime campaign started all these problems. The police from the local police station won’t stop the war.”
The parents of Mduduzi Radebe recounted how their son spent his final days dodging members of the Serajee gang. They caught up with him on Monday, and shot him repeatedly, ignoring his mother’s terrified pleas to leave him alone. They then turned their AK- 47s on livestock owned by his family and neighbours.
Asked about Radebe’s death, Serajee gang leaders laughed. They said their members had sacrificed their lives in exile, while those who stayed behind such as the Phofu gang had turned to crime: “While we were busy fighting for freedom, they were busy smoking dagga. Where do they get the money to drive Porsches?”
A shebeen owner, who did not want to be identified, said gunmen stole liquor from him during the fighting.
Thokozisi Madonsela (19), who was shot in the leg in the Friday battle, cannot say what prompted the fighting. But he is convinced “the war is not going to stop”.
Cele says the police must take much of the blame. He claims gang members routinely walk around the township heavily armed, unencumbered by any police interference.
“The crux of the matter is that there are people who are gaining out of this violence. Why aren’t the police making arrests?” he says.