Sechaba ka’Nkosi
A new wave of violence is threatening to uproot a fragile peace that has held together for more than four years in the East Rand squatter camp of Phola Park.
The recent outbreak has been characterised by assassinations and taxi ambushes in the area, resulting in more than 20 deaths and scores of injuries since the local government elections three years ago.
The sprawling squatter camp has been divided into two sections – with a large proportion remaining in the old Phola Park under the leadership of local councillor and African National Congress branch leader Simo Ngwangwa, and a new section called Greenfields budding about 6km away.
What baffles residents is that since the killings started, no arrests have been made, despite the fact that most of the alleged murderers are known warlords in the squatter camp.
Instead accusations and counter- accusations from both factions have become the order of the day, as one resident charges: “Some of us have relatives on the other side. If one camp sees you crossing the borders to visit, you are automatically assumed to be a traitor and your fate then rests in the hands of the leadership.” Residents did not want to be named for fear of reprisals.
Many peace initiatives brokered by the Wilgespruit Fellowship Centre and Gauteng Department of Safety and Security have failed to halt the carnage. Even Winnie Madikizela- Mandela’s interventions have had very little impact on the situation. Phola Park is regarded as one of her strongest constituencies.
Another complicating factor in the carnage is changes in policing since the division of the squatter camp. Previously, the entire area fell under the jurisdiction of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Thokoza. Since Greenfields came into existence, it is policed by the Edenpark branch.
Police from Thokoza and Edenpark blame the demarcation of the area a barrier to effective policing. In the past two weeks, three people have been killed in two ambushes in Greenfields, an incident residents claim is related to the ongoing warfare between the two sides.
On Wednesday, gunmen opened fire in the same area, but, according to police, no deaths or injuries were reported.
Phola Park came into existence as a result of the collapse of the influx control laws and was marked by clashes between the police and residents, who resisted forced removals in the mid- 1980s.
Self-defence units (SDUs) controlled the area, which was virtually a no-go zone for the police, until the 1994 elections.
Community leaders from both sections are divided about the reasons for the violence, blaming criminals or political intolerance.
“We are reaping the fruits of what we sowed during the violence in the early 1990s. Dozens of guns that were then bought by the community for self- defence are now being used against the very community,” said a Greenfields resident.
Phola Park leaders have their own version of events. They say trouble in the area started exactly a week after the local government elections, when SDUs refused to disband and hand over the policing of the area to the SAPS.
Instead the SDUs continued their random searches of homes in the area and disarmed people perceived to be hostile to their operations.
Ngwangwa says when people protested against these searches, they were either killed or their shacks were burnt by the SDUs.
He described the renegade leaders as former community activists who stood against him and the ANC as independents during the local government elections.
“What we are faced with now is a highly organised armed gang that uses intimidation to coerce people into their following,” he said.
But Greenfields leaders blame the violence on Ngwangwa’s poor leadership and bias. They allege Ngwangwa favours a faction from rural Engcobo in the Transkei, his home town.
Greenfields leader Gideon Nomqote points to an incident last November when gunmen, allegedly from Phola Park, opened fire on a shebeen in Greenfields and killed 10 people.
He says numerous attempts to get Ngwangwa to address the community after the killings failed. As a result Greenfields residents rejected him as their councillor and demanded recognition as a separate squatter camp.
“To date we have made numerous representations to the Greater Alberton Town Council and the police, including marches and pickets. But not one of our demands has been addressed. We feel neglected because most of the people who are dying are not from Phola Park but Greenfields,” says Nomqote.