Bongani Siqoko
About 130 homeless children, aged between five and 17, living at the Daily Bread Charitable Trust shelter in East London, were severely assaulted and 56 of them kidnapped last weekend.
The children were attacked by men claiming to be African National Congress marshals, who accused them of illegal posession of firearms and stolen property.
At about 3am on Saturday June 20, three buses and two bakkies transporting more than 50 armed marshals wearing ANC-style khaki uniforms arrived at the home and began assaulting the children and the trust’s employees. Earlier that evening, police had searched the farm for illegal firearms, but left empty-handed.
The marshals claimed to be acting on orders of the chair of the home’s board of trustees, Thembekile Metu, who was also present. At first, however, according to shelter employee Sakhumzi Bavuma, they said they had been “sent by the community”.
The children were ordered to board buses and those who refused were assaulted again. They were taken to the city hall, and from there, 56 of them were bused to their areas of origin, as far afield as Grahamstown, Umtata, Mdantsane and King William’s Town.
Lindile Magewu (17) said: “One guy’s ear has been seriously cut. It is very bad and is just hanging there. Others were seriously injured and kids as young as eight were sjamboked by these marshals. This is so confusing; how can the ANC just decide to beat us up for nothing?”
A representative of the ANC East London region said they had heard their marshals were involved in the assault, but could not confirm this until they had investigated further.
The home’s fundraiser, Michele Wileman, said the children not only have physical bruises but psychological wounds as well. “Saturday morning’s drama has cost the kids years and years of their lives. Now we have to hire a child psychologist full-time,” said Wileman, who also has black eyes. She says Metu punched her and British volunteer Tom Hewitt.
Metu could not be reached by the time of going to press. The employees and the children have laid charges of theft, kidnapping and assault against Metu and the other trustees.
The trustees say they employed the marshals to raid the home, but denied that the children were assaulted. “Some older boys attacked them. Everything was done peacefully,” said trustee Constance Ncaba.
Local churches, businesspeople and the public provided food for the 80 children left at the city hall. They were later taken to the Gompo town hall, where they spent the night.
On Monday the Eastern Cape MEC for Welfare, Nomsa Jajula, demanded that the children be taken back to the shelter. The trustees agreed when they met Jajula, but later defied her orders.
That night the children slept at the trust’s head office in Southernwood. They were taken back to the home on Tuesday. The 56 children removed from city hall are still missing.