Fed up residents of Rosettenville
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba is not convinced that xenophobia was behind the recent spate of house burnings in Johannesburg’s Rosettenville. Neither are residents of the area, who this week placed the blame on the police.
Last week, three houses were burnt and, over the weekend, another nine houses were torched.
Residents insist their fight is against a drugs and prostitution syndicate, allegedly being run by Nigerians, and police action further angered them, they said.
But Nigerians living in the area have disputed the allegations and have put the blame on xenophobia. And Gigaba this week hinted that the residents may have been incited to attack immigrants by the city’s mayor, Herman Mashaba.
The Mail & Guardian has learnt that the protests were triggered by the eviction of an elderly couple two weeks ago, which led to a community meeting, at which the residents decided to stage a march to three houses identified as drug dens and brothels, which were later set alight. The couple was evicted from one of the houses.
A week after the first wave of attacks, residents took to the streets again. This time, the arson attacks took place after the Johannesburg metro police fired rubber bullets at the crowd, who claimed they were demanding a progress report on raids conducted at the earmarked properties.
“As the community, we had said to the JMPD [Johannesburg metro police department], marshall us to the houses so that we can make sure that they are empty and give us the list of people you have arrested,” Simphiwe Hlafa, an ANC activist and organiser of the first protest, told Gigaba and Gauteng’s community safety MEC, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane on Monday, outside one of the alleged brothels that had been torched at the weekend.
“But they refused and instead started shooting us with rubber bullets. A pensioner was even shot in the leg. After that incident, we began to see these houses being burnt because of the anger at [the] JMPD,” he added.
The community protests are supported by the local ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters branches, as well as the South African National Civic Organisation. Hlafa said residents were standing up for themselves and “decided to do something about [drugs and prostitution]”.
“The community is doing things for itself. We never burnt any property, so to speak. We cleaned it, that’s how we view it. We cleaned the very same property that’s used as a brothel,” he said.
On Monday, Gigaba and Nkosi-Malobane met community leaders and representatives of the local Nigerian union in the area.
Gigaba said the language used by Mashaba to describe foreign nationals could be stoking xenophobic feelings. His visit to Rosettenville formed part of a tour through Yeoville, Hillbrow and Mayfair, which was reportedly to repair any damage he believes may have been done by Mashaba’s description of illegal migrants as criminals who are “messing up Johannesburg”.
“It could very well make one popular to say irresponsible statements that could incite vigilantism. Leaders have a responsibility at all times to be measured and consider the fact that, as a result of what you say, there could be lives lost,” Gigaba said, before starting the tour of the areas predominantly inhabited by immigrants.
“There could be property that is destroyed, that property belongs to private individuals and they have invested enormously in the development and maintenance of that property,” the minister said.
In response, Mashaba’s office said the mayor, in fact, welcomes foreign nationals. “They play an important role in growing our economy and creating much-needed jobs. However, he [the mayor] asks for anyone visiting our city to do so within the legal framework and [to] respect the rule of law.”
The first demonstration took place two weeks ago when the community staged a march to the Moffat View police station. Although foreign nationals from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan reported having a good relationship with residents, the residents complained about the scourge of drugs and the apparent influence the Nigerians have on law enforcement.
But Nigerians in the area disputed the accusations and threatened to retaliate. Maxwell Izumbu owns the De Cruze nightclub in Rosettenville and said he was in church when the nightclub was looted and set alight. De Cruze has been open for two-and-a-half years and has earned a reputation as a drug haven.
“It’s lies, there aren’t any drugs being sold here … The [sports bar] upstairs was also open but they didn’t touch it because it’s owned by a South African. So I can say it’s xenophobia,” Izumbu said.
Two streets away from Izumbu’s club, his countrymen were repairing the front wall and electricity connection of a house that community members said was a brothel. Mostly unused government issued condoms lay scattered around the yard and furniture torched in the protest was piled up outside.
One of the men, who did not want to be named, suspected the house was targeted because of the clients seen frequenting it and said it wouldn’t happen again.
“The same people who came to burn our place know these girls here. They know them very well … Next time they come, we’ll be ready. We can’t just leave them to destroy us again,” he warned.
But Hlafa said that would be met with equal force. “If they become violent and try to kill one of us, we are going to go for them,” he said.
“We know where their children go to school, we know where their wives are running their salons, we know where their churches are, the Nigerians. So we are not worried about that [threat],” Hlafa said.
The second protest, last weekend, took place because the occupants of the alleged brothels and drug dens had simply “bought new beds and furniture after we burnt theirs, repaired the damage and moved back into those houses”, according to one of the residents.
They did not bother to wake up a police officer who stays in the same building allegedly used as a brothel before setting it alight.
Constable Lucky Buthelezi from the Mondeor police station was fast asleep when residents set fire to the building and didn’t wake up until the flames had already engulfed most of the room next door and much of the roof.
Buthelezi said he rented a room attached to the building but insists he was unaware of the alleged drug peddling and prostitution.
“By the time I woke up, it was already burning. I didn’t even hear people outside the house. I have been staying here for two years but had no suspicion [of the illegal activity],” Buthelezi said.
But Thuli Ndlovu, who lives in the house directly across the street, said: “There were two Nigerian guys and different girls that used to stay here and stand outside late at night. We all knew what was happening here.
“I think he [Buthelezi] was just minding his own business because it has nothing to do with him. But he must have known,” she added.
One of the elderly women living on the same street, who did not want to be identified, said they didn’t bother warning Buthelezi or any other police officer in the neighbourhood, because “they are all the same — they do nothing even though we complain”.
Buthelezi said he felt betrayed and considered himself an important member of society because of his job.
“They betrayed me … they know me here. The same people who burnt the house are the ones that helped me carry out my furniture and possessions. They know me here. In every street, they know I’m a police officer and I know them as well,” he said.
During Gigaba’s visit to Rosettenville, outside another house allegedly used as a drug den, a heated confrontation took place between a Nigerian who held up a placard in support of the community effort to rid the area of crime.
“What about the 13-year-old and 12-year-old girls you people are prostituting? If you want to help, why don’t you expose your friends and tell them to leave? You must go back to your country! You are making our country corrupt!” a resident shouted, referring to children who were rescued from the alleged brothels by city officials last week.
“I am so sorry for what our brothers have done. From henceforth, I am prepared to die for the cause of getting rid of the drugs and prostitution in the area. I am with you,” Theodore Ezeunara, the chairperson of the local Nigerian Union in Rosettenville, said.
But the residents appeared unconvinced.