Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Phoenix Massacre

latest news & developments
Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), during the party’s manifesto launch in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Photo: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ARTICLE

Give us land, we will vote for you, Phoenix residents tell Malema

The Economic Freedom Fighters leader criticised the NHI Act, arguing that the government was outsourcing its responsibility

  • Lizeka Tandwa
4 min read
Polarisation: During the riots in KwaZulu-Natal last July, 36 people were killed when armed community members patrolled the streets in Phoenix. (Guillem Sartorio/AFP)
2021 JULY RIOTS

Phoenix murder trials still to start

Three separate murder cases involving alleged racial killings have reached the high court

  • Paddy Harper
3 min read
Gun barrels needed: Rangers from the Virunga National Park in the DRC. The park has contracted Truvelo to supply it with steel components to manufacture gun barrels. (Alexis Huguet/AFP/Getty Images)
BHEKI CELE

How security fell to pieces in July

KZN police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi took no prisoners as he accused former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula of perjury at hearings into the unrest

  • Emsie Ferreira
  • Eunice Masson
9 min read
Community members hold pangas as they stand at a road block in Phoenix Township, North Durban, on July 15, 2021 to prevent looters from reaching the community. – Armed community members and vigilante groups have stepped in to tackle unrest in South Africa, taking matters into their own hands and sometimes stoking violence as security forces struggle to restore order. Understaffed and heavily reliant on private security companies, the police was rapidly overwhelmed when riots and looting first flared last week in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), sparked by the jailing of graft-accused former president Jacob Zuma. (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP) (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO/AFP via Getty Images)
ASSAULT

Survivor of Phoenix massacre describes how he was called a monkey, assaulted and shot twice in the back

On day three of the SAHRC hearings into the July unrest, victim Ntethelelo Mkhize disputes the testimony of activist Sham Maharaj

  • Eunice Masson
4 min read
Mail & Gaurdian
ANC

Editorial: DA’s divisive posters were a calculated decision — which has backfired

It would be refreshing if South Africans encountered political parties that actually walked the talk of embracing the ideals of nonracialism

  • Editorial
4 min read
Community members hold pangas as they stand at a road block in Phoenix Township, North Durban, on July 15, 2021 to prevent looters from reaching the community. – Armed community members and vigilante groups have stepped in to tackle unrest in South Africa, taking matters into their own hands and sometimes stoking violence as security forces struggle to restore order. Understaffed and heavily reliant on private security companies, the police was rapidly overwhelmed when riots and looting first flared last week in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), sparked by the jailing of graft-accused former president Jacob Zuma. (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP) (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO/AFP via Getty Images)
ANC

Sparks fly over DA’s ‘racist’ Phoenix posters

ANC says the opposition party is using the racial tensions in Phoenix to garner votes

  • Paddy Harper
2 min read