Racial tensions quelled in Durban areas
GOVERNMENT officials visited several Durban communities to quell allegations of simmering racial tensions caused by ongoing public unrest.
eThekwini Municipality Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu engaged with communities from Mariannhill, Chatsworth, Clermont and Pinetown while Minister of Police Bheki Cele was in Phoenix yesterday.
Officials called for an end to looting and vandalism, pointing the finger at drug abuse and criminal syndicates and not racism. The Ridge Shopping Mall and shops in Bayview were looted and damaged. In Chatsworth, Sisulu told community role players to end the phrases of Indian and African and informal settlements and formal houses.
Sisulu was startled when she viewed images on television broadcasts and videos circulating on WhatsApp of events unfolding. She said most of the WhatsApp videos and information created a narrative to the country and world that something was wrong.
“The government was concerned about this. It is quite clear that they were posted or created to stir trouble and sow divisions. People of Indian origin arrived here more than a century ago.
“People abroad asked me why we still refer to South Africans citizens as Indians? It got me thinking that we need to have a dialogue about this. When I was in the Struggle, we were all referred to as blacks. We fought alongside one another.”
“We need to find the seed of the looters, so we can stop them from sprouting (striking) again. Some were not driven by hunger. Those arrested and interviewed were on the drug nyaope,” she said.