eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has instructed city officials to look at the issue of trading permits in the CBD after the recent attacks on foreign national traders. Picture: Bongani Mbatha
Durban - eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda has instructed city officials to look at the issue of trading permits in the CBD after the recent attacks on foreign national traders.
Mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said the mayor “strongly” condemned the recent attacks and called on the police to deal with the criminality in the city.
On Monday, foreign national traders were attacked and some had their stalls burnt by a group purporting to be members of Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA).
However, the MKMVA has denied any involvement in the incidents.
Mntungwa said the mayor wanted to establish what had led to the attacks.
“He has instructed city officials to report on the state of the trading permits around the Workshop area as we have received allegations that there are issues of some permit holders selling permits but we are still investigating.”
He added that there were several meetings with all stakeholders to help address the flare-up of violence.
“We encourage victims to open cases … We are also planning a social cohesion conference that will also address some of these challenges,” Mntungwa said.
Kizaimani Buffalo Mukucha, a Congolese asylum seeker, said no authorities had come to help the traders.
Mukucha, together with more than 200 foreign nationals, gathered at the Diakonia Centre after the attacks on Monday, where they stayed overnight.
He said people were desperate for help and hoped the organisations at the centre would offer solutions.
Refugee Social Services and Lawyers for Human Rights and the SA Human Rights Commission were in talks with other stakeholders yesterday.
“We slept there (at Diakonia) until the Metro Police and SAPS dispersed the people in the afternoon. No authorities were able to help and offer us solutions,” Mukucha said.
He told The Mercury the whole foreign community were uniting including Somalians, Bangladeshis, Ethiopians, Malians, Senegalese and Pakistanis, and planned to march to City Hall.
The Reverend Chundran Chetty, the Diakonia Centre manager said, as a church organisation, they were sympathetic to the refugees’ situation.
“They slept over at (on the veranda of) our premises for the second time, last Monday and again this week.
“We understand their plight. However, it has put a lot of pressure on our conference centre. We cannot have so many people here because of Covid-19 protocols; it is unsafe and contravenes the Disaster Management Act. We had to call the police to negotiate with leaders of the various groups because they refused to leave, but we cannot help them or allow that many people on our premises,” Chetty said.
Superintendent Zama Dlamini, acting spokesperson for Metro Police, confirmed officers were called to the centre yesterday. She added officers were still monitoring the situation at the centre and other hot spots around the city.
Kwanele Ncalane, spokesperson for the Department of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, said the government was open to engagements on the matter. “We have noted the incidents, and welcome the fact that the police have made additional deployments, especially in the Durban CBD. Government has a task team in place dealing with these threats,” he said.
The Mercury
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