Shack dwellers threaten to continue burning Indian homes
Puntans Hill shack dwellers have warned that they will continue to torch Indian residents houses if the eThekwini Municipality continues demolishing their shacks.
|||Durban - Puntans Hill shack dwellers have warned it will be tit for tat - with more houses torched - if the eThekwini Municipality continues demolishing their shacks.
Shack dweller Themba Mkhize said the petrol-bombing of two Earl Haig Road homes at the weekend was part of a long-running battle.
“The people have had enough,” he said, although he stressed he was not at the scene of the arson attacks.
“We want the Indians in the area to know that they should get insurance for their homes. We are not asking for war, but if pushed we will fight back,” he said.
Mkhize said they had borne the brunt of shack demolitions for a long time.
He said their shacks were normally destroyed after residents of houses near the informal settlement complained to the municipality.
Mkhize claimed that before demolitions they would see residents pointing towards the shacks as if giving instructions to people who had come to raze the shacks.
“We feel no pity for the residents,” Mkhize said of the owners of the formal houses.
Another shack dweller, David Msane, said: “We are tired of talking.”
He said when their shacks were demolished, their personal belongings were thrown around and they were teargassed.
Shack dweller Mzi Mazibuko said they were insulted and called derogatory names.
He said residents of the houses told them they were foolish and they were trying to make the place like Zimbabwe.
Mazibuko said they were tired of being mistreated, and if the demolitions continued they would not be able to stop their fellow shack dwellers from carrying out more attacks.
Mkhize interjected and said: “No Indian has land here. Their only land is in India. Even though this is not their land, we showed them respect.”
Mkhize said they had discussions with residents on numerous occasions, and every time things seemed to be resolved their homes would be demolished.
“They can talk with the mayor now, we are no longer talking,” he said.
“In the future if any person from the informal settlement was to get injured, then residents from the nearby houses would also get injured. And their homes would be destroyed.”
Daily News