Johannesburg - “I’m ashamed of saying I’m a Zulu.”
These were the words of Ephraim Ngcamu, one of the indunas from the Kwa-Madala hostel in Alexandra, at a meeting with Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane about xenophobia.
“It’s criminals that are doing all of this. We don’t agree with it and we don’t condone it,” said Ngcamu, along with five other indunas from the hostel.
The leaders spoke to Nkosi-Malobane about ways to combat the xenophobic attacks.
“We had a meeting to tell those living in the hostel that this is an ugly thing that we don’t need.
“We’ve been protecting the Somali shops since they opened. We even saw our chiefs on TV saying they don’t want this. We’re being embarrassed by these criminals,” Ngcamu said.
The meeting followed the MEC’s ongoing interactions with hostel leaders in Gauteng since Friday to try to find ways to address the attacks on foreigners.
Another induna, Bafowethu Sokhela, called for the arrests of all involved in the attacks.
“They’re cowards. They use the Zulu name when they’re up to no good. This upsets me. Let’s not let people do unlawful things in our name,” he said passionately.
The meeting was also attended by community policing forum officers from the nearby police station and the ward councillor.
Bongani Mnyandu, an induna in his KwaZulu-Natal hometown, Nkandla, called for unity.
“We don’t want hostels to be a no-go area. Our people are orderly, they listen, but there are criminals. No one likes it, it ruins the image of everyone who lives here,” he pointed out.
Mnyandu suggested there should be a meeting of the entire community to give everyone an opportunity to discuss the matter in-depth.
There was applause for Nkosi-Malobane for taking the initiative.
“We promise we will unite to try to decrease the violence. As a community, we will do our best to stop these criminals and report them to the police. We are also grateful for this opportunity,” Ngcamu pledged.
The Star