Durban - In a desperate move to stabilise the troubled Glebelands Hostel in Durban, the eThekwini Municipality on Tuesday proposed to hold a mass meeting with hostel dwellers to talk peace before the end of the month.
The municipality’s proposed talks came soon after King Goodwill Zwelithini had accused city and provincial authorities of failing to deal with the situation at the Glebelands and KwaMashu hostels, where scores of people have been killed in recent years.
The king announced his own imbizo, which would be separate from that of the government, during King Shaka commemorations in KwaDukuza late last week.
The municipality’s talks were announced at an executive committee meeting at the Durban City Hall on Tuesday.
The head of the city’s integrity and investigations unit, Musa Gumede, proposed that mayor James Nxumalo and Premier Senzo Mchunu address the gathering. He said the event, to take place at the end of this month, would lay the groundwork for the election of a legitimate governing structure for the hostel.
“We are ready to have a meeting with the people because now we have finished the tender process and are ready to work,” he said.
A series of murders have taken place at the Glebelands hostel over the past year, apparently because of squabbles over the allocation of beds.
The council heard that legitimate residents would be attacked by gangsters who chased them out of their rooms in order to sell their beds.
The king said he had decided to intervene to solve violence at the Glebelands and KwaMashu hostels as government leaders had failed to deal with the matter.
“Politicians have dealt with the matter until they got exhausted. They are just shy to say: ‘Your Majesty, we have failed to solve this.’”
The king said he would announce the date of his visit to the hostels this week. He said he would be accompanied by his traditional council and various chiefs.
His spokesman, Prince Thulani Zulu, said he was unaware of the government talks. He said the king had not yet decided on a date for his gathering.
“I don’t think the events would be brought together because the king has not been approached about the one you are telling me about,” said Zulu.
Gumede said his unit started investigating solutions to the violence in September. The investigation had come up with a number of recommendations to tighten security.
“For the first phase we have erected 12 CCTV cameras. In the next phase, which ends in December, we will erect another six cameras,” he said.
He said lights had been installed inside and outside the buildings to ensure visibility at night. The numbers of metro police and SAPS officers had also been increased, while fencing of the area to control access was under way with a tender for the job having been finalised.
He said he was confident that since the municipality’s intervention last September there had been less violence at the hostel.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said residents should be engaged to establish the cause of the violence, while DA councillor Heinz de Boer said police crime intelligence should be deployed.
“Once all criminals are arrested there will be peace,” said De Boer.
Nxumalo said the municipality would soon approve a budget to tighten security at the KwaMashu hostel, which had become home to gangsters.
The Mercury