Durban: Themba Mkhize, the ANC eThekwini councillor who gained notoriety for swearing at a Springtown resident who asked for help following the floods in Durban, says he is the real victim.
On Monday, Mkhize told POST that he was bullied for being disabled and pushed into use vulgar language, something which he would not ordinarily do. He also shared a long list of vulgar messages which he alleged came from people in his ward.
The swearing incident, which caused an outcry and an investigation into Mkhize’s conduct, came when the councillor received a WhatsApp text message. It read: "Dear councillor. Can you please come to the aid of people in Springtown.”
Two minutes later the same person sent another message to Mkhize saying: "Don't read my messages and not reply. Many families under your ward lost their homes and lives and you are not doing a thing.”
Nine and a half hours later, at 20h31, Mkhize finally responded to the message. He said: "F..k u.”
Residents in ward 25 took offence and staged a series of protests in the Springtown and Clare Estate areas, including the Puntans Hill informal settlement where he lived.
The protests were organised by the Clare Estate Residents Association and included members of other political parties.
However, Mkhize told POST that apart from those messages which made him angry he had also received anonymous phone calls from a woman who said: “Hey you cripple…you are sitting down.”
The woman said he should be doing something to assist people in his wards but alleged that he had not acted because of his handicap, said Mkhize.
The councillor said his mobility was impaired. During the struggle in 1990, he was shot in the neck in Inanda and had a severe limp as a result of that incident. He said the messages and abusive phone calls made him lose his cool and he was sorry about that.
“I wasn't brought up (to speak) like that,” he said.
He has apologised publicly and said that while the people who had made him angry were Indian, several other Indians had phoned to comfort him.
Mkhize said he did not know who was behind the messages but the person who sent him the WhatsApp messages whould know better.
“I’m a victim because if she is not the one who said I’m a cripple then she should know who phoned and called me that,” he said.
The Clare Estate Ratepayers Association (CERA) chairperson Navin Dookran, said Mkhize had often told them that he was elected to serve those in shacks and not those in formal housing.
They had reported him to eThekwini Municipality Speaker Thabani Nyawose last year and handed over a list of their grievances, only to do it again last week.
“Last December the councillor said he is only here to assist the informal residents, not the formal residents. He is there to help them with housing and jobs,” said Dookran.
Mkhize told POST that he had always been poor and that he would never move out of his shack which he shared with four of his 10 children and his fiance.
Nyawose confirmed he held talks with Mkhize about his conduct after complaints by residents in his ward and had thought that the matter had been resolved.
“I’m disappointed that not even six months later we are back again with complaints that are similar, said Nyawose.”
He said they needed two weeks to investigate the latest claims against Mkhize to determine if he had breached any rules.
Nyawose would announce what action would be taken against the councillor if he was found to be on the wrong side of the law.
He also chastised the protesters for not holding the ward committee which was supposed to assist him to account as well.
“I’m also very much embarrassed as a chair of council and as speaker with these allegations against Mkhize,” Nyawose said.
The Post