Assault victim speaks
“BLF said it was for water, power”
All Nkateko Olivia Makete, 52, wanted when she went to Luthuli House on Monday was to register her grievance about lack of electricity and water in a newly formed informal settlement in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg.
But, instead, the mother of four returned home with a bruised and aching body after an unprovoked brutal assault in front of cameras and police by ANC Joburg branch secretary Thabiso Setona.
Makete has since been thrust into the spotlight following the video and photos of her assault going viral on social media. The pictures generated outrage to the point that Setona handed himself over to the police.
However, NPA spokeswoman Phindi Mjonondwane said: “We decline to enrol that matter at this stage as there is no complainant.”
Yesterday, Makete, who lives in a one-roomed shack in Orange Farm Extension 10, said she would open a case.
She said they were picked up by a truck organised by Black First Land First (BLF) local leaders who said they were going to deliver a memorandum to Luthuli House about the water and electricity grievances.
“When we arrived, people started assaulting us. I fell down and could not move. I felt someone kick me in my buttocks ... it hurt and I could not move,” she said.
She and a group of residents from her area were met by angry ANC members who did not want them near Luthuli House because the BLF had said it was there in defence of President Jacob Zuma.
Makete, who is originally from Giyani in Limpopo, said she was assisted by her husband who helped her up and out of the way of further harm.
“My body is sore, especially my buttocks. I want him [Setona] to pay me,” she said.
Her husband Robert said he was also assaulted by the mob. He said he wanted his wife to be paid R20 000 for her ordeal.
Another victim, Ntombifuthi Nkosi, 45, said: “I couldn’t sleep at night, the pain is unbearable.”