Row over king’s ‘foreigners’ jibe amid frenzy of looting, killings
President’s son Edward also being investigated for ‘time bomb’ remarks in support of Zwelithini
FOR a moment Salima Mkeyo thought the rhythmic chanting was a group of jolly school children passing by on a quiet Monday morning.
As the voices grew louder, she picked up her one-year-old son, Byeve Abdoul, and walked out of her spaza shop to investigate.
But before she could make sense of anything, a rock hit the child’s head. “I thought my baby was going to die. He was bleeding profusely,” said Mkeyo.
She soon realised that her family and neighbours — a community in Isipingo, south of Durban, of Congolese, Tanzanians, Mozambicans, Malawians and Ethiopians — were under attack.
A lot of what happened in that frenzied moment remains a blur, but she vividly remembers the provocative chant of the mob: “Awahambe amakwerekwere . . . inkosi ithe awabuyele emuva.” (Foreigners must leave . . . the king said they should return home.)
Amakwerekwere is a derogatory term for foreigners.
The attack came a few days after King Goodwill Zwelithini made explosive xenophobic comments at a public meeting, urging the government to expel the foreigners.
He has since denied making the statements.
However, in a recording of Zwelithini, made at a moral regeneration event in Pongola a fortnight ago, he can clearly be heard saying: “We ask foreign nationals to pack their belongings and go back to their countries,” as his audience cheers.
Mkeyo and hundreds of other displaced foreign nationals told of “the worst week” of their lives after they were forced to flee to the Isipingo police station.
Daniel Dunia, spokesman for the group, said a taxi full of local residents brandishing bush knives, machetes, sticks and bricks went from house to house attacking foreigners and looting their businesses.
The attack, said Dunia, seemed like a co-ordinated operation, rather than a spontaneous outbreak of violence.
“It’s the Zulu king who started this,” Dunia said. “There were no attacks on us before he spoke. He is responsible for this.
“It was a systematic attack. They chanted songs like ‘ Awahambe amakwerekwere’.”
Congolese couple Coco Bishogo and Kasai Ruvinga, who run a salon, said they had spent four days at the local police station with their two children, aged six and four.
“They have not been to school since Monday. I was shocked when I heard the king has ordered the attack on us. We have always viewed him as a father, but now we are facing the consequences of his careless utterances,” said Bishogo, who has lived here for 12 years.
The refugees complained that the police station did not have adequate sanitation and ablution facilities.
“Many of us have not bathed since Monday,” said Mkeyo.
Government officials scrambled to resolve the escalating crisis, and on Thursday moved them from the police station to the Isipingo Beach Sport Grounds, and provided tents for shelter.
However, tempers had flared among the foreigners on Thursday when immigration officials demanded a list of all those who had been displaced.
Some refugees complained HOMELESS: Foreigners, many of them Congolese, have gathered at the Isipingo police station
It was the Zulu king who started this. He said the foreigners should go
that their documents had been left behind when they fled.
Zwelithini, meanwhile, speaking through the Royal Household Trust, denied making the comments. He blamed the media for “misquoting” him.
The victims of the latest attack have lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission.
Commission spokesman Isaac Mangena said an investigation into the king’s comments was still under way. The SAHRC had received a copy of the Zwelithini recording during the week.
Last week, the commission received two further complaints.
Mangena also revealed that President Jacob Zuma’s son Edward was being investigated for comments allegedly made in support of King Goodwill.
“We received one complaint about [Edward’s] comments this week. We now have the two investigations running,” said Mangena.
The president’s son reportedly told News24.com: “We need to be aware that as a country we are sitting on a ticking time bomb of them [foreigners] taking over the country. We can’t rule out the possibility of a coup in the future.”
Yesterday, Edward said he would not apologise: “I am not going to withdraw my comments.” Asked about the SAHRC investigation, he said: “What probe?”
Yesterday, the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, visited the foreigners at the sports grounds. SHELTER FROM THE STORM: Victims of Monday’s xenophobic attacks — like Alex Ombre, feeding his son, Joseph — now face an uncertain future