Neighbourhood clashes leave miserable victims
Fed up with gang terror, residents descend on shacks
TIPINI informal settlement near Mthatha is so dangerous even police are reluctant to go there after two gangs from the area allegedly killed four policemen and murdered a number of other victims.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-colonel Mzukisi Fatyela on Friday described Tipini as a high risk area saying it was like “hunting a snake in its hole”.
“Tipini is a dangerous and risky place. It has no streets and no lights, and this makes policing the area very difficult,” said Fatyela.
“(As a result), it has become a favourite hideout for criminals.
“We are just finding it difficult to operate successfully in that area,” he added.
The gangs are implicated in several murder cases.
The gangs are alleged to have also committed a spate of rapes against school children.
The Daily Dispatch reported last week violence flared up between Tipini and residents of Waterfall Township recently after a resident from the township was allegedly killed by thugs from the informal settlement.
This led to a violent confrontation between the two groups, resulting in the torching of seven shacks last week.
Tipini residents were last week chased out of their homes at the insistence of the Waterfall residents and some are still sheltering in Ngangelizwe at a community hall there.
Waterfall residents this week claimed it was not the first time the two neighbourhoods had clashed.
They accused Tipini residents of harbouring two rival gangs who have been terrorising people from the township.
But some Tipini residents this week denied claims they had helped hide criminals.
Monica Mzondi and her family of nine were among those who found themselves homeless after being evicted from Tipini following last week’s violence.
She said she’d only heard about the gangs when people from Waterfall raided the informal settlement.
“I moved to Tipini because I had no job and at least I could scavenge for food there.
“Now I don’t know where to go,” said Mzondi.
King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality last week announced plans to build houses and provide temporary accommodation for the homeless in Tipini.
A task team to oversee the evacuation of Tipini residents has been set up by the municipality. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za