Lives in peril as protesters go on rampage

FAMILIES living in the heart of Durban’s protest action fear for their lives.

Residents of Kenville and Sea Cow Lake remain under siege following mass demonstrations earlier this week.

Tasneem Razak Amod and family are still traumatised after they were trapped in the epicentre of the riots on Monday.

“We were awoken by the sound of gunfire and violent protesters. They were just shooting at buildings. I felt like we were in a war zone. Nobody should ever feel unsafe in their own home,” she said.

Amod and her five children Aqueelah, 16, Fathima Zahra, 14, Abdur Raheem, 12, Ameerah, 10, and Mikhaeel, 5, were evacuated from their home in Inanda Road after begging to be rescued.

“I think we all have suffered some degree of post-traumatic stress. My one daughter has been having anxiety attacks since the protests. We are constantly being transported back to that moment whenever we hear people walking on the street or loud noises from the television,” she said.

Sea Cow Lake business owners Naznin and Mohamed Khan, both 39, together with their twins Zia and Taariq, 12, experienced the brunt of the protests. They own the New Sofiah takeaway on the corner of Inanda and Peter roads which was looted and vandalised on Monday.

“There was broken glass and blood everywhere. It seems they cut themselves but kept going. All the looting, shooting and chaos couldn’t even be stopped by the police because the protesters burnt tyres that blocked out police and security. No one could enter or leave,” said Naznin Khan.

Khan rubbished the recent revelations that the protests had only xenophobic motives.

“We’re not foreigners, we live here and are from here. These were opportunists who took advantage of the whole situation.”

Ward councillor Ashok Maharajh said he and residents, formal and informal, had condemned the senseless violence. “It was absolute chaos. The poor residents had no warning, the protests just started and they were caught in the thick of it.”

Maharajh said that the protests possibly stemmed from a labour meeting related to the employment of foreigners which escalated into protests and xenophobic attacks.