STRONGER TOGETHER: UNREST UNITES SWEETWATERS AND HILTON
Atrip through Hilton to find bread at the onset of the civil unrest resulted in Hilton resident Lucky Mbanjwa uniting both Hilton and Sweetwaters communities in the common goal to band together to protect both areas.
Although Mbanja returned to his wife at the end of the day empty handed, he’d set a much more sustaining movement in motion that not only aided in achieving peace throughout both areas for the duration of the unrest, but has culminated in a plan for both communities to work together going forward.
Mbanjwa said his family had been minding their business and staying at home since the first announcement of the unrest, but when his wife said they needed bread, he decided to take a drive and see where he could get some. He had no idea what was happening outside and was startled when a few hundred metres down the road he was stopped by a community roadblock.
He became concerned that these men were armed, and the seriousness of the situation started to set in. He continued to drive through Hilton, noting everything was closed, and the only sign of life was community members guarding entrances to roads and businesses. At the Winterskloof blockade, he was told there were rumours of looters trying to obtain entry into Hilton from Sweetwaters and he offered to go into Sweetwaters and find out what was going on.
“I started to sense apprehension from people in Sweetwaters who wanted to go into Hilton to get food as they did not understand why they were being refused entry. I realised the way things were swaying this could lead to residents becoming angry and frustrated. I knew we had to dispel these events becoming misinterpreted along racial lines,” he explained.
For Mbanjwa, an accountant and CEO of Mining Community Development (MCD), working and engaging with communities is part of his everyday job and so he used his contacts to set up a meeting with Sweetwaters’ ward councillor and a few residents.The outcome of the meeting was that it was in both Sweetwaters and Hilton’s best interests for the communities to work together.
“We agreed that not only Hilton needed to be guarded, but Sweetwaters too. If the two communities worked together, the defence would be stronger.”
Sweetwaters community members joined Hilton residents in assisting with protecting the areas and Santaco members in Sweetwaters also joined forces with Hilton providing security at Quarry Spar as well as Life Hilton Hospital and the petrol stations. When the Sweetwaters community started to starve, Hilton Quarry Spar came on board and helped supply the community with food and Sweetwaters taxis helped with the distribution of food.
“The take home from this united effort was that both communities rely on each other and benefit from each other and therefore have a common interest in protecting each other. By only protecting Hilton, both communities were at risk,” Mbanjwa reflected.
This experience has resulted with the formation of the SweetHil Leadership Forum that seeks to promote social cohesion between both communities. Hilton is a developed, affluent area with a population of 9 000 to 10 000. Sweetwaters is undeveloped with a population of 18 000.
“If we keep both communities separate, the have/have nots will continue to have a disparaging effect that will cause division.
Through social dialogues we hope to nurture both communities. Sometimes development is only seen in materialistic terms. We need to see the people behind the development and by uniting, strengthen both communities.
“The looting this July will exacerbate inequality, and I can see if we don’t address this underdevelopment we as citizens will suffer in the end,” said Mbanjwa, adding that SweetHil will continue to foster social cohesion in the hopes it will serve as a catalyst for change.
“The week of unrest has made us look out for our broader community and realise the importance of caring for our neighbours, because by doing so, we strengthen both neighbourhoods.”
Mbanjwa is thankful to Hilton for coming on board and says more and more people have shown interest in SweetHil. If you would like to get involved, you can WhatsApp Lucky Mbanjwa: 064 813 1461