Protest leaders arrested as tensions grow in Covid Village

Three community leaders from Covid Village in Mfuleni have been remanded in custody and will appear in Blue Downs magistrate court on Monday, where they will be expected to apply for bail.

This follows their arrest after they allegedly burned down the houses of shack dwellers who refused to participate in a service delivery protest on N2 and Mew Way in the informal settlement.

The protest for basic services like water, electricity and sanitation by Covid village residents led to the closure of the N2 as residents blocked the road with burning tryes, according to GroundUp.

When Elitsha visited the informal settlement on Friday last week, a police Inyala and a van were stationed near the area in anticipation of any protest that could erupt. Covid Village is one of the settlements established during the Covid-19 lockdown by people who were losing their jobs and unable to pay rent. They occupied a piece of land near Driftsands and alongside the N2 highway.

Some of the six residents whose houses were burned down have fled the area but in a community meeting, the ward councillor, Ernest Madikane, has vowed to support the fire victims. “I heard that the protesters forced the residents to join the service delivery protest and threatened them with violence,” he said.

Madikane said community leaders who were behind the burning of the shacks “belong behind bars”, and would not be allowed to represent his ward and attend meetings.

Community leader, Nomhinki Daka said she and other shack dwellers whose shacks were burned have opened cases against five protesters. “We recognised five people in the crowd and opened cases against them. I don’t want to revenge myself and burn their shacks. I want them to be locked up,” she said.

Daka, who stays with her son, said about 80 protesters gathered outside her place and burned her shack using petrol, she said.

Community leader, Nombini, who stays with her four kids and works as a cleaner, said the protesters burned her bed, TV, table, fridge and cupboard. The protesters, who were carrying crowbars, hammers and spades, tore down her one shack and used paraffin to burn the other, she said.

“The money that I earn is not enough to buy materials to rebuild my shack” Nombini said. She and her kids now stay in an abandoned shack nearby.