Minister of Police Bheki Cele Heads Back To Phoenix Amidst Racial Tensions
- Police Minister Bheki Cele is said to be making another trip to Phoenix in KwaZulu-Natal as looting continues
- The police confirmed that at least 20 people have died in Phoenix as residents are said to be defending their neighbourhood
- Cele initially stated that racial tensions were secondary in Phoenix and said that criminality was the core issue
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Minister of Police Bheki Cele will return to Phoenix in Durban on Friday, one of the hardest-hit regions by violence and looting, and where racial tensions have risen as a result.
Police have confirmed that at least 20 people have been killed in Phoenix in the past few days while looting and destruction of infrastructure were raging on, according to a report by EWN.
Source: Getty Images
Residents of the suburb have taken it upon themselves to secure most of their neighbourhood and protect businesses from looting while also prohibiting outsiders from entering.
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eNCA reported that Cele visited Phoenix on Thursday following multiple reports of racial tensions in the suburb.
In a media briefing, Cele stated that he did not believe that racial tensions were the core issues in Phoenix rather criminal behaviour was.
I refuse to completely take the situation here as a racial situation and pardon criminality. For more, the domination here is criminality, yes indeed, the racial connotation has been there," he said.
Some of the residents of Phoenix have shared their frustrations with the restrictions in their neighbourhood highlighting that they were being treated like criminals and are restricted in accessing essentials.
Mayibuya Youth Organisation's Siviwe Benya says despite what has been said the racial tensions in Phoenix were apparent, according to a report by The Witness.
Benya added that he had been a Phoenix resident for 16 years but had been stopped multiple times at roadblocks set up by residents.
“From my experience with the Phoenix police station and the community here is that the issue of racism between blacks and Indians is something that is there but no one is willing to engage it,” he said.
KZN comes together, 60 000 loaves of bread & 60 000 litres of milk reach Durban
In another report by Briefly News, at least 20 different businesses, NGOs and NPO’s – including Muslims for Humanity and the Natal Memon Jamaat Foundation (NMJ) – have joined hands to distribute 60 000 loaves of bread and 60 000 litres of milk to communities impacted by the recent looting action.
Hungry people lined up from all over the greater Durban area to get their share of the bread and milk which had been distributed by the kind volunteers on Thursday, 15 July.
Mohamed Gany, Chairman of NMJ, shared that plans to bring the much-needed foodstuffs to Durban from Gauteng had begun on Tuesday night.
With the food shortages reaching a critical low in KZN, various businesses and community organisations in Gauteng had funded both the food and the private security contingent that had been needed to get the milk and bread to Durban from Gauteng safely.
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Source: Briefly News
