By Everson Luhanga
Angry community members chased away a security company guarding empty shipping containers in Alexandra, Johannesburg, that desperate homeless people want to occupy.
The crowd also torched the guard’s van.
The containers have been standing empty since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, with the city spending millions to pay for security to protect them from illegal occupation by destitute residents of the poor and overpopulated township.
In February, over 50 people illegally occupying the containers were evicted. They then erected structures outside the area where they had been sleeping.
The attack on the security guards happened on Wednesday night after EFF councillor Moshe Mphahlele’s memorial service at the Alex San Kopano Hall.
Mphahlele died on Sunday after being shot by authorities guarding the containers from being illegally occupied by residents who insisted they should be allowed to occupy them.
A rubber bullet first hit him in the head, and then he was subsequently killed by live ammunition.
His death prompted Johannesburg’s MMC for Public Safety, Mgcini Tshwaku, to suspend the Johannesburg Metro Police Department officials who were part of the operation in which Mphahlele died.
On the night of his death, three other people, including a pregnant woman, were also shot. A 16-year-old boy is still recovering in the hospital from the gunshot wound he sustained on the night.
During Mphahlele’s memorial service, speaker after speaker, including Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, praised his big heart and willingness to go the extra mile to help the people of Alexandra and Joburg.
On Thursday, Tshwaku assured the public that there would be a thorough investigation into Mphahlele’s death.
“He bled to death on his way to the clinic, and it was discovered that he had been shot with live ammunition. A young man was also shot at close range; he was hit near his heart but survived,” said Tshwaku.
Tshwaku said the Johannesburg Social Housing Company is responsible for allocating people to the containers.
“We have engaged with the mayor to speed up the process of allocating people in these containers,” he said.
During Tshwaku’s visit to the site where Mphahlele was killed, resident Tebogo Tema said the shooting was not the first of its kind.
“We have had people shot here before by these security forces. We don’t provoke them, but they are trigger-happy and shoot at innocent people,” she said.
Mphahlele will be buried in his home village of Kwa-Mphahlele in Limpopo.
Pictured above: The security van that was burnt by the angry crowd.
Source: Supplied.
