Xenophobic attacks: Alex hero now fears for his life

The anti-foreigner march and xenophobic attacks in Tshwane this week gave the impression of a mob mentality but the seething crowds on both sides consisted of individuals variously gripped by panic and anger

Cleairence Mahundla, 25, a hero from the xenophobic violence two years ago, fears that he could become a target in the new attacks.

In 2015 Mahundla tried in vain to save his friend from xenophobic killers in Alexandra township, Johannesburg.

Two attackers stabbed to death Emmanuel Sithole, Mahundla's friend from Mozambique. The murder was photographed by Sunday Times photographer James Oatway.

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Mahundla stepped in to prevent a third man, then a minor, from joining in the killing, thus saving the teenager from being convicted of murder.

Sifundo Mzimela and Mthinta Bhengu were sentenced to, respectively, 10 and 17 years.

Ayanda Sibiya, who was 17 at the time, was reprieved and convicted only of theft.

A fourth man, Sizwe Mngomezulu, was acquitted although he was found to be part of the group of assailants.

Now Mahundla fears that friends of the murderers could use the new outbreaks of xenophobic violence to take revenge on him.

Despite these fears of revenge Mahundla said his intervention made him "feel like a hero". "Most of the people [at the time of the attack on Sithole] were just standing there and looking when I tried to help. But Sithole died," he said.

This week there were fears of a repeat of the xenophobic violence of 2008 and 2015 when foreign-owned shops were looted in Atteridgeville. The anti-foreigner sentiment escalated during a march through the streets of Pretoria on Friday.

During it all Mahundla was reminded of the early-morning murder of his friend.

"That incident changed my whole life. I don't regret getting involved on the day. But I do regret how it turned out," he said.

block_quotes_start The way I grew up, when you saw someone you knew being attacked, you had to jump in and help. When I saw what was happening ... I told them they were wrong, they couldn't do this block_quotes_end

"These reports worry me a lot because there could be a guy like me who ends up trying to help someone and he ends up in the same position as me," Mahundla said.

Mahundla was there on that Saturday morning after shops had been looted on the Friday night. He saw four young men attack his friend.

Bhengu plunged his knife into the chest of Sithole, piercing the man's heart. Mahundla intervened as Sibiya tried to stab the victim with a kitchen knife.

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"The way I grew up, when you saw someone you knew being attacked, you had to jump in and help," Mahundla said this week.

"When I saw what was happening ... I told them they were wrong, they couldn't do this. When he [Sibiya] came, I grabbed him by his arm and I said 'no, don't do it'. He saw I was stronger than him, and said, 'OK, let me go, I won't stab you or him'," Mahundla said.

Mahundla's testimony was crucial in convicting the murderers. Soon after Sithole's killers were sentenced, Mahundla began getting threats from their friends and acquaintances. They approached him openly at a taxi rank and threatened him.

Mahundla had to move from the shack he owned in Tembisa, leaving behind his girlfriend and one-year-old son. He moved in with his uncle in another part of Alexandra.

He also had to quit his job as a security guard in October when some work colleagues turned out to be friends of the killers. They threatened Mahundla.

Now he lives in fear with his uncle, but with no regrets about what he did two years ago.