‘They called us monkeys’: lecturer who was shot in Phoenix unrest

A Durban TVET college lecturer, who was shot four times and was in a coma for two weeks after a brutal attack at the hands of Phoenix residents, has told a human rights probe into the July unrest how the police assumed he had died in the attack that claimed the lives of three of his friends.

Ntethelelo Mkhize, 36, was travelling with a group of eight friends when they were accosted by a group of Indian men and youth at an informal road block during the height of civil unrest in Phoenix in July. They were crossing the suburb after visiting a friend in Cornubia.

Mkhize told the commission’s panel how scores of Indian people had hurled discriminatory insults at them. The hearing, sitting in Durban, is looking into the causes of the civil unrest, which claimed 36 lives in Phoenix, north of Durban.

“They called us monkeys, Zuma’s people. The stretch of the road had pockets of road blocks manned by armed people,” he said.

They called us monkeys, Zuma’s people.

—  Ntethelelo Mkhize

He said while he and his friends came under fire, some at the road block were laughing and taking videos on their cellphones.

He had been taken to the local clinic before being transferred to Addington hospital for his injuries.

Mkhize said he was still conscious while being transported to hospital.

“When an ambulance was navigating its way along the roads of Phoenix I would hear the commotion and murmurs of people asking whom the ambulance was transporting. The ambulance would also often veer off onto the pavements,” said Mkhize.  

His wife told him he had been in a coma for two weeks. 

Mkhize said some months after the ordeal, he had gone in search of his car at the CR Swart police station in Durban. When he met police they were astounded that he had survived.

“The police were in a somewhat in joyous mood that I had survived. They said I had been declared dead long ago. This was a story that had been going around because I was also told that news had spread on Facebook that I was deemed dead,” said Mkhize.

Mkhize told the commission that he had yet to track down his double-cab Nissan bakkie, which was stopped at the road block on the fateful night.

“When I questioned the police about the vehicle, the answer I got is that it’s not just my vehicle that is missing. There are many others. The police told me the Indians have taken the vehicle to the scrapyards,” he said.

Mkhize, originally from the northern KZN town of Eshowe, is still recovering from his injuries and is yet to return to work. 

He showed the panel visuals of his gunshot injuries and also showed them how some of them were still in bandages.

“I still cannot stand for an extended period. My speech had been affected too. This is affecting me because I also had part-time classes which I conduct,” he said.

He said following up on the cases hadn’t been easy, as his case was consolidated with two others.

Mkhize, who has been avidly following the hearing, disputed evidence from a community activist, Sham Maharaj, the day earlier. Maharaj claimed his organisation had assisted some of the victims who were attacked in Phoenix.  No one came to the rescue of people who were under siege from Phoenix residents, Mkhize said.

“When we were being assaulted no one would protect us. We were left on our own. There was no humanity,” he said.

However, he echoed Maharaj’s sentiments on how the media had misled the public when reporting about the violence. He said that had left him to question the agenda of the media owners.

“The media were not telling the truth. They showed people pushing trolleys in Durban.  This was not what was happening in Phoenix. People were being killed while going to work. They were dead bodies on the road,” he said.

He said the incident had “turned his life upside down” and he was still battling to come to terms with it mentally and financially.

“Since this incident I have to worry about taking sleeping tablets, as I now have endless recurring flashbacks and nightmares,” said Mkhize.

“I am an only child. Had I died, my mom wouldn’t have only lost a breadwinner but her only son,” said Mkhize.

He said while in hospital, medical personnel had arranged for him to see a psychologist but that was not effective and left him more “irritated”. 

Mkhize’s friend, Mzwandile Magwaza, who was also in the bakkie on the night, was the second witness of the day. He said he had opened a case of assault and attempted murder in Phoenix after the attack.

Magwaza told the hearing that after jumping from the bakkie when it had been stopped, he saw a young boy banging on the vehicle with an axe while others pelted the vehicle with stones.

It was at this stage that they came under fire.

“I was trying to flee and to get into another vehicle. It seemed impossible because they were also shooting at the vehicle, and I ran to the left hand side,”  he said.  

Magwaza, who often got agitated during the proceedings, said the incident had triggered a flood of painful emotions.

“I don’t like talking about this,” he told the hearing.

Magwaza said the investigating officer in his case had not brought him up to speed on the court case and that the incident weighed heavily on him and his family.

“It has traumatised me, and I do understand that this is going to take some time [to move on],” he said.

Magwaza also called on government to come up with plans for compensating the unrest victims and their families.

“Government should try and compensate those who incurred losses to their cars that went up in ashes and those who lost their loved ones,” said Magwaza.

He said this could make them feel better and thus live in peace among Indian people. 

The hearing, which began Monday, is expected to sit for three weeks. The scope of the hearing is to determine the loss of life; the raiding of retail centres, schools, transport systems and hospital; how the unrest exacerbated inequality, poverty, hunger and food insecurity; reports that many of those who took to the streets displayed excessive use of force; racial profiling; arson and killings; rumours that the unrest was orchestrated.

The hearing will continue on Thursday with additional evidence from witnesses affected by the violence and on Friday, the panel is set to embark on site visits to Phoenix and Pietermaritzburg. National police minister Bheki Cele is set to be a potential witness.

The SAHRC is still accepting written submissions from parties affected by the unrest which unfolded until Friday. These submissions can be sent via email to  hearings@sahrc.org.za