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Durban

News of the Day: March 8 2019

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Durban taxi crash driver fears for his life after deaths of three schoolgirls

Kamal Morgan

The driver of a taxi that killed three schoolgirls in Newlands East, Durban, on Wednesday fears that the community is baying for his blood.

Through his legal aid attorney, 32-year-old Siboniso Bethell Zwane informed the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court that he did not want his photograph published as he feared for his life.

“It is my instruction that he does not want his photograph published as he fears that his life will be in danger, taking into account the type of the offence that has happened and how people reacted. His life, the lives of his children and his family will be in jeopardy if his photo is published,” attorney Siphokuhle Thusi said.

Zwane’s address was also not read into the record for “safety reasons”.

He handed himself over to police on Wednesday after fleeing the bloodied scene where the bodies of the three girls lay on a main road in Newlands East. He abandoned the vehicle at the scene.

After the accident, angry community members blockaded Dumisani Makhaye Road, where the accident had occurred, demanding the identity of the driver from passing taxis. They later burnt tyres on the road.

Dressed in blue shorts, a blue-and-white striped golf-shirt and sandals, Zwane stood with folded arms in the dock during his first court appearance on Thursday.

Prosecutor Seema Reddy said it was alleged that on March 6, Zwane was driving a taxi that had “collided with several young children resulting in the deaths of three girls”.

“Another child is in a critical condition,” she said.

The charge sheet identified the victims as Ayanda Mtshali, Thima Ngiba, both 14, and 13-year-old Luyanda Ngubane.

Zwane is expected to apply for bail on March 13.

 

Warwick Markets

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By Kamal Morgan

The Warwick Market is an amazing area of vendors and sellers with items ranging from food, phones, clothes, ornaments, shoes, herbal remedies, and more. It has been around for decades and is still thriving. The city of Durban has tried its best to keep this important area alive by having the community help with protecting its vendors and its expansion. The Warwick Market has changed in the last two decades as more infrastructure has swept through the area and changed the makeup of its surroundings.

When walking through the markets there are people everywhere as they use their salesmen pitches to sell their items. The variety of sellers who could either be selling clothes like hats, sunglasses, watches, shoes, rings, earrings, backpacks, and more. When going past many of them, instantly their salesmen mode comes out as they give you a charming smile and a pitch talk to win you over. They love to show people the wonderful items they have and the wonders it will do for them.

Going deeper into the market, you will find traditional sellers who have herbs and many other items to sell. They have animal skins, potions, made at home sunscreen, and oils. The people are very friendly as hospitality runs deep in the area. The shops and vendors all have similar items but each with their own way of making it that makes it unique for the sellers. There are even places where traditional clothing is sold as lines of clothing of dresses and suits are displayed.

The entire market is very upbeat and enjoyable as people from all over come to buy from there. There is places to eat with plenty of restaurants and food markets to buy freshly made fruits, vegetables, and other home needs. The market is absolutely great place to go to see what it has to offer and see the amazing people of Durban.

Cato Manor from the Outside-In

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Some of its houses are meager in size, tin-roofed dwellings that seem claustrophobic to the outside eye. Other homes look more sophisticated  – orange, yellow, and tan mud structures, accentuated by tall gates with barbed wire and sharp glass on top. Here you might at one moment catch the infectious scent of meat grilling, but soon after sniff a strange mixture of smoke and decomposing refuse. This is Cato Manor.

Cato Manor is located 7 kilometers from Durban’s city centre. Although Indian gardeners originally settled there, it has since been dominated the black working class. Photo: Aaliyah Wells-Samci

The homes of this Durban suburb may not be imposing, but its people present a striking contrast. In the early hours of morning, black African women bustle on the sidewalks on their way to work, their dresses well-ironed, their hair impeccably arranged, and thick handbags giving off a final stylish touch. “Sawubona!” they greet each other as they go their separate ways. Now and then uniform-clad children run to the sidewalk, their small backpacks hanging around their shoulders, as some carry a couple of rands for the mini-bus taxi. Men rise early too, some beginning their daily Taxify and Uber rounds, while others descend the streets to the city on foot, their meager clothing in sharp contrast to their female counterparts.   

Outsiders are wary of Cato Manor, with its reputation as a dangerous place, but with the sunrise, danger is not yet on the horizon. Come evening the suburb becomes a different place. The distant city lights, combined with glow from street and home lamps, prevent total darkness from engulfing the area, illuminating men and women who walk alone or isolated groups of young men venturing into the unknown. At the nightlife heart of Cato Manor, Mojo’s Car Wash hosts a DJ and serves cheap shisanyama, pap, and drinks through the wee hours of night. Young people sit, chat, and occasionally get up to dance to old-school western beats.

Although Cato Manor’s informal settlements have scared many upperclass South Africans from the area, the settlements’ residents go to the city everyday for work. Photo: Kate Irwin

Come Sunday morning, Cato Manor transforms again. Neighbours are to be found greeting each other, this time as they make their way to church. The work outfits of the week are replaced by lavish, colorful dresses and heels, ironed suits and polished dress shoes. Those from the poorest of homes mingle freely with those from the most sophisticated homes as they all praise the same God together. This is Cato Manor.

 

Next to Mandela

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By Francine Barchett

 

“I don’t think you’ll understand the magnitude of your conversation with Mac Maharaj until long afterward.”

As SIT South Africa academic director Imraan Buccus informed us that the ANC activist, 12-year political prisoner on Robben Island, and long-time friend of Nelson Mandela would visit us, his voice carried an elevated tone. “You in many respects are meeting someone as important to the Struggle as Nelson Mandela,” he told us.

On September 5, former ANC activist Mac Maharaj spoke with SIT students at the Moses Mabhida Stadium’s South Africa in the Making exhibit in Durban.

When the students of our program met 83-year-old Maharaj at the South Africa in the Making exhibit in Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium, we encountered a charming, grandfatherly man who told us anecdotes from his extraordinary life that were peppered with humor and full of dignity. Maharaj pointed us to the example of Nelson Mandela, specifically highlighting how Mandela’s life holds lessons on true leadership.

According to Maharaj, Mandela-style leadership involves not taking away anybody’s sense of personal dignity. Maharaj recounted how, while in prison, Mandela had led fellow prisoners to slow their walking pace after the prison warders had insisted they humiliate themselves by running while crouched over. Maharaj also views Mandela leadership as taking ownership of the consequences of one’s actions. Mandela always accepted burdens placed upon him or induced by himself. That alone is a top quality that can make leaders who previously had no leadership inclination, Maharaj said.

Maharaj worked as Minister of Transport under Mandela, served as spokesperson for former President Jacob Zuma, and taught as faculty of Bennington College in the United States. He spoke with great pride in his country, noting its progress since his involvement in the underground movement and looking with optimism toward its future. He left the SIT students with the encouraging words that democracies give individuals the power to have a voice that inspires political and social change.

History has a way of remembering some names while making less of others, and despite Mac Maharaj’s being less well known on the international stage than Nelson Mandela’s, his story and legacy resonates with those who take the time to hear the story of his walk to freedom.

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