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A violent battle between two small villages has led to hundreds of residents being displaced and scores of homes being burnt to the ground
Conflict over a boundary has seen at least 200 people displaced, 42 homes torched and children missing school for two months.
The village of KwaKhanyayo in the Eastern Cape on the border of Lusikisiki and Mbizana has been plagued by faction battles between the rival sub-villages of Zitha and Sicambeni for as long as anyone can remember.
Residents of Zitha have demanded a demarcated boundary to formally separate them from neighbouring Sicambeni, but the Sicambeni villagers’ refusal to entertain this has come at a heavy cost.
Last Sunday, 28 homesteads were torched in Sicambeni, forcing people to flee their homes and go into hiding – in the bush, mealie fields, church halls or with nearby relatives.
Last weekend’s attack, in which three people were shot and injured, followed a similar one in February, in which 14 homes were torched.
Sicambeni villagers are blaming the attacks on their Zitha neighbours.
During a visit to KwaKhanyayo last week, City Press found Zitha all but deserted. Residents were said to have fled into the surrounding bush or to other villages.
KwaKhanyayo youth activist Loyolo Msongelwa said homes in both villages were torched in February as residents from both sides attacked one another.
Last week, the small local church hall near Sicambeni was filled with women and children, who were eating a meal of pap, chicken and gravy.
Nomfundiso Mtshibilili (39) said she would never forget what happened just before midday last Sunday.
“I had attended a church service in Flagstaff. I then received a phone call from one of my children, who informed me that our home had been burnt to the ground. We lost everything inside. Nothing could be saved. All that we are left with is the clothes we were wearing on Sunday,” she said while fighting back tears.
“I had six structures in my homestead, including a two-roomed flat, a one-room flat and four rondavels. We lost everything that we had built over many years.”
Mtshibilili, who has four children between the ages of nine and 18, said her children were at home when they heard gunshots and fled for their lives.
From a distance, they watched as their home went up in flames.
She said she bought new furniture in December – a fridge, a TV and beds. Everything was destroyed in the fire.
“All the uniforms and school books for the children are gone. We would like government to intervene. It’s painful. I am so stressed I cannot even eat. I don’t have a home now and have nowhere to go,” she said.
Madlamini Valela (45) said they were chased out of their homes by the sound of machine-gun fire on Sunday morning.
“I have never heard a machine gun before. It sounded like a thunderstorm and it came from the side of Zitha. They burnt down my home,” she said.
Valela said she had a two-room flat and a three-room flat, as well as three rondavels at her homestead.
“I have two small grandchildren – seven and nine years old. They witnessed what happened. I told them to run as fast as they could and leave me because I cannot even run – I have arthritis. Bullets went over my head. I don’t know how I survived,” she said.
“Government must do something. We are being killed.”
Siphesihle Geziso (12), a Grade 5 pupil at Mkankomo Full Service School, said he wanted to be a policeman so that he could one day bring peace to his village.
But he and his classmates have not been to school since February.
“There is fighting in the village with people shooting firearms and burning our homes. We cannot go to school because we are afraid. I am scared because I saw what happened.
"I saw those from Zitha wearing red clothes and they were fighting against those from here in Sicambeni and Mgwedlweni, who were wearing plain clothes,” he said.
Geziso, who is sad about possibly having to repeat his grade next year, said they were now forced to stay in the church hall for their safety.
There was a heavy police presence in KwaKhanyayo last week, with patrols around the clock.
The atmosphere was tense and villagers were reluctant to talk to strangers.
Adding to the rancour are the people from another neighbourhood in the village, called Mgwedlweni, who are aiding those from Sicambeni in apparent revenge for the March 2018 killing of one of their own, who was allegedly killed by Zitha residents during an attack on Sicambeni.
Mtshintshelwa Mtshibilili (77), who has 15 children and 10 grandchildren, said he was alerted by his younger brother about what was happening.
“I immediately told my wife and children to run. I am using crutches and a neighbour helped me to climb on to my horse. I could also hear the sound of a gun. While hiding in a nearby bush, I saw my home going up in flames. Tears just flew down my cheeks,” he said.
Msongelwa blamed village headman Sonwabile Jama for the tension, claiming he was siding with the people of Zitha.
“In March 2018, in a traditional court here in KwaKhanyayo Traditional Council, people from Zitha admitted to killing a man from Mgwedlweni who they thought was from Sicambeni, but the headman did not do anything about that.
"For a while, things were calm, but there were no longer relations between the three KwaKhanyayo sub-villages of Zitha, Sicambeni and Mgwedlweni because the matter was not resolved,” he said.
“Today, homes are being torched and the headman has no solution because he has taken sides due to his own personal interests.”
Mxolisi Magidigidi also blamed the headman for the divisions.
“We only realised after we put this man in as a headman to take over from his mother that he was not assisting us as a community. He is only interested in lining his pockets. He is a businessman and spends more of his time running his businesses and less on village issues,” said Magidigidi.
But Jama denies taking sides, saying he was desperately trying to find an amicable solution.
He said the demand by the people of Zitha for a boundary was “out of order and would not happen”.
“As a chief, you will always be accused of a lot of things. You will find that none of these accusations against me is true, it’s all lies. It is just people speculating and mixing up issues,” he said.
“We want to bring the fighting groups together and talk so that we can resolve the matter as soon as possible. The boundary is not going to happen because you cannot have a boundary within the same village of KwaKhanyayo.”
Jama said the law “should take its course” and that fighters from Zitha who had gone into hiding “should be forced out of there because no one knows what they are planning in the bush”.
He added that he had taken two of the three people who were injured during the clashes last Sunday to hospital.
Ingquza Hill mayor Bambezakhe Goya said the matter was complex and government was still trying to find a solution.
On Thursday, the KwaKhanyayo traditional leadership, Goya, and provincial MECs Weziwe Tikana and Fikile Xasa met to try to find a solution.
“We are devastated to learn that so many households have been torched. The most worrying part is the fact that children are unable to go to school.
"The school here, Mkankomo, is closed. No children are being taught because they have been displaced and their belongings burnt. The situation is very worrying,” Goya said.
Headman read the riot act
A government delegation of four MECs – Fikile Xasa of cooperative governance and traditional affairs; Oscar Mabuyane of finance; Weziwe Tikana of transport, safety and liaison; and Phumza Dyantyi of social development – visited KwaKhanyayo on Thursday for a day-long meeting with traditional leaders.
Also at the meeting was Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner lieutenant general Liziwe Ntshinga.
Addressing villagers on Thursday afternoon, Xasa said they now had more insight into what was causing the fighting in the village.
He said it was partly to do with the proposed N2 Wild Coast toll road, which passes through some of KwaKhanyayo’s villages, as well the R1.6 billion Mtentu mega-bridge which will be built for the road.
“The other burning issue here is the N2 Wild Coast toll road which is going to be built here and has made everyone greedy.
This has divided communities, and what makes matters worse is that even traditional leaders are involved. We are going to monitor this. There is no reason people should fight because of development,” said Xasa.
Xasa said he told village headman Sonwabile Jama to get his act together and that a government precedent allowed them to withhold a traditional leader’s salary, which could happen to him if he didn’t sort out the problem in his village.
“We have come to the conclusion after the meeting that the traditional leadership is involved in this problem. We have told the headman here that he must go to the chief and explain himself and how he plans to end the violence,” Xasa said. Government instructed Jama to ensure that those hiding in the bush emerge, he said.
“This senseless war is over from today; that is what we are here to communicate.
“On Tuesday we will be here again to get progress from the headman in ensuring that life gets back to normal. School must resume immediately,” Xasa said.
Mabuyane, who is also the provincial ANC chairperson, said development should not spark conflict.
“This road is going to happen because it is about improving the lives of the people of this area and creating job opportunities,” he said.
The human settlements department would be brought in to help those who lost their homes.
“I have never heard of a situation where the headman is the first suspect in a conflict.
“We have now as government drawn a line between ourselves and the headman so that from now going forward we are talking in one voice, so that people’s dignity is restored,” he said.
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