Tensions at peace meeting in Buje

By Simphiwe Xako

PORT ST JOHNS -- Tensions were obvious here yesterday at a meeting in Buje, one of the troubled villages in the Majola area. The meeting was called to try to end faction fighting which has claimed hundreds of lives.

The meeting took place was chaired by Superintendent Zola Sgotyana of the SAPS.

The affected villages are Ntlenga, Siphu-siphu, Mevana, Ntlanjana, Mhlotsheni and Tyeni.

It followed Friday's burning of more than 12 huts and theft of livestock as Mevana villagers fled fearing for their lives. It was said at the meeting that the main causes of the attacks were stocktheft, revenge and aggression.

Children from five schools in Majola stopped attending classes in February bacause groups of men carrying high-calibre guns raided schools in search of older boys.

One of them, Nolwazi Nombekana, 18, had just started Std8 when teachers told pupils to stop coming to school. Some teachers were deployed to other schools and others confined to their homes.

Affected schools were Majali, Manzabila, Gobizizwe, Buje and Majola.

Nolwazi's brother, Zamile, 16, was in Std 5.

Police have been trying from March last year to bring peace to the area but without success.

Nolwazi's father works in the mines and his mother in the nearby Majola tea plantation. Her wage is the family's main income.

Villagers from Buje cannot work at the plantation as to get there they have to walk through Mhlotsheni, which is ''enemy territory''.

There are seven children in the Nombekana family.

Ntlanjana, a formerly peaceful village overlooking the Umzimvubu river, was abondoned by its residents who fled to Mhlotsheni in fear of Buje.

Almost all Majola villagers have a sad story.

Mrs Mamkrokrelwa Kinqi, 82, said Buje villagers had invaded Tyeni, killing her husand and stabbing her eyes after saying they were witches.

Her village was attacked more than six times.

"The last time they butchered my goats and chickens."

Mrs Ntozini Mkhosana says she hid her mirror under a towel she wears as a scarf. She is afraid of being called a witch.

"It's always wiser to think about every move you make in Majola. Someone can misinterpret my carrying a mirror and think I'm trying to create lightning that will burn someone's house."

Majola's faction fighting is as old as its valleys.

Mrs Nowongile Majali remembers how a group of about 30 men wearing brown overalls and carrying machine guns shot and killed a villager who was on his way to work.

"At first I thought they were soldiers. When they met the poor man they did not talk and just shot him," she said.

Her husband, Bangazile works on the reef and she, eight months pregnant, has to provide for her four children. Since she cannot work at the plantation she pins her hopes on rain for her small maize garden.

She cannot remember when the killings and attacks started in Majola.

"I am 48 now and have four children. I was born into the faction fights."

During the old days villagers used knobkerries, spears and assegais to kill each other. Lately sophisticated weapons like AK47s and home-made guns are easy to get.

At yesterday's meeting, some members of the peace committee accused police of not responding to reports of attacks on time. They also claim murderers and perpetrators of violence are never arrested.

The police need to be highly commended for skillfully bringing the reluctant sides to the table.

But the lack of tolerance and refusal to accept blame by all sides is worrying.