By Celani Sikhakhane
- Former president Jacob Zuma told Ngizwe Mchunu by phone that illegal foreign nationals paid locals to burn his KwaZulu-Natal home.
- Mchunu says no foreigner knew his home and suspects locals who oppose his marches against undocumented immigrants burned the property.
Former president Jacob Zuma has blamed illegal foreign nationals for the arson attack on March and March activist Ngizwe Mchunu’s home in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mchunu himself is not convinced.
Three rondavels at Mchunu’s homestead in Mbumbulu, south of Durban, burned to the ground on 10 May. Three men arrived at the property looking for him, but he was in Johannesburg. His children were home. No one was hurt.
Zuma phoned Mchunu and told him that illegal foreign nationals had paid locals to carry out the attack.
“These people have no respect for this country. They do whatever they want without any repercussions. In this case it is clear that they used the locals to burn your house. They gave locals money for their criminal activities,” Zuma said.
He also pointed to the controversy earlier this year over the reported installation of a Nigerian national as an Igbo king at kuGompo in the Eastern Cape. The man at the centre of that dispute, Solomon Ogbonna Eziko, has since apologised publicly and said he was never crowned.
Mchunu does not share Zuma’s reading of who is responsible.
“No foreigner would come looking for my house specifically to burn it,” he said, TimesLive reported. He suspects South Africans who oppose his marches are behind the attack.
March and March has been leading protests across KwaZulu-Natal demanding that undocumented immigrants leave South Africa by 30 June.
This is the second attack on a march leader in two weeks. The home of fellow activist Mthokozisi Gumede in uMzimkhulu was vandalised a fortnight ago, with attackers smashing doors and windows while searching for him. His children also survived.
KwaZulu-Natal police have opened an arson case. No arrests have been made.
Pictured above: Former president Jacob Zuma and Bonginkosi Khanyile speaking to activist Ngizwe Mchunu by phone on Wednesday.
Image source: MKP
