Warring community 'bans' Mchunu for accepting sheep and blanket gifts

Minister seen as taking sides in land dispute

- By Bongani Mdakane

Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu has been declared persona non grata by a KwaZulu-Natal village after he accepted a sheep and blanket as gifts from one of the communities engaged in a bloody conflict over land and stock theft.

The Kwa-Musi and Onyango communities have been embroiled in a violent conflict over control of land since last year, resulting in the killing of several people and others fleeing their homes.

A community leader at Kwa-Musi, Simo Sibisi, told Sunday World this week that residents no longer trust Mchunu to deal with the issues in terms of intervention, accusing the minister of taking sides in the conflict.

“Senzo is banned from coming to our village as he is not neutral. We called him to come to Kwa-Musi to speak to us as the community, instead, he went to Onyango village, where he was gifted with a sheep and a blanket,” said Sibisi.

Mchunu visited Onyango on January 4 this year as part of a SAPS community outreach programme. During the event, he was gifted a sheep and a blanket, which he accepted.

But his acceptance of the gifts has now cast doubt over his impartiality among Kwa-Musi residents as Mchunu didn't visit their village and they regard this as a sign of taking sides.

“What kind of intervention is that where you see a mediator receiving gifts from one village and failing to come to address the other village? He is conflicted, hence we request Deputy President [Paul] Mashatile to come down here to resolve this impasse we have with Onyango village,” said Sibisi.