Accusing police minister Bheki Cele of using Nelson Mandela Bay officers as his personal mafia to seize their firearms, nervous Korsten shop owners are now looking to the courts to intervene.
The three-hour raid at Thanda Bantu stores following fiery clashes in Durban Road last week preceded further searches at the traders’ homes.
SAPS tactical task team members seized four licensed firearms on Thursday.
Without this protection, the store owners say they are sitting ducks.
A confrontation between a taxi driver and a foreign national sparked the unrest on Wednesday, , when eight minibus taxis and two civilian vehicles were set alight during the clashes between traders and taxi drivers.
Irate civilians threw stones at storefronts and threatened to burn down the properties.
The next day, Cele was in the city to quell the violence.
At the same time, police raided the Thanda Bantu stores looking for guns.
On Monday morning, Nelson Mandela Bay traffic officers were out in force in Durban Road, conducting spot checks on vehicles.
Traffic officers issued 58 notices for stopping and causing obstruction, drivers having unlicensed vehicles and other violations.
Traffic and licensing director Warren Prins said such interventions would now take place regularly in the area.
The Korsten business owners, meanwhile, said they had been advised by their lawyers that, without a valid search warrant, the raids on their properties had been illegal.
Thanda Bantu co-owner Samat Ahmed said beside the three firearms seized from their store, police had later seized another of his firearms at his home.
He said the shop owners had consulted with lawyers to take the matter further in the high court.
Ahmed claimed the raid on their store had been conducted illegally.
He said all of the firearms they owned were legally registered.
“When threatened or in danger, any civilian has a right to protect their lives and their property,” he said.
“I want the minister to tell us if he is going to take responsibility if something were to happen to us while we have no means of protecting ourselves.”
Ashraf Limbada of the Korsten Traders Forum agreed.
“Every shop owner in Korsten has a legal firearm to protect themselves.
“It’s been this way since the 1990 northern areas uprisings.”
In a letter by the Korsten Neighbourhood Watch, Cele was labelled arrogant and accused of using the police as his “personal mafia”.
The forum accused Cele of siding with taxi operators and ignoring what had preceded the violence, including efforts by all roleplayers to find a solution before his arrival.
“Instead of waiting for a proper report, he goes and instructs the police to arrest all people with legal firearms.
“How does he expect citizens to prevent and counter violent taxi mobs who already started stoning and burning vehicles and smashing shopfronts?
“The citizens, in the absence of police, were forced to do the work of the police,” the letter stated.
Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, referred questions to the provincial structures of the police, stating only that “the minister doesn’t give orders to the police”.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said four firearms were seized.
They were sent for ballistic tests and police were awaiting the results.
Cele is behind a bill seeking to remove the “self-defence” clause as a reason to lawfully own a gun.
“Only six of the 10 taxi owners have come forward in relation to the burning and damaging of their taxis,” Naidu said.
“Police are appealing to these owners, and the owners of the two vehicles that were torched, the driver of the Audi and the taxi allegedly involved in the accident, to contact us, as their statements are crucial in the investigation.”
The Korsten Neigbourhood Watch, meanwhile, sought to clear up what had sparked the unrest.
It said a taxi driver had bumped a Somali pedestrian in Durban Road.
When the Somali approached the taxi driver, an argument ensued and the driver allegedly tried to drive off, but the man held onto the taxi, breaking the side view mirror.
The taxi driver returned with three other drivers.
The four taxi drivers fled, leaving one taxi behind, when the community intervened to stop the fight.
After they returned to fetch the taxi, drivers at the taxi rank allegedly mobilised into a “frenzied mob”.
Ahmed said as they were moving their vehicles to safety, his son Mohammed’s Audi was stoned, doused with petrol and set alight with him still inside.
A taxi driver had also allegedly rammed Mohammed’s car and set fire to another vehicle.
“They started stoning shop windows, pelting the owners and attempting to burn down the shops.
“By this time the call went out for help to the police.
“They arrived an hour later when they were no longer needed,” the neighbourhood watch said in a statement..
HeraldLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.