Family suffers violence and looting during anti-illegal immigrant march

What should have been a week celebrating a traditional wedding turned into a nightmare after a family’s home was allegedly attacked and looted during Tuesday’s anti-illegal immigration march in Germiston.

Speaking to TimesLIVE on Wednesday, the Makukules claimed protesters assaulted the family’s father, forced a young woman out of the bathroom while she was naked, vandalised their property and stole thousands of rand in lobola money, food and cellphones while police officers allegedly stood by without intervening.

Richard Makukule, the head of the family, said he was outside his Delville home when marchers accused him of being a foreigner.

“I kept telling them I am a Tsonga, from Limpopo,” he said.

“I even offered to show them my South African ID, but they said they did not care. They pushed me towards the police van while SAPS members just stood there and watched. I was injured on my left leg during the chaos.”

Makukule said he was deeply disappointed that officers who were present did not protect him. “It was painful because I expected the police to stop what was happening. Instead, they just watched.”

His daughter, Rachel Makukule, said she had finished work early because of the protests, but when she arrived home she found a chaotic scene at the gate. “I found many people gathered. They were arguing with my father and accusing him of being a foreign national.”

She said some protesters shouted, “Shanganis must also go”, despite the family repeatedly explaining that they were South Africans. “I told them he is my father and he was born in South Africa. They told us they didn’t care.”

Rachel said the family quickly realised the situation was becoming dangerous and let the protesters do what they wanted. “My father has a chronic illness and he is diabetic. I was scared because there were so many people and nobody seemed willing to listen.”

Inside the house, Rachel’s 19-year-old sister was taking a bath when protesters allegedly forced their way into the bathroom, breaking the room’s door and window. “They demanded that she come outside. That was so uncalled for, it was inhumane of them,” said Rachel.

“She was naked while people outside were watching. I still ask myself where the dignity was in that. How could people do that to another human being?” another family member, Thlologelo Makukule, asked, adding that it was an experience she would never forget.

The family later showed TimesLIVE broken bedroom doors, damaged windows and doors and vandalised rooms that had been occupied by tenants.

Most of the tenants were at work when the house was allegedly stormed. “When they came back, they found their rooms destroyed,” Thlologelo said. “They broke doors, opened fridges, stole food and helped themselves to cooldrinks and oranges.”

She said many tenants were too afraid to spend the night at the property because the doors could no longer be locked. “We have children living here. They are traumatised by everything that happened.”

Rachel believes criminals used the protest as an opportunity to commit crime. “I don’t believe everyone who came here was protesting. I think some people hid behind the march to steal from us.”

Just days before the attack, the family had gathered for a traditional lobola celebration. “On Saturday we celebrated my sister’s lobola before she left with her in-laws. It was supposed to be a happy time for our family.”

Instead, Rachel said, money from the ceremony was stolen from the house during the attack. “They took about R7,000 from the lobola money that was still in the house. They also stole my father’s Samsung cellphone and an iPhone 13.”

She believes the family may have been deliberately targeted.

“It is difficult not to think that someone knew about the celebration because they stole money from the house and cellphones.”

The family said they repeatedly pleaded with police officers who were stationed nearby to intervene. “We kept asking the police for help because they were watching everything happen,” Rachel said.

“Some officers told us they were from Boksburg and had not been deployed in Germiston. I don’t understand how that meant they could ignore crimes happening right in front of them.”

According to the family, it was only after private security officers arrived that the situation was brought under control. “They chased after the people who were vandalising the property and managed to detain 14 of them inside our yard,” Rachel said. “They told them to lie on the ground. Only then did the police come in and arrest them.”

The family said they were heartbroken at the failure of police to protect them. “We shouldn’t have had to rely on private security while police officers were standing nearby,” Rachel said.

The cost of repairing the damage now weighs heavily on the family.

Doors were broken down, windows smashed, the gate damaged, and sections of the boundary wall weakened after people pushed against it while forcing their way into the property.

“We honestly don’t know where we’re going to get the money to repair everything immediately because this incident was so sudden,” Rachel said. “The wall is now unstable because so many people were pushing against it.”

Rachel added that three of their tenants had decided to leave because of fear.

Ekurhuleni Ward 35 councillor Ntuthuzelo Mpambani visited the family after the incident and condemned what had happened.

He said although people had the constitutional right to protest, that right did not extend to attacking innocent people or damaging private property. “We received disturbing reports that the march did not remain peaceful. Homes were attacked and people were victimised.”

Mpambani said concerns about illegal immigration should be dealt with through lawful processes and not by targeting residents. “There was a young woman who was dragged out of the bathtub while she was naked. You cannot do such things. We cannot allow people to enter people’s homes, steal property and violate their rights.”

Mpambani also criticised what he described as tribal discrimination during the march. “If someone comes from Limpopo, that does not make them any less South African. We have 11 official languages and every South African deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.”

The incident is one of several allegations of violence, intimidation and looting that emerged after Tuesday’s anti-illegal immigration demonstrations in parts of the country.

For the Makukule family, however, the damage goes far beyond broken doors and stolen possessions.

Only days after celebrating a joyful family milestone, they are left trying to rebuild their home while coming to terms with an ordeal they say should never have happened.

“What hurts the most,” Rachel said, “is that we kept telling them we are South Africans, but they didn’t care.”

TimesLIVE