By Sello Theletsane
Controversial City of Joburg member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for economic development Nkululeko Mbundu is hot water after inciting violence against the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), its staff, and informal traders in the city.
Since October 2013, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), a non-profit human rights organisation, has been in an ongoing legal battle with the City of Johannesburg, fighting for the rights of informal traders to operate without fear of intimidation or harm. The Johannesburg High Court ruled that the City of Johannesburg had to reverse the illegal eviction of 400 informal traders from the De Villiers Street trading precinct – De Villiers, Plein, Twist, Joubert, Eloff, and King George streets.
The ruling further stated that the informal traders be compensated for the days of work lost. However, the judgment has been criticised by ActionSA’s Nkululeko Mbundu, the mayoral committee member for economic development in a series of tweets. After SERI and the South African Informal Trader’s Forum (SAITF) successfully reversed the eviction last month of about 400 street traders from the inner-city precinct west of the Noord taxi rank in Johannesburg’s city centre, Mbundu accused SERI of “using locals as a front” and that “we are dealing with a syndicate with big vested interest”.
According to SERI, the statements have encouraged xenophobic people to make chilling online threats. The City of Joburg has since distanced itself from Mbundu’s inflammatory comments. Mbundu’s comments also drew the ire of the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services.
In a statement, the Ministry said it had “noted with concern the flagrant and complete disdain with which the City of Johannesburg’s Member of the Mayoral Committee on Economic Development has treated the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI)”.
The Ministry said SERI is a non-profit human rights organisation which has been involved in litigation, over many years, to protect the rights of informal traders. “The MMC’s actions have been a blatant violation of a court order and show a total disregard for court decisions. The MMC has also endangered the lives of SERI’s staff by placing pictures of SERI staff and their respective cellphone numbers on social media and baiting xenophobic elements in our communities to target these individuals.”
“The MMC’s tweets have incited threats of violence against SERI including, amongst others, the burning down of SERI’s offices, killing the lawyers who represented the informal traders, and harm other SERI staff. As a result, SERI has had to temporarily close its offices. We call upon the Information Regulator to investigate these actions in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act.”
The Ministry said court orders were vital to the rule of law. It further urged the City of Johannesburg Mayor to ensure that orders made by our courts were upheld and respected. “To simply condemn the unlawful actions of this MMC is not enough.”
Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development John Jeffery said: “It is important to stress that the right to legal representation is fundamental. Every person has the right to have their case heard before a court of law. Legal practitioners represent their clients and the rights of their clients. They cannot and should not ever be harassed and intimated for doing their jobs.”
“Furthermore, SERI is a non-profit human rights organisation. Any attack on a human rights organisation is an attack on democracy itself,” Jeffery said.
