Home > MARCEL KING WILL REMAIN A HERO IN OUR HEARTS
Marcel, the youngest son of Alemaine King of Rinkgreen Walk, Greenbury
Phoenix was killed by the eThekweni Municipalities Security force whilst
defending his helpless mum and defying electricity cut-offs in his community
The King family has had their electricity supply cut-off on several
occasions. This is common in this community where 75% of the residents in
Rinkgreen Walk have had their electricity cut off. This defiance against
disconnection of services is supported by other townships and communities
across Durban i.e. Chatsworth, Wentworth, Mpumalanga, Sydenham Heights,
Mount Moriah, who have had also endured disconnections of basic services as
well as being evicted from their homes. These communities have responded to
the states assault on the poor with massive mobilsation against the
disconnection of their services.
Alemaine King was defying the cut-offs and called on the community to come
together and fight off the cut offs. The council officials together with
their security force removed electricity cables and threw them on the
ground. The community then approached the officials and security and asked
them to wait until the media arrived. They refused to do this and started
to leave. Alemaine then sat at the back of one of the vehicles and refused
to move. The security officer then took off, dragging Alemaine behind him.
To her own amazement, this tiny woman did not fall off the vehicle. He then
started to reverse the vehicle trying to smash her against another vehicle.
The security officer then stopped the vehicle, got off and proceeded
towards Alemaine. He grabbed a hold of her and started to assault her.
Marcel witnessed this and approached this guard. As he approached the
officer he cocked his gun and pointed it at Alemaine King. Marcel then
stood in front of his mum, serving as a shield and willing to give his life
for her. Little did Alemaine know that Marcel had been shot, all she
remembers is seeing Marcel fall to the ground and blood oozing from him.
Marcel was shot in the mouth at point blank range. Official reports say
that 17 rounds of live ammunition was fired into the community that had
gathered around to stop the killing and the disconnections.
Marcel’s death comes at a time when South Africa is celebrating its 10
years of acclaimed democracy as well as the ANC governments landslide
victory in the recent elections. This is the first time in the history of
Kwazulu-Natal that the province has an ANC-led provincial government.
They [the ANC] are responsible for this! They promised us jobs and free
water and electricity,shouted Alemaine King, We only see them during the
elections. They think that they can buy us off with their breyani and
parties.
The King family laid a charge against the security officer. More than 24
hours have passed and still no suspects have been arrested. Weapons have
yet to be confiscated. None of the Sunday newspapers bothered to cover this
killing. In fact, the Sunday Tribune went so far as to cover Rajbansis new
wig (this made headlines all over the city of Durban) yet the newspaper
that claims to represent the people of Kwazulu-Natal didnt find the killing
in one of the poorest parts of urban Kwazulu-Natal a worthy story to cover.
This further proves how unfairly the poor and marginalized are treated.
They are continually made to disappear into the background invisible,
shadows that no one pays attention to.
The security guards, dressed in black uniforms and some in blue, are known
to many poor communities as the Blackjacks. They were all transported in
vehicles that had the registration NDM, which is Natal Durban Metro. The
municipality tried to cover this up by claiming that they were private
security, shifting the blame completely. This is not the case, after
speaking to many residents in the community it was reaffirmed that this was
most certainly municipality security and they are totally responsible for
this heinous crime. For this reason there was no excuse for why no suspects
will be arrested. There is certainly a record of who was on duty.
Communities across Durban and South Africa have come out condemning this
vicious attack on the poor and marginalized. The Concerned Citizens Forum
has made every attempt to support the family both emotionally and
politically. Many community organizations and social movements have come up
strong against this cruel behavior against the poor. At the funeral service
held over the weekend, community activists from all over Durban,
representing the CCF, made their commitment to the community of Phoenix
known. Many of the activists have had experiences with evictions and
disconnections and shared these experiences with the community of Phoenix.
Alemaine King gave a moving speech at her sons funeral. She thanked the
activists for being there at her sons funeral and said that now she knew
she will not have to face this struggle alone. Alemaine berated the
political parties for trying to buy off the community with breyani and food
and all kind of promises that have only resulted in her losing her son.
Where will you be, Thabo [Mbeki], on Judgment Day? Where will Nelson
[Mandela] be on Judgment Day?she asked. For a woman so emotionally battered
by her loss, Alemaine showed incredible strength. People around me just
shook their heads and said What a woman!.
Marcel mum has been very strong through all of this and continues to be so.
She wanted to reassure people all over the country that they should
continue this fight: Dont give up and dont be afraid because Marcel lost
his life. He died a hero. He was protecting me and standing for his
community. We must not live in fear because we think they are going to
shoot us. We are stronger. They may have killed Marcel but that is only
one, they cannot kill all of us.
She has come out strong against the ANC government for making false
promises and for the ignorance that they have shown in this matter. The
municipality refuses to respond deferring their comments and further
stating that they will not comment as there is an investigation that is
taking place. None of the ANC councilors have visited the family with the
exception of one who bore boxes of chicken and vegetables, as if this is
what will be used as compensation for the life lost. I suppose the ANC has
a policy has to how much of offerings (food) one will qualify for, for the
loss of a life. The only offering the DA could make were claims of how the
area is so filthyin terms of keeping their environment clean. The DA added
that the area was unhygienic and it wouldnt be surprising if any epidemic
should break out. So thats what the political parties offered the King
family : chickens and an insult of being filthy.
Marcels memorial service was held on Monday, 28 June 2004. Over 200 people
filled a run-down hall that functions as the meeting place for the aged.
People from the Rinkgreen Walk community got onto busses to come to the
service. Community activists from Bayview and Westcliffe paid for the hire
of their own taxis to come to the memorial. These activists came to Phoenix
as a symbol of solidarity of the poors.
At the service, The King family was given an opportunity to speak about the
death of Marcel. A very distraught, yet incredibly strong mother, Alemaine
King, vented her feelings about the premature death of her son : As a
mother I will steal your [council] lights and steal your water and you will
do me nothing! They can kill one but they cannot kill us all. Christabelle,
the younger sister of Marcel, fighting back her tears, said, in a highly
emotional speech : My brother suffered. You (council) are going to pay. I
dont care who is listening, you are going to pay!.
Orlean Naidoo, Chairperson of the Westcliffe Flat Residents Association and
member of the Concerned Citizens Forum said :
Marcel is a king in the true sense of the word. In Chatsworth the very same
security guards face us. Marcel was powerful and we must never think that
we are weak.
The one concern that this raises is that Marcels death will be used as a
political football. This may be an opportunity for other political parties
not aligned to the ANC to jump on the issue and claim to be representing
the poor people of Phoenix. The very same DA councilor, Roy Moodley, who
said that the people of Rinkgreen Walk are dirty, was also at the memorial
service. On that day he claimed to love the people of Rinkgreen Walk. He
also said that he is the only one looking out for the community, for the
poors, and often walks around ignoring the reconnections that people have
done. He told the packed hall that he is going to the full Council Meeting
on Wednsday, 30 June 2004 to represent the community of Rinkgreen Walk. He
will ask for a full investigation into Marcels death. He also added that he
would ask for the council flats to be given to the people living there at
no charge.
Roy Moodley ended of his wish list with : I will also ask the council for
pre-paid water meters to be installed here. And that sent shivers down the
spine of every activist sitting there. The people of Phoenix didnt know
what that meant. But we know. And comrades in Orange Farm, Johannesburg
know what that means. The logic behind pre-paid water meters is that
gaining access to water is each persons individual responsibility, for
which they have to work to earn money to pay. And as Marcels mother pointed
out : I had three sons who are skilled in a trade but they cant find any
jobs. How then are poor people with no access to jobs going to be able to
pay for water through Roy Moodleys pre-paid water meters?
At the end of the service, Ashwin Desai from the Concerned Citizens Forum
reminded people that no-one was arrested for the death of Marcel. And to
deal with this takes strength and unity, he reminded everyone. The
community came away from that service stronger and with a strong desire to
form a community movement or organization within this community. The
council must never dare to come back here. We will never be quiet. We will
stand together and we will fight! We will organize ourselves and now we
have the support of people from Chatsworth and other areas. We will
win!claimed Marcels older brother. Alemaine King also urged people to use
those lights, they are yours! Use that water. It is no longer the
governments. Its ours!
As social movements we are standing strong against this incident and will
continue to do so. We will fight this battle come what may. The
municipality has tried this in Bayview and Westcliff and was unsuccessful
because of the resistance that they came up against. They chose to attack a
community that was barely organised and took a life. This must and will be
dealt with. This incident serves as a wake up call to many of us. How many
more people will have to lose their lives in the struggle until we, the
poors, are taken seriously? How many more young people are going to be
robbed of their livelihood and how many more families have to be torn apart
before receiving our victory and the DEMOCRACY that this countrys
government so blatantly celebrates?
MARCEL KING WILL REMAIN A HERO IN OUR HEARTS. He died for the sake of the
poor. He will be sadly missed and always remembered.