Cape Town - Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has defended his statement that land occupiers must be shot at by police if they erect shacks on/close to the railway line.
Mbalula came under fire and faced criticism from DA Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers yesterday, asking that the minister apologise and retracts the statement.
The minister was quoted in the media saying: “I’m saying to SAPS shoot, but not to kill. Anyone who is going to erect a shack here must be dealt with. I’m not going to accept that people are going (to) come here and put up shacks. The land must be guarded”.
Simmers said he was appalled by the statement. “The Minister must immediately retract the statement and apologise to the public. He should rather focus on his job and ensure that when he opens railway lines with such fanfare as yesterday, the trains are actually working properly.”
Even Helen Zille joined the furore, tweeting: ”Just read this quote from Fikile Mbalula buried in an article, so that no-one notices. It is outrageous. No DA public rep would ever say such a thing, but if we did, it would make international news.”
In his defence, the Transport Ministry said it was rather opportunistic of the DA to seek to rubbish the progress made in the reconstruction and recovery of commuter rail in the country and on the central line in Cape Town, in particular.
They went further, saying the suggestion that Minister Mbalula called for the shooting of homeless people who illegally occupy land was an embellishment of the Minister’s remarks, who made no such call.
“The Minister’s comments were in relation to ensuring that the land parcels secured to accommodate those being relocated from Langa must not fall foul of illegal land occupations as we have seen on the railway line and reserve at Langa, Nyanga and Philippi,” reads the statement.
“The statement by Tertius Simmers is out of tune with this co-operation. His statement exposes his desperation to appease the DA Federal Leader, Helen Zille, who threw the first stone on the matter from the comfort of her home. Neither Tertius Simmers nor Helen Zille were at the event, yet they arrogate themselves the right to speak on behalf of those who have been working with us to ensure (the) successful resumption of the services.”
This is not the first time Mbalula is criticised for a statement involving the shooting of people. In 2017, while he was the police minister, he got himself the nickname shoot to kill after he encouraged the police to not show mercy on armed criminals who kill the police.
He said: "I am saying to them if they shoot you, shoot back. Shoot to kill if that is the case. Don't allow (yourselves) to be killed whilst criminals are ruthless against you. The law protects you to fight back."