Phoenix Five acquitted for their role in defending their neighbourhood from deadly riots

Over the Christmas holidays, five individuals charged with public violence arising from the July 2021 upheaval in the Durban suburb of Phoenix, have been exonerated on the grounds of acting in self-defense and safeguarding their property.

Represented by Ravindra Maniklall (pictured), the five defendants Mehmood Khan, Sholan Reddy, Christopher Pillay, Khalik Mohamed, and Rodney Ravi Pillay were acquitted by the Verulam Magistrate’s Court, after the court found the state witnesses as unsatisfactory.

The court acknowledged the neighbouhood militia’s lawful intent—a collective endeavor to shield neighborhoods rather than disturb public peace. This case resonates beyond the courtroom, and adds to the legal precedent surrounding cases of self-defence in home and land invasions, and in cases of civil unrest.

Attorney Maniklall reported the clients’ relief at the denouement of their protracted legal odyssey. However, their legal journey is far from concluded, as they intend to pursue civil recourse for alleged maltreatment during incarceration.

Previously held for over 10 months during the long wait for their trial, the five defendants raised allegations of mistreatment and denial of basic necessities in Westville Prison. A specter of systemic issues looms as the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services recommends an investigation into these claims.

The legal battle originated from an incident at the JG Champion Shell Garage on July 12, wherein the accused, and approximately 30 others, were purportedly engaged in unlawful assembly with the common intent to disrupt public peace and rights.

The defense countered this narrative, contending that the context of KwaZulu-Natal resembled a war zone amidst widespread looting and destruction following the judicial admonishment of former president Jacob Zuma.

The court found the state’s net cast too wide by accusing the men of culpability for the surrounding damage to property caused by others, and absolved the accused of orchestrating vehicle burnings and criminal intent, and consequently finding them to be innocent, and justified in the use of force to defend their lives and property.

The neighbourhood self-defence teams organised amid the riots have been demonised in the past two years for the deaths caused in self-defence, particularly for what is called the “Phoenix Massacre”, in which approximately 300 rioters were killed as they descended on the predominantly Indian neighbourhood.

The attempted progrom was organised through WhatsApp groups in which mob leaders, including eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, voiced their encouragement to loot and burn their way through the minority neighbourhoods, after the original targets, white and Indian-owned businesses, had been looted bare.

Fortunately, none of the minority targets of the mass violence lost their lives in this incident, though the government’s actions, targeting those who exercised their right to defend their lives, remains a testament to the hostility of the current regime.