Background of Area | Project Overview | Community Meeting | The Way Forward | ALL MULTIMEDIA

Despite problems with the venue we had a very successful neighbourhood meeting with between 80 and 100 people in attendance and many people being turned away due to limited space. Our meeting was eventually held in the tavern owned my Micheal Nikelo in Vukani. 

In light of the family feud involving Micheal Nikelo’s family many residents were unhappy about the venue, as it meant they could not oppose Nikelo in his home. The family feud between Nikelo’s family and Ayanda’s family has created a division in the community. It was proposed that we organise another meeting in a neutral place and we invite all Vukani stakeholders. 

Contacting stakeholders proved to be a problem. We tried to contact the Sector manager, Inspector Nomaxabiso Magula but to no avail. We then tried to visit her in the police station, but she asked for our contact numbers and never called back. The Ward Councillor, Mrs Fuku, told us she was unavailable on the day of our neighbourhood meeting as she was in Port Elizabeth. It later transpired that she was in fact holding her own meeting in Luvuyo Hall, across the valley from where we were.

In the afternoon leading up to the meeting, both of the families involved in the feud expressed the desire to be present at the community meeting. Following the realisation of the implications of bringing these families together under one roof, for our safety, and that of Ayanda’s family, we called the police for protection. It took several hours for them to arrive and the Sector Manager left before the end of the meeting – at the most crucial point in the discussion after the screening of the documentaries.

Matthew Mpahlwa chaired the meeting and discussed the media material we produced with the residents, drawing his questions from our media outputs that were played for the residents, as well as the print outputs that we handed out at the meeting. One of the main issues described by the residents was the relationship between the residents and the police; complaining that the police respond slowly when called to Vukani.

Tavern owner Micheal Nikelo, and Journalism Students Robyn Mc Cormick and Matthew Mpahlwa discuss the lack of police presence at the community meeting held at Nikelo’s Tavern in Vukani village, Grahamstown on the 18/10/2009. Photo: Lisa Mills