By Chris Makhaye and Nomfundo Mcetywa'I can never go back to that area . . . What they did to me was inhumane," says the young woman who had her pants torn off, was beaten and then forced to parade half-naked because she dared to wear pants instead of a dress.
And the conservative men controlling Umlazi's notorious T Section have remained unrepentant after torching her family home and vowed they would not allow women wearing pants to enter their area.
Last Sunday morning Zandile Mpanza, 25, was washing her clothes at a community tap near the hostels when two men demanded to know why she was wearing pants, and not a dress.
An "instruction" not to wear pants was first made at the hostel in the early 1990s after an incident in which two men fought over a woman wearing tight pants, according to the hostel co-ordinator.
It was then extended and enforced throughout T Section.
Mpanza replied that she was not living in T Section, and so the ban did not apply to her.
The two men then grabbed her, ripped her pants off and beat her with sticks.
They forced her to parade half-naked.
Mpanza and her family have since fled and are now in hiding. Two teenagers previously beaten by the men for wearing pants have also fled the area.
"I am even scared of speaking to the media, as I have been receiving death threats," said Mpanza.
A warrant of arrest has been issued for Umlazi Unit 17's hostel induna Thulani Cele, who is alleged to have led the men who assaulted Mpanza, police spokesperson Superintendent Danelia Veldhuizen said.
She said Cele had failed to appear in court to face charges of crimen injuria, common assault and malicious damage to property.
Cele was arrested last Sunday, but was released after 500 armed men gathered outside the police station in V Section, demanding his release.
He was released on warning and told to appear in Umlazi magistrate's court on Monday.
Women in the area were still shaken when the Tribune visited. They said the men of the area "ruled with iron fists".
"My children wear pants, but I will have to make them stop before we attract any trouble. We are not happy with the way we are treated, but we can never speak out, as we fear for our lives," said one woman.
In the area, all the women wore long skirts, with no pants in sight.
M'khonkothe Nzama, a co-ordinator for the men living in the T Section hostel, said they would clamp down on women who continued to wear pants in the area.
"Women who unknowingly come to this area wearing pants are politely told to go back. But those who knowingly come with the pants will face the Might Of The People™," he said.
T Section men's hostel is an IFP stronghold, but Nzama said the ban on women wearing pants was not their party's position.
"It was adopted by residents to forge a harmonious neighbourly relationship. This was after a huge conflict when two men clashed over a woman wearing a tight-fitting pair of pants showing off all her assets," he said.
Theresa Nzuza, IFP caucus leader in the eThekwini Municipality, is expected to meet councillors in the area on Sunday.
Nzuza said she would ask the men in the area to drop their no-pants rule, as it was tarnishing the party's image.
However, Nzama said the men in the area would not be influenced by party leaders to change their policies.
"We will drop our rule only if men in the area say so, not someone from outside," said a defiant Nzama.
Since the incident, the men have tightened their rule, declaring that children from the age of six will also not be allowed to wear pants.
"We have female IFP leaders who wear pants and we respect and love them. But if they come to this area, they don't wear pants.
"Even the ladies who work at Telkom who come to fix lines in the area don't come in pants. They usually wear skirts over their pants," said Nzama.
Nzuza said it was going to be tough to change the rules, because they were the product of the hostel men's
"We are going to educate our people slowly but surely.
"Sooner or later, these men will have to realise that they must change."
Nzuza said after the meeting she would visit Mpanza to give her support as a woman.
Wearing a skirt over her pants.
chris.makhaye@inl.co.za