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POLICE arrested 21 men this weekend and confiscated guns, including three AK47s, in an operation aimed at restoring peace between Bergville’s Magangozi and Mhlazwini clans.

Hundreds of police and SANDF members have been deployed to the area to stop clashes between the two neighbouring clans which recently claimed the lives of eight people.

The friction came after several weeks of tension arising from a dispute over a strip of land both clans claim as their own.

About 18 people have been injured and by last Sunday at least 20 homes had been razed.

Many people feared the violence would increase over the Easter weekend as people returned home to burnt houses and dead relatives.

In the early hours of Thursday, 10 men were arrested when police used two helicopters to surround a group of impis assembling in bushes.

Murder

By Friday, 21 had been arrested and three AK47s, one 303 assault rifle, 15 pistols and seven revolvers had been discovered. All the weapons were illegal possessions.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Dir Phindile Radebe said four of the arrested men would face charges of murder.

“We now have the situation under control. Police on the ground are making breakthroughs in the murders committed over the past few weeks,” she said.

A high-level delegation from KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Hamilton Ngidi and inkosi Menzi Hlongwane, representatives of the two clans and local businesses held several meetings this week to dissolve tensions.

Rev Themba Vundla, from the office of KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele, said the meetings had been fruitful.

“We are doing all we can to bring an end to the killings and get people back into their homes. But the meetings also agreed that while talks are ongoing, the police must be able to do their work, because some people have lost their lives,” he said.

On Thursday, the KwaZulu-Natal cabinet decided to reverse the decision to close the Didima Camp in Bergville.

The holiday camp, which is frequented by local and international tourists, was closed earlier this week by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife after violence flared.

Gladman Buthelezi, of Ezemvelo, said they had opened the Didima Camp on Thursday and things were returning to normal.

“All our operations are in place and we expect tourists to come back in numbers,” he said, adding that tourists were not affected by the faction fighting.

The conflict had resulted in the killing of one staff member who worked at the Didima Camp.

The decision to reopen the camp came after a briefing by Community Safety and Liaison MEC Bheki Cele on the situation and the deployment of police in the area.

However, some people remained sceptical that the massive police deployment would be enough to halt the killings.

Dumisani Zondo of the Mhlazwini clan said his father and local induna Dlova, 61, and brother Mfungelwa, 46, were ambushed and killed about two weeks ago.

“We are relieved that at last police have managed to arrest those responsible for the deaths of my father and brother. We were having sleepless nights thinking that the killers would strike again in our homes,” he said.

However, Zondo blamed the violence on inkosi (Menzi) Hlongwane taking sides in the conflict by favouring the Magangangozi clan.