Two Afrikaans labour-brokers gunned down in Bloemfontein: Desiré Hall (42) killed; Madeleine Bezuidenhout, 52, injured – only a week after Cosatu declared war on labour-brokers. Nothing robbed..
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Dec 24 2010 – BLOEMFONTEIN. Only a week after Cosatu trade union ‘declared war on labour brokers’, two Afrikaans labour-brokers, Mrs Desire Hall(42) and partner Mrs Madeleine Bezuidenhout, 52, were shot by two black men on a busy street on Christmas Eve. Nothing was robbed. Mrs Hall was shot dead assassination-style while Mrs Bezuidenhout, 52, who was driving, was struck by the same bullet in an arm.
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Labour-broker Desire Hall was shot through the heart and lung and died within seconds while the injured Mrs Bezuidenhout was rushing her Life Rose Park hospital in Bloemfontein. This was the second attack within a month on the same women, whose labour-brokering business also supplied staffers to Volksblad newspaper’s distribution company ‘On the Dot’ and “NND’. The women had to pay some workers in cash each month because the workers didn’t have bank accounts.
Cosatu trade union – the co-ruling partner of the African National Congress – on December 20 2010 ‘declared war on labour brokers. Its general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said at a press conference that the workers ‘had to re-energise themselves and be ready for a mother of all battles in 2011 to get labour brokers banned.’ He also said that more than 1-million workers had lost their jobs in SA since January 2009.
The women had just paid out the wages to workers in Enterprise Street, Hamilton when two black men accosted them on both sides of the car. One reached inside and shot Mrs Hall at point-blank distance. Mrs Hall was armed with a stungun and Mrs Bezuidenhout said when she heard the shot she initially thought that Mrs Hall had fired it. “Desire screamed at me to drive away fast. I chased away and when I looked oer to my left I saw Desiree fall forward, making gurgling sounds.’
The emergency staff tried to revive Mrs Hall but she was declared dead. Mrs Bezuidenhout said the bullet was removed from her arm and she was discharged from hospital. The women had to pay out the wages of some of their workers in cash because some do not have bank accounts, said Mrs Bezuidenhout. They were also attacked by armed robbers on 19 November and the robbers had then tried to rip their jewellery and necklaces from their necks. “Desiré ‘s knee was still swollen and blue after that attack, and we decided to buy stunguns. I have known Desiré since 1980. She was a brilliant and harmless woman. The murderers did not even try to steal a cellphone or the envelope containing R254 in cash. She has lost her life for nothing,’ the heartbroken Mrs bezuidenhout said. “I am angry with the government for allowing such terror. I am angry with South Africa,’ she said. Volksblad http://www.volksblad.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Sakevrou-doodgeskiet-20101227
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