Chaos in Durban: Cops shoot rubber bullets at #JusticeForDlaminiTwins protesters

Police have fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd as tensions flared outside the HOMii Lifestyle building in Durban on Monday, where hundreds of protesters gathered demanding justice for the Dlamini twins, the children who plunged into a lift shaft earlier this month.

The emotional protest, held under the hashtag #JusticeForDlaminiTwins, drew residents, activists, and family members who accused both police and the building management of negligence and cover-ups.

Demonstrators chanted, sang, and carried placards reading 'Justice delayed is justice denied' before law enforcement moved in to break up the swelling crowd.

The tragedy that sparked the protest occurred on October 18, when Aphelele Dlamini, one of the twin siblings, died after falling into a lift shaft at the HOMii building in Durban's CBD.

His sister, Aphile, survived the fall but remains in a coma at a local hospital. The family says they have received little information from both authorities and the property management company.

The twins' father, Khaya Dlamini, stood before the angry crowd and voiced his anguish. "We need justice. We need to see the footage for ourselves. We want to know what happened to our children,' he said, demanding the release of CCTV footage from the day of the incident. 

Chants soon broke out among the protesters, calling for tenants to vacate the building and even for it to be burned down

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the investigation was ongoing. "The matter is still under investigation," he confirmed.

For the Dlamini family, the uncertainty has compounded their pain. The children's aunt, Thuli Dlamini, said the family was devastated and frustrated by how the case had been handled.

"We're protesting today because we have not received justice. The police took the statement from us at the mortuary but now they claim that it has gone missing. We need additional investigators to explain to us what is going on here. We are extremely hurt as a family, and we arrived to see a bloodbath where the children fell. We don't understand because everything has been removed," she said.

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