Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape will be approaching the Cape High Court first thing this morning to secure an urgent interdict against unlawful and criminal evictions by the City of Cape Town in the case of Macassar Village. Read the rest of this entry »
Source: M & G
Abahlali baseMjondolo was joined by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and other Poor Peoples Alliance members at the Constitutional Court. Down with the Slums Act, Down! Forward to Abahlali, Forward!
Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape
23 May 2009
The land at Macassar Village was first occupied on Tuesday. The shacks that were built that night were demolished very early the next morning. Every day since then the people have rebuilt their structures to protect themselves at night, sometimes in the rain. Early every morning the police and municipal officials come have come and intimidated people, demolished people’s structures and confiscated our building material.
Read the rest of this entry »
The defiant backyard dwellers who are continuing to illegally occupy a piece of land in Macassar should retreat, Mayor Dan Plato said.
Tension has grown over the past three days, with the protesting group not backing down on its intention of permanently occupying land close to the N2.
Read the rest of this entry »
Arrests made as violent protests erupt over dismantling of newly-erected shacks
May 20, 2009 Edition 1 Francis Hweshe Source: Cape ArgusMACASSAR Village housing protesters burnt tyres and stoned the police, who then fired on them with rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, arresting four people, including a University of the Western Cape professor, for public violence.
The informal residents had illegally cleared a piece of land alongside the N2 owned by the City of Cape Town and erected structures vowing not to move from the area.
The protest turned ugly yesterday, resulting in the arrest, and subsequent release of Professor Martin Legassick, along with three other men.
Furious backyard dwellers said they were fed up with the government’s promises of housing, and were tired of paying “exorbitant” rentals. Read the rest of this entry »
GYMPIE Street residents spent their third night sleeping in the street last night after a five-year eviction battle between them and their landlord.
Eleven people who were ordered – in a Cape High Court ruling – to vacate two dilapidated Woodstock houses with broken windows and no water or electricity, ended up in the street on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile the owner of the properties has offered to pay R10 000 a household to help them move.
Josephine Jones begged the owner, Dennis Robertson, to change his mind.
“I was born in this street, so were my mother and my children,” said Jones. Read the rest of this entry »
For more pictures including the ongoing camping by residents, click here.
land occupations in Macassar
On Tuesday 19th backyarders in Macassar, desperate for homes, built shacks on municipal land on a field adjoining the N2 – and were illegally evicted by Cape Town’s DA Helen-Zille-inspired Anti-Land Invasion unit, together with SAPS and Metro Police. Their building materials were confiscated and taken off in a truck. In the process four people (including a 2-year old child) were unnecessarily wounded by police rubber bullets, four people (including myself) were unnecessarily taken into custody and three of these wrongfully charged with public violence. Read the rest of this entry »
Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape Press Release
Friday 22 May 2009
The Macassar Village land occupation continues…
Tonight we spend our fourth night on this land. It is cold and rainy tonight but we will stand where we sleep! We will rebuild once again! We will not leave this land. This is our land, not because we are greedy, but because everyone needs some land and housing to provide a permanent home for their families. Backyards are not permanent nor adequate. They are oppressive. Read the rest of this entry »
Event: Gympie residents to meet with Shehaam Sims (Mayco Housing) at 09h00 today
This is not a game! People’s lives are at stake.
Yesterday, Gympie Street resident Lydia Portland passed away. She had a stroke even though she was only in her 50s. While she was not among the two families who were evicted earlier in the week, she was the head of one of the families slated to be illegally evicted next week.
As close friends of Lydia, we are very sad and many of us are wondering if stress from looming eviction might have lead to Lydia’s death. While we will never know for sure, we assert once again: This is not a game! Read the rest of this entry »
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