Dozens of backyard dwellers who invaded a piece of land in Macassar Village have vowed not to move until their grievances are addressed. Read the rest of this entry »
Media: Land awarded to Macassar Village residents
21 05 2009
Macassar invaders stay put
Regan Thaw | 20 May 2009
Source: Eye Witness News
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Tags: Dan Plato, land occupation, Macassar Village, Poni, rubber bullets
Categories : Archives
Newfields and Railway to meet CT Mayor and call for Moratorium on evictions in CTCHC communities
21 05 2009
Newfields Village AEC Press Release
Where: Mayors Office
When: 13h00 Today (21 May 2009)
The Newfields Village and Railway communities are heading to the offices of Dan Plato, the new Cape Town Mayor to hand over 69 eviction notices and demand Plato call for a moratorium on evictions in all Cape Town Community Housing Company (CTCHC) areas.
The privatised government NGO has been attempting to evict the residents for years after they unfairly raised rents to almost triple the original amount, ended their rent-to-buy program, and let the housing project fall into slumlike conditions.
As former Mayco member for house, Mr. Plato knows the issues with CTCHC all to well. He has the power to put an end to these evictions and call for good-faith negotiations that would result in a fair rent-to-buy program.
For more information, contact Gary at 072 392 5859
For previous press releases, click here
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Tags: CTCHC, Dan Plato, Mayors Office, Railway
Categories : Archives, Newfields Village, News & Press Release
Gympie Street Shame – Zille to blame?
21 05 2009I have just come from Gympie Street where Willie Heyn and his family and their belongings are on the street, forceably evicted by an apartheid-era injustice which continues to play itself out today. With no opportunity given to purchase their home, in which they lived for generations, the Heyn family are now in a scene straight out of Les Misrables as the DA-Lead City continues to protect the landed gentry. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: DA, Gympie Street, Zehir Omar, Willy Heyn, Les Misrables
Categories : Archives, Mainstream and Other News, Woodstock
Build homes now, Delft protesters demand
21 05 2009
May 21, 2009 Edition 1
Niémah Davids Source: Cape Argus
Niémah Davids Source: Cape Argus
Dozens of disgruntled residents from another Delft informal settlement have burnt tyres and put up cordons across the entrance and exit points of Symphony Way to protest against a lack of service delivery in the area.
The demonstration was the latest in a series of such protests to have hit Cape Town in recent weeks.
Around 100 residents of the Blikkiesdorp informal settlement, a temporary relocation area in Delft, protested for around two hours from 8am yesterday, demanding that the provincial government give them proper housing. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: blikkiesdorp, burning tyres, delft, Du Noon, Joe Wilson
Categories : Archives, Delft - evictions + resistance, Mainstream and Other News
Macassar people won their victory on land occupation
20 05 2009
Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape Press Release
20 May, 2009
People from Macassar Village finally won their victory on land occupation, today would have been the third day of sleeping outside if the victory was not won.
During the day today the Superintendent from Macassar Police station asked people to elect four people to go to negotiate with a local ward counselor for a piece of land which is nearby the land that people had occupied, after 3 hours of negotiation between people and the ward counselor it was agreed that people can build on that land which is 10 miters away from the land that people had occupied.
As we speak people are busy building their structures and Dan Plato is expected to arrive tomorrow early in the morning with few municipal officials to hand over the land officially to the people of Macassar Village and the anti land invasion is also expected to return the building material that they have demolished and confiscated from people illegally.
Power to the people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And as Abahlali baseMjondolo we want to know that this is the begging of many activities of building communities from below. And we want to clarify that we don’t occupy the land, we only establish our selves and this is people centered process.
Three people that were arrested and charged with public violence are released with a warning to appear in court on the 11th of June 2009.
For more info call 073 2562 036
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Tags: Dan Plato, land occupation, Macassar Village
Categories : Archives, Macassar, News & Press Release, Poor People's Alliance
Media: Cold front leads to Cape protests
20 05 2009
Peter Luhanga
May 19, 2009
Source: West Cape News
Residents of Doornbach informal settlement in Cape Town took to the streets on Sunday night in protest against their living conditions, digging up a portion of a busy road, burning tyres and barricading the road with wood and cement slabs.
Protesters said police had fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd at about 9.30pm. Police confirmed that rubber bullets had been fired on Sunday night after protesters had refused to disperse.
Although there was a steady drizzle late on Sunday night, it failed to prevent about 1,000 protesters from gathering. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Dan Plato, Doornbach, Golden Arrow, Potsdam Road
Categories : Archives, Mainstream and Other News
Media: Cops, backyard dwellers clash in Macassar
20 05 200920 May 2009, 09:04
Source: Cape Argus
A police officer and a young boy were among several people injured during Tuesday’s violent confrontation between police and Macassar Village backyard dwellers who invaded land adjacent to the N2.
During the incident, four men – including prominent academic Martin Legassick – were taken into custody.
When police bundled Legassick, who the people called their “comrade”, into the back of a police van, the backyard dwellers hurled stones at them, and police opened fire with rubber bullets. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Aziz Hartley, land occupation, Macassar Village, Martin Legassick, N2
Categories : Macassar, Mainstream and Other News
Gympie Street residents illegally evicted and now on the street in front of their homes
19 05 2009Woodstock Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release
Tuesday, 19th May 2009
Tuesday, 19th May 2009
About 10 residents of Gympie Street were illegally evicted earlier today by the sheriff of the court even though residents won their most recent court case against slumlord Pastor Dennis Roberston.
This was a surprise eviction with no advanced notice. The sheriff of the court was unable to provide a valid eviction order and residents were only given an ‘attachment order’ of and outdated eviction notice. When residents asked why they were being evicted, the sheriff told them that it was because they allegedly failed to appear in court on the 29th of April (which is untrue, see this press release).
About 7 people are currently camped out on Main Road, Woodstock, on the corner of Gympie Street. While their children have been taken in by their neighbours, they have nowhere else to go and so will stay on the pavement protecting their funiture until their lawyer overturns the illegal eviction. Private security thugs are currently in the homes and have bricked up the door to prevent entry.
Tomorrow, Advocate Zehir Omar will bring an urgent high court application as the landlord is acting stealthily and unlawfully in evicting the Heyn and Petersen families.
For more information, please contact Willy at 073 144 3619, Margarete at 072 642 7386, and Mr Omar (lawyer) at 082 492 5207
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Tags: Gympie Street, illegal evictions, Zehir Omar, Gympiestraters, Pastor Dennis Robertson
Categories : Anti-Eviction Campaign, News & Press Release, Archives, Woodstock
Siyanda. Mpola. Macassar Village Demolitions, Arrests, Shootings – the state gets back to its war on the poor
19 05 2009Update 19 May 2009 at 16h00:
Martin Legassick has been released unharmed. However the two other comrades are still being held by the police. There is now a march on the Macassar Village police station to demand the release of those two comrades.
Contact Mzonke Poni 073 256 2036.
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The Elections Are Over – The War on the Poor Continues
- Four Shot in Siyanda with Rubber Bullets,
- Illegal Demolitions in Mpola,
- Martin Legassick Arrested in Macassar Village, Mzonke Poni on the Run, Others Arrested and Shot at with Rubber Bullets Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Macassar Village, Marianhill, Martin Legassick, Mpola, Mzonke Poni, Siyanda
Categories : Archives, Macassar, News & Press Release, Poor People's Alliance
ABM-WC Urgent Press Release: Macassar residents occupying empty land as we speak
18 05 2009Abahlali baseMjondolo Emergency Press Release
Monday 18th May, 2009
Monday 18th May, 2009
As we speak, members of Abhlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape from Macassar Village are occupying the land that they’ve been clearing for the past week.
Abahlali are taking the land because, as backyard dwellers, they’ve been clear victims of high rents which are resulting in their collective eviction. Residents say that they have no choice. In order to protect the livelihood of themselves and their families, they have to take this unused and empty government land for their community.
For an update on the current situation, contact Mzonke Poni at 073 2562 036.
For updates and photos tomorrow, visit Khayelitsha Struggles.
For more information on the cleanup campaign, click on the following press releases: 12th May and 13th May and 14th May.
For pictures of the cleanup campaign, click here.
For coverage in the Cape Argus, click here.
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Tags: AbM WC, backyard-dwellers, evictions, high rents, Macassar Village, Mzonke Poni
Categories : Archives, Macassar, News & Press Release, Poor People's Alliance
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