A member of the city’s mayoral committee had to beat a hasty retreat under police guard from angry protesters in Masiphumelele near Kommetjie when rocks rained down on the car in which she was travelling after a failed attempt at addressing housing concerns.
Felicity Purchase, mayco member for economic development and tourism, later said the crowd was angry with her because she would not accede to their demands for land in the area to build their shacks. Read the rest of this entry »
The community of KTC, Nyanga (opposite the airport) will march from Kaisergracht, District Six to the Mayor’s office today at 11am in Cape Town.
About 400 people will march today [FRIDAY July 31].
Contacts: Nolubelo Masimini on 083 8009202; Mzwanele 076 3852369
“Our grievances are that the councillor of Ward 39, Gladstone Ntamo of the ANC, applied for the housing subsidy on our behalf without our knowledge and now he is building tiny houses that we cannot live in. We went to talk to various officials in the DA city but they all tell us that the problem lies with our councillor and he does not want to talk to us, he uses vulgar words against us”.
“The rain is heavy and the people are panicking. We called disaster management last time but the councillor turned them away and told them there are no floods here. We don’t know what to do and that is why we are marching. DA housing minister Bonginkosi Madikizela also did not help us, even though he promised to get back to us after a meeting, he never did” says community leader Nolubelo Masimini.
Note by AEC: Members of the Anti-Eviction Campaign joined Sikhula Sonke today in their picket of Stellenbosch wine farms that have been treating their workers badly. We were very horrified by the stories we heard. The AEC is in full solidarity with the farmworkers and support’s Sikhula Sonke’s action to prevent the continued eviction of farm workers especially when they are bribed to leave their homes.
MEDIA RELEASE – 30 July 2009
Farm workers on Hydro forced to leave farm before or on 8 August 2009
Sikhula Sonke members embark on a stay over at Hydro Wine Estate and Spa, Thursday 30 July 09.
Workers on Hydro were offered R50 000 to leave the farm before the 8th of August 2009. Workers are living in the most appalling conditions and Hydro Management refuse to do something about it. They want people to leave the farm to upgrade the farm houses for tourist accommodation. Read the rest of this entry »
11:49 p.m., 29 July 2009
Abahlali baseTumbleweed Press Statement
61 families living in the settlement of Tumbleweed, Howick, have been threatened with imminent, unlawful eviction by the municipality and the local Inkosi.
Today, three armed police officers and a representative of the municipality told the community that they had 24 hours to vacate the area, or an eviction team would return tomorrow and on Friday with bulldozers to demolish their homes. All will be left homeless. Read the rest of this entry »
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Press Statement from Abahlali baseSiyanda B
Sakhephi Emmanuel Zenda, 16, was discovered dead at 7:00 a.m. on Monday 27 July 2009 in B Section, Siyanda. It seems that he had been electrocuted from a badly made connection during the night. He was a grade 8 pupil at Zeph Dlomo High School in KwaMashu. Read the rest of this entry »
July 29, 2009 Edition 1
Francis Hweshe – Cape Argus
A GROUP of farmworkers who slept outside Parliament last night as a visible protest against their living conditions and wages are expecting President Jacob Zuma to address them today.
The workers, from across the province, were led by farm worker trade union Sikhula Sonke and supported by various organisation, including Cosatu and the Anti-Eviction Campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
29 July 2009
Peter Alexander and Peter Pfaffe – Sowetan
Promises made but nothing has happened
CONCERN that service delivery protests will degenerate into xenophobic violence was fuelled by reports from Balfour, Mpumalanga.
But there is a history of opposition to xenophobia in Balfour’s township, Siyathemba. An analysis of the protest must take a different form.
This was said by Mohammed Waqas, spokesman for 30 foreign nationals, mostly Ethiopians, gathered outside Balfour police station. Read the rest of this entry »
Steven Friedman – BusinessDay
Published: 2009/07/29 07:03:31 AM
TOWNSHIP citizens are protesting not because they want “service delivery” but because they want to escape it.
The current round of grassroots protests — which have been happening for three-and-a- half years but are now receiving some rare attention from our public debate — may have done us an immense service by prompting voices to warn against the claim that the protesters are demanding “service delivery”. Read the rest of this entry »
The service delivery protests that have swept the country are a demand for an end to the contempt of the ruling elites for the poor
OUR country is burning, and the leading lights in the new cabinet are out shopping for expensive cars. The long-standing disconnect between the political class and ordinary people has become a chasm.
The rebellions have made it abundantly clear that we cannot go on as before. Read the rest of this entry »
Katlego Moeng – Sowetan
28 July 2009
Residents of Harry Gwala informal settlement near Wattville in Benoni have been battling the Ekurhuleni municipality in the South Gauteng high court since December last year to get services in their area. Read the rest of this entry »
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