Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign

Published: 2009/10/02 07:32:38 AM – Business Day

You report on the attack on the Kennedy Road settlement (Fund set up after Durban attack, September 30). The scale and seriousness of this attack have not been fully realised. It used ethnicity as the basis for displacing (maybe 1000) residents using threats, theft and physical attacks.Ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity, and we will work with all democratic organisations to prevent the repetition of xenophobic violence in the Durban area.

We are concerned at the role of the South African Police Service, not least because many of the attacks continued long after their arrival in large numbers. We call on the authorities to take vigorous action to protect the lives, property and constitutional rights of all those living in informal settlements.

Crispin Hemson
Durban University of Technology