DA MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela threatens to demolish more houses in Mandela Park

25 02 2011
Mandela Park Backyarders Press Release and Invite
25 February 2011

MEC for Human Settlement in the Western Cape is set to come and demolish more brick houses in Mandela Park between Monday and Tuesday next week.  The news were leaked to us by a supervisor on site after a secret meeting with the MEC that was to address the resuscitation of housing construction in Mandela Park.

We vow to stay away from work and protest during these two days in preparation of what we perceive as housing warfare between state and its community. Read the rest of this entry »





Open letter to Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela from the Mandela Park Back Yarders

26 11 2009

Dear Housing M.E.C (Madikizela),

Once again the Back Yarders together with the general community of Mandela Park would like to invite you with a special request to come and tell our impatient community exactly when the department will resume its next housing project in our area. Neither you nor any of the people in your department thought it relevant to attend our housing indaba two weeks ago. We hope that you do not ignore us this time. Read the rest of this entry »





Mandela Park Backyarders to march peacefully on Housing MEC at 9am this morning

10 11 2009
Press Alert for Mandela Park
Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Hundreds of backyard dwellers living in Mandela Park will be marching this morning (11 Nov) at 9am in protest at the Housing MEC’s handover of houses without any local residents benifiting.

We are angry at continuing lies the the MEC has made towards our community.  We are angry that the MEC has publically refused to work with us or to allow us to benifit because he thinks that we are “hooligans”.  The MEC has no right to play favourites in housing allocation.  He has been mandated by South African citizens to serve all South Africans living in the Western Cape – not only the ones who kiss up to him.  He therefore has no right to exclude us backyard dwellers from benifiting from housing built in our own backyards!

Click here for background information on this issue.

For more information, contact:

Mabhuti at 082 9978 475
Loyiso at 073 7662 078
Sluja at 071 4331 101





Open letter from a concerned Mandela Park backyarder

25 09 2009

Just My point of View!
Letter to the MEC for Housing WC

NOTE: Mr MEC, Mandela Park has More than 8000 Backyarders not 23 or 53 or whatever number you play around with!

First and foremost I would like to extend a word of gratitude to all that supported us in our struggle with the state law machinery that attempted to lock 23 landless people of Mandela Park behind bars. For your information Mr MEC, with the power of the people’s movement those comrades have subsequently been released with all the charges against them dropped.  However there is still a cloud hanging because you have threatened to re-instate the charges. No one knows really how you are going to pull that one off because even your “trusted cops” are sick and tired of having to clean up the politicians’ mess after every service delivery protest. You and your political buddies fail to deliver basic services to the people, break promises made at election time and when the people uprise, the poor under-paid policemen has to run around chasing the so called “vandals”. I would suggest that you Mr MEC build decent houses for the police as well, because some of them are in fact Mandela Park Backyarders; maybe you will have a better chance that way! Read the rest of this entry »





MEC under siege over ‘false promise’

23 09 2009

23 September 2009
Anna Majavu – The Sowetan

Tenants await ‘their’ houses

Bonginkosi Madikizela

Bonginkosi Madikizela

NEW Western Cape housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela is on a collision course with backyard residents from Mandela Park in Khayelitsha.

The tenants have accused him of breaking a promise to give them houses in a new development.

But Madikizela has counter-accused residents of causing a R1million worth of damage to houses during a weekend protest.

About 23 people were arrested during the weekend protest and freed on Monday after the state withdrew its case and the residents’ attorney, Sharfudin Parker, laid charges against the police for unlawful arrest. Read the rest of this entry »





Media: Mandela Park backyarders go on burning and looting spree

22 09 2009
Siyabonga Kalipa – West Cape News
22 September 2009

Backyarders from Khayelitsha’s Mandela Park residents went on the rampage on Saturday in protest over housing allocations. About 100 residents, angered by news that their allocation of 23 of 57 state-subsidised houses in the Mandela Park Housing Project 823 had been lessened to 15 houses, vented their frustration on the completed, but as-yet-unoccupied houses. Read the rest of this entry »





Media: Backyarders and MEC in dispute over house allocation

22 09 2009

Siyabonga Kalipa – West Cape News
18 September 2009

Backyarders living in Mandela Park, Khayelitsha, are accusing Housing MEC, Bonginkosi Madikizela, of lying to them and raising false hopes over house allocation in the area, following a meeting held Wednesday. The backyarders claim that at a meeting in August this year Madikizela promised they would receive 23 of the 57 state-subsidised houses, and that the MEC has now changed his tune, with only 15 of the houses to be allocated to them.

The meeting had been called in response to an incident in April in which the backyarders prevented then-MEC Whitey Jacobs from handing over keys to listed beneficiaries. Read the rest of this entry »





Case of ‘Mandela Park 23′ thrown out of court proving police had no evidence to make arrest

22 09 2009

AEC Press Alert – For Immediate Release

The 23 Mandela Park activists who were arrested on Sunday were released Monday morning after it was found that there was no evidence to arrest them in the first place.  Loyiso, a community leader, wrote the following message thanking everyone who showed support and pressured government to release them.

See his message below.

Loyiso can be contacted for comment about his experience at 073 766 2078.  Other contacts are: Mabhuti at 082-997-8475 and Sluja at 071-433-1101

Hi Comrades once again.

As Mandela Park Back Yarders we would like to forward words of thanks to all those who took part in offering their equal support at Harare Police Station on Sunday evening and Monday morning.  I think it must be clear to all that if there is no equal sharing of goods there can be no equal sharing of power. So for me this equal sharing of goods is crucial to the definition of democracy. If democracy is the right to have a decent life, health, education, freedom and security, then i am a democrat. But i doubt if this really the case in our country when we are still leaving under conditions we once saw before 94.

After the last night live debate at Radio Zibonele FM we met with the ward councilor Mr. Mkhutswana in trying to find solution to the matter. So we dicided to meet up for briefing tonight again to share this with Back Yarders before taking any further decision.

The new development today is that the MEC Madikizela went back to the police station in Harare in his attempt to get us back into jail. These are desperate actions by the MEC to free himself from his controversial announcement that led to the outbreak of anger from Mandela Park Residents.

We are also prepared to fight until justice is served.

One love ma-comrades.

By Loyiso
073 766 2078





The ‘Mandela Park 23′ to appear in Khayelitsha Magistrates court tomorrow at 9am

21 09 2009
Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Statement
on behalf of the community of Mandela Park
Update: 23h00 on 20 September 2009

What we know now:

  • 23 residents of Mandela Park were arrested by police today

  • All 23 activists will appear in Khayelitsha Magistrates Court at 09h00 tomorrow morning (21 September).

  • Residents will protest outside the court until their neighbours are freed

  • The senior prosecutor and the commissioner of Harare Police Station refused to let any of the 23 residents out on police bail even though they all agreed there was no risk in doing so.

Read the rest of this entry »





Media: Evictions suspended – shack dwellers reprieved

4 09 2009

04 September 2009
Anna Majavu – Sowetan

THE Constitutional Court has suspended its order upholding the eviction of

FLASHBACK: A cart carrying corrugated sheets out of Joe Slovo informal settlement. The Constitutional Court has suspended its own ruling that called for the eviction of Joe Slovo residents. PHOTO: MARK WESSELS

FLASHBACK: A cart carrying corrugated sheets out of Joe Slovo informal settlement. The Constitutional Court has suspended its own ruling that called for the eviction of Joe Slovo residents. PHOTO: MARK WESSELS

10000 residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, Cape Town.

In March 2008 controversial Cape Judge President John Hlophe ruled that the Joe Slovo shack dwellers must be evicted to make way for the N2 Gateway Housing project.

But community leaders from the Joe Slovo task team took the matter on appeal to the Constitutional Court. In June the court upheld Hlophe’s ruling but ordered that the Joe Slovo residents be removed in phases and placed 20km away in Delft. Read the rest of this entry »








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