Interview with Symphony Way about their new book

10 03 2011

** Special interview by 3CR Community Radio in Melbourne, Australia.  They interviewed the Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers on their new book: No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way

** Click link to download the interview which is in .m4a format *

Book synopsis:

Many outside South Africa imagine that after Mandela was freed and the ANC won free elections all was well. But the last two decades have led to increased poverty and inequality. Although a few black South Africans have become wealthy, for many the struggle against apartheid never ended because the ethos of apartheid continues to live.

Early in 2007 hundreds of families living in shacks in Cape Town were moved into houses they had been waiting for since the end of apartheid. But soon they were told that the move had been illegal and they were kicked out of their new homes. They built shacks next to the road opposite the housing project and hundreds organised themselves into the Symphony Way Anti-Eviction Campaign, vowing to stay on the road until the government gave them permanent housing. Read the rest of this entry »





Delivery protests growing more political

22 07 2009

Published: 2009/07/22 06:26:27 AM – BusinessDay

SERVICE delivery protests have accelerated since April, in what may be an indication of growing impatience not long after the making of election campaign promises.

Winter has always been the peak protest season in SA. “Perhaps it’s because that’s when people are most uncomfortable,” says Karen Reese, an economist and co-founder of Municipal IQ, which monitors service delivery across municipalities.

Cape winters are particularly uncomfortable, accompanied by rain and misery, especially for shack dwellers. However, Anti-Privatisation Forum spokesman Dale McKinley feels it is wrong to believe that all protests are over lack of service, or that they come and go. Read the rest of this entry »





Media: Court puts an end to life in Joe Slovo

11 06 2009

Click here to read the judgement in .doc and here to read it in .pdf.

11 June 2009 – The Sowetan
Anna Majavu – majavua@sowetan.co.za

Residents to get new area

One of Cape Town’s largest informal settlements – Joe Slovo, Langa – is set to be entirely demolished after the Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that its 20000 residents be moved out. Read the rest of this entry »





Opinion: Plato, DA must stick to law or be prosecuted

2 06 2009
June 01, 2009 Edition 1
Source: Cape Argus – Opinion Page

MAYOR Dan Plato claims that his Cape Town city administration lawfully demolished shacks in Macassar Village because they were “still being erected and not occupied”.

The people whose shacks were destroyed vigorously contest Plato’s claim that their shacks were not fully erected and that they were not yet unoccupied.

They are seeking legal assistance to be able to contest this in court.

There are independent eyewitnesses who can confirm that people had in fact moved into the shacks with their furniture before the first demolitions. Read the rest of this entry »





Opinion: The KwaZulu-Natal Slums Act, Bloody Legislation Against the Expropriated

14 05 2009

Date posted: 13 May 2009
Source: SACSIS

On 14 May 2009 the Constitutional Court will hear the attempt by the shack dweller’s movement Abahlali baseMjondolo to have the KwaZulu-Natal Slums Act declared unlawful. Other provinces have been mandated to develop similar legislation and the decision of the court may have a significant impact on the future of our cities. Read the rest of this entry »





To Resist All Degradations & Divisions: An interview with S’bu Zikode

28 04 2009

Click here to read an annotated version of this interview in pdf.

To Resist All Degradations & Divisions
An interview with S’bu Zikode

Tell me something about where you were born and who your family were.

I was born in a village called Loskop which is near the town called Estcourt. It is in the Natal Midlands. I was born in 1975. I have a twin sister, her name is Thoko. We are now the last born. I have two other sisters. I also had a brother who passed away so I am the only son. Read the rest of this entry »





Elections: A Dangerous Time for Poor People’s Movements in South Africa

5 04 2009

Date posted: 12 March 2009
Source: SACSIS

History groans with the suffering caused by authoritarian individuals and regimes that were elected to power. For this reason the only useful measure of the commitment of any political project to democracy is to see how it responds to challenges to its own position and ideas.
Read the rest of this entry »








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