Wallacedene « Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign

Media: Call on city to stop evictions

28 09 2011

CAPE Town residents’ organisation Abahlali baseMjondolo has called on the City of Cape Town to put a moratorium on all evictions.

Sep 28, 2011 | Moses Mackay | Sowetan

This follows a violent clash between 2000 backyard dwellers and the police after they had occupied land owned by the city in Kraaifontein on Sunday.

Police repelled the bid and drove the homeless people off a piece of land along Old Paarl road, arresting eight people.

Police and members of the city’s anti-land invasion unit took down structures erected illegally on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Bloekombos, Kraaifontein, Old Paarl Road, Wallacedene
Categories : Archives, Mainstream and Other News, Poor People's Alliance

Baby from Cape Town’s worst squatter camp treated for cholera

20 12 2008

Published 17 hours ago, by ■ Adriana Stuijt

Source: Digital Journal

In only the second-ever reported cholera case in the Western Cape province, a Cape Town hospital confirmed that a four-month-old baby from the swampy Wallacedene squatter camp near Kraaifontein was treated for cholera — but is recovering.

The unnamed baby boy was admitted to the Karl Bremer Hospital in the suburb of Parow near his shack in the infamous Wallacedene squatter camp. He is now reportedly out of danger. For an idea of what it’s like to actually live with one’s family in one of those squatter camps of Cape Town, see the video. Much of greater Cape Town is not really suitable for habitation but people have settled there to be near jobs in the northern industrial areas – creating miserable conditions for themselves. Also see: SA’s ticking time bomb: water pollution… Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: cholera, Grootboom, Wallacedene
Categories : Archives, Mainstream and Other News

Media: Call for faster delivery after Irene’s death

7 08 2008

August 05 2008 at 01:48PM
By Francis Hweshe

Source: Cape Argus

The government should up its game in response to the landmark Grootboom judgment by the Constitutional Court in 2000 by ensuring that millions of poor South Africans living in dire circumstances are better housed, civil society organisations said.

This follows the death of Irene Grootboom, the housing activist who died after a short illness last week.

The Anti-Eviction Campaign said Grootboom was an inspiration and a model for the poor.

“But, unfortunately, Grootboom would be remembered for living and dying in a shack,” said the campaign’s Ashraf Cassiem. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Constitutional Court, Grootboom, Wallacedene
Categories : Anti-Eviction Campaign, Archives, Mainstream and Other News

Media: ‘Heroine’ dies while still waiting

4 08 2008

Note: The AEC, who sees Irene as one of the leaders in the Western Cape housing struggle, will be attending her funeral in solidarity with the residents of Wallacedene. We support the right to housing for all and wish to thank Irene for giving us hope in the struggle.

August 04 2008 at 12:19PM

By Francis Hweshe

Source: Cape Argus

Only days after speaking of her desire for a proper house, Irene Grootboom, who spearheaded a Constitutional Court case in 2000 for proper housing for the poor, died in her shack in Wallacedene. She was 39.

Grootboom died last Wednesday night in Wallacedene informal settlement after a short illness, her partner Peter Roman said on Sunday.

Read the rest of this entry »