10 November 2008
Siyanda Abahlali Branch
Demands addressed to Mike Mabuyakulu, the MEC for Housing in KwaZulu-Natal, by the Siyanda Abahlali baseMjondolo Branch
1. We demand adequate land and decent housing in the city.
2. We demand one house per family and not one house per shack.
3. We demand that the city (eThekwini) comply with the laws of the country.
4. We demand an immediate and permanent end to forced evictions and demolitions.
5. We demand that there must be an independent commission of enquiry to investigate the rampant and blatantly corrupt sale of government houses by government officials. There must be action against all the corrupt government officials. This is not only a problem here in Siyanda. All Abahlali members are aware of the situation in the Joe Slovo settlement where one of the founders of that settlement, Busisiwe Gule, remains in a shack while with all the papers to her house while Nomaxabiso is still living in Mrs Gule’s house. All complaints about this corruption, right up to the national minister, have just been ignored.
6. We demand fair and transparent allocation of government houses.
7. We demand safe, quality houses built on proper foundations.
8. We demand that there must be inspectors to make sure that all houses are of a quality standard. A certificate must be issued for each house by an independent evaluator that guarantees its quality and safety.
9. We demand compensation to those who have been forcefully removed for the construction of the MR 577 freeway.
10. We reject the current situation where people are only given orders as if in a dictatorship and we demand proper consultation and full participation in the discussion and decision making with regard to all issues affecting the shack dwellers.
11. We demand the creation of job opportunities and that first preference for local jobs to be given to the poorest people in local communities.
12. We demand that the Slums Act be immediately scraped and its notorious transit camps be immediately shut down.
13. We demand that our shacks be upgraded where they already are through the use of Chapter 13 of the Housing Code and not demolished via the notorious Slums Act which is hated by the poor because it is an attack on the poor.
14. We demand that all people of 21 years and older be entitled to a house as they are all expected to vote.
15. We demand compensation as we were exploited to guide the development of the houses that were later corruptly sold to people who do not live in Siyanda.
16. We demand an end to abuse by government officials and we demand that government officials who abuse the people must be investigated and that appropriate action must be taken. For instance there is the case of Npuphuko who offered a family RDP house keys at midnight in exchange for their daughter. She is the daughter of all of us and therefore Npuphuko is the abuser of all of us.
17. We further demand that a meeting be scheduled with us within two weeks so that a way forward can be discussed on these demands.
Contact Mzo Dlamini the March Convener on and Mxolisi Mtshali on , Mamu-Nxumalo and Thembi Zungu on
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