Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign (original) (raw)


Slums Act: AbM vs Gov (6&7 November)

3 11 2008

3 November 2008
Press Statement by the Abahlali baseMjondolo Youth League

Abahlali baseMjondolo Case Against the KwaZulu-Natal Eradication and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act to be Heard in the Durban High Court on 6 and 7 November 2008

Across the country the government is chasing the poor people out of the cities. Across the country we are mobilising to defend our right to the cities.

We are in the cities for good reasons - we need work, education, clinics, libraries and more. Pay is higher and prices are lower in the cities. Therefore we need land and housing in the cities. But the government only want our votes. They do not want us in the cities. Therefore we have said ‘No Land! No House! No Vote!’

In Joe Slovo, in Cape Town, the people say “Asiyi eDelft!”.

In Makause, in Johannesburg, the people say, “Stop the ‘Eradication and Prevention’ of our homes!”.

It is the same everywhere. The government want to make it so that if you are inside you are inside and if you are outside you are outside. The poor struggle to stop this business of putting some people to one side and other people to the other side. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags : 2010, Abahlali baseMjondolo, durban, evictions, joe slovo, Land Invasions Unit, No Land! No House! No Vote!, Slums Act
Categories : Archives, News & Press Release, Solidarity


To MEC Whitey Jacobs: We will be heard!

2 11 2008

Gugulethu AEC Press Release

Sunday November 2, 2008

Gugulethu — Earlier today, MEC for Housing Whitey Jacobs finally showed up at our weekly mass meeting that is held in the Gugulethu Sports Complex. In the packed room, people were finally able to speak directly to the person who has the ability to improve their lives.

The people are angry about being neglected and ignored. But they spoke of their demands and their rights as citizens of this country.

We are building democracy here from the ground up. We are forcing the government to listen to the words of the poor. If power conceeds nothing with out a demand, then here are our demands:

No Land! No House! No Vote!

We will speak!

We will speak!

The people shall speak for themselves!

The people shall speak for themselves!

For high quality versions of these pictures, email us.

For more information, contact Mncedisi at 078 5808 646

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Tags : democracy, Housing MEC, No Land! No House! No Vote!
Categories : Anti-Eviction Campaign, Archives, News & Press Release, Photo, gugulethu


AbM: ‘Be a visitor, not a spy’ - QQ Section, Site B, Khayelitsha

2 11 2008

Matt Birkinshaw, October 2008

Source: Khayelitsha Struggles

Introduction

For the first time in history more people in the world now live in cities than in rural areas. Globally one in five people live on land that does not legally belong to them. The UN predicts that this will rise to one in three by 2050. The future, to paraphrase Mike Davis, is not made of glass and steel, but of plastic, zinc and cardboard. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags : AbM WC, qq section
Categories : Archives, Creative Writings


Afrophobia: ‘Shut out and sent home’

31 10 2008

Pearlie Joubert

Oct 31 2008 at 13:27

Source: Mail & Guardian

Two foreign nationals were killed and a Congolese woman raped in townships in the Western Cape this week as the authorities prepared to close all the refugee camps on Friday. Services will be cut off to the 600 people who are still living in them.

But frantic last-minute negotiations between civil society groups and city officials, including Western Cape Premier Lynne Brown, were under way to halt the closure of the camps.

At the same time, the city, the Human Rights Commission and the United Nations were putting intensified pressure on foreign nationals to leave the camps and reintegrate themselves into society.

The Mail & Guardian has learned that after leaving the camps this week two foreigners were killed, in Hermanus and Parow, and that Congolese national Claudine Tuatu (not her real name) was raped in Khayelitsha’s Samora Machel settlement. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags : xenophobia, afrophobia
Categories : Afrophobia (Xenophobia), Archives, Mainstream News Articles


Media: Employ local people, say protesters

31 10 2008

Source: Sowetan

Scores of protesters yesterday disrupted work at the construction site of the R350million “Guguletu Square” mall, demanding that the developers employ local residents.

The residents had earlier rejected a proposal by prominent local businessman and mall developer Mzoli Ngcawuzele that ANC ward councillors Andile Matshikiza and Belinda Landingwe choose the residents who will get jobs on the site.

Guguletu backyard dwellers leader Mcedisi Twalo said: “We don’t want interference by ward councilors and political parties in the job selection.”

Last week the local people marched on “Mzoli’s Place”, a restaurant owned by the same Ngcawuzele, calling on him to stop what they called “intimidation” against them.

This after Ngcawuzele had allegedly interrupted a community meeting and warned residents that former uMkhonto we Sizwe members were deployed at the development with security guards to prevent any form of protest that could delay construction.

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Tags : mzoli, informal traders, intimidation
Categories : Archives, Mainstream News Articles, gugulethu


Press Invite: MEC to attend Gugulethu mass meeting

30 10 2008

Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Invite

Friday 31 October, 2008

The residents of Gugulethu have at last managed to get a hold of the MEC for housing. Even though we live in Whitey Jacobs’ backyard, he has refused to attend any of our weekly mass meetings at the Gugulethu Sports Complex.

Finally, he has agreed to meet with Gugulethu residents this Sunday, the 2 November 2008, at 14h00. We expect him to be willing to engage with us and not use the meeting as a platform to campaign for next year’s elections. We also expect him not to threaten us like he has in the past.

For comment, please call:

Speelman at 073 9825 725

Mncedisi at 078 5808 646

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Tags : Housing MEC
Categories : Anti-Eviction Campaign, Archives, News & Press Release, gugulethu


Media: No electricity, no vote, say protesters

30 10 2008

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA Oct 30 2008 15:07

Johannesburg residents demonstrating for free basic electricity threatened on Thursday to boycott next year’s general election if their demands were not met.

“They are failing us, therefore no electricity, no vote, and no water, no vote,” Anti-Privatisation Forum spokesperson Silumko Radebe told a group of protesters outside Luthuli House in central Johannesburg.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags : Anti-Privatisation Forum, Landless People's Movement
Categories : Archives, Mainstream News Articles, Solidarity


Press Alert: 90 year old lady to be evicted on Friday in Gugs

30 10 2008

Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Alert

October 30, 2008

The South African police and South African courts are protecting and defending the interests of the wealthy by evicting a 90 year old lady from her house in Gugulethu.

The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign is assisting that family to resist this unjust, illegal and unconstitutional eviction by the banks. According to the South African Constitution and the PIE Act, the state must provide alternative accommodation for anyone evicted who has nowhere else to go.

The eviction will take place in the morning on Friday, the 31 st of October, 2008. The community of Gugulethu will be in the streets and ready to help the old lady. We refuse to allow any of our elders to get thrown out onto the streets.

For more information and directions, please contact:

Speelman at 073 9825 725

Mncedisi at 078 5808 646

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Tags : evictions, unconstitutional
Categories : Anti-Eviction Campaign, Archives, News & Press Release, gugulethu


Good news, bad news; a carrot and some shotguns

30 10 2008

A few minutes after receiving news that they qualify for a housing subsidy, Symphony Way residents get terrorised by the police - again!

For photos and video, click here.

Delft Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Statement 30 October, 2008

_What the City of Cape Town things about the poor

What the City of Cape Town things about the poor

Today, the Pavement Dwellers of Symphony Way finally met with Brian Denton, the deputy director of the Province’s subsidy registration for the Department of Housing. He confirmed that almost all Symphony residents qualify for a housing subsidy. Yet, despite this good news, residents were invaded by the city of Cape Town’s Land Invasions Unit and police who attempted to open a road that they had officially closed in February. They maintain that even though the road will remain closed, residents were not allowed to block the road. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags : Housing MEC, intimidation, Land Invasions Unit, police state, state terrorism, subsidies
Categories : Anti-Eviction Campaign, Archives, Brutal Eviction in Delft, News & Press Release


The tanks roll in…

30 10 2008

For the AEC press release, click here.

Symphony Way terrorised by the police - again!

Our Word is Our Weapon: While the city of Cape Town intimidates residents with shotguns and tank-like vehicles, the people of Symphony Way respond with their words - and a round of applause.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags : intimidation, Land Invasions Unit, police state, state terrorism
Categories : Anti-Eviction Campaign, Archives, Brutal Eviction in Delft, Photo, Video


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