Press Release
Sunday 29 July 2007
2pm
Another poverty stricken Cape Town family is facing eviction after their money-hungry landlord, Ebrahim Desai, sold their house out from under them to foreigners from Europe.
The family of seven, residing at 32 Malan Street, Walmer Estate have lived in the house for 80 years. The mother of the family, Mymoena van Niekerk (74), has a heart problem and must go to Groote Schuur hospital (which is very nearby) weekly for treatment. It is unclear how she will access her constitutional right to health care if she is evicted. Her husband of 78 also stays there as does his 61 year old ill brother.
The family appealed to the magistrate on 31st May not to grant the eviction but they have now been informed that the Sheriff will be coming to the house on Tuesday 31st July 2007 to evict them.
The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign's affiliate, the Gympie Street Residents Committee has sprung to the family's defence. Activists and communities who are sick and tired of gentrification and the forced removal of the poor from the city have vowed to go to the house to defend the family against the eviction. They are calling for support from anyone else who can assist on Tuesday.
The City of Cape Town and the Ministry of Housing must take some responsibility for the victims of gentrification. When people like the van Niekerk family are evicted, the DA and ANC authorities are very fond of saying that they can't do anything to help because it is a private matter. Yet they are the ones who should have provided housing for all poor families, especially pensioners, especially those who were willing to pay rent to live in derelict houses all the years, yet now face the devastation of eviction at the age of 78!
.../ends
For comment call Willy Heyn on 073 1443619 or Fatima from 32 Malan Street on 073 4166293
15 July 2007
Tenants of N2 Gateway, Langa, to march on Tuesday 17 July
Sunday 15th July 2007
12 noon
LANGA, CAPE TOWN - About 500 tenants from N2 Gateway Tenants Committee in the new N2 Gateway flats in Langa are marching on Parliament on Tuesday 17th July, over high rents for their defective, new flats.
The march begins at Kaisergracht at 12noon.
The tenants will march on Parliament (Lindiwe Sisulu) supported by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign. Residents from Hanover Park, Khayelitsha and Zille Rain Heights are expected to join the march to show their solidarity.
The residents have faced the same problems as other poor, Black residents who move into low cost housing in Cape Town, namely that within months or even weeks, major defects show up in their flats or houses. These defects include huge cracks in walls, leaking roofs to the extent that parents with children have had to send their children to live with extended family members in other suburbs. There was also a problem in September 2006 that anybody's keys could open anyone else's flats. They still did not change the locks to this day!!!
"On top of this, the flats are tiny and the rent is extremely high for a rotten potato" said Luthando Ndabambi, Chairperson of the Tenants Committee.
The committee has submitted CDs of photos to the Rental Housing Tribunal and the MEC for Housing showing the major defects but to no avail.
About 100 homes have filed grievances at the Rental Housing Tribunal but they have not assisted the residents, despite numerous requests - the Rental Housing Tribunal has not once visited the area. Instead they sent threatening letters to the co-ordinator of the residents committee telling him he is restricted from dealing with housing problems in his community. Apparently there is a high turnover of staff in the Rental Housing Tribunal office, which worsens matters. The Tribunal has also refused to send letters to residents in their home language, isiXhosa.
The flats have since been dubbed "Gateway to Hell".
Communities have also vowed to support the remaining six thousand residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, who face forced removal next month. About 1000 other Joe Slovo residents were forcibly removed to make way for the now defective N2 Gateway flats. They were dumped in Delft against their wishes where they faced a hostile community and a desperate life since most residents are unemployed and Delft is in the middle of nowhere, without a train station.
The remaining six thousand Joe Slove residents have also been informed that they will be forcibly moved to Delft next month. They have not been given any information about how their children will be transported to and from their schools in Langa. They have only been told that they are going to be put in temporary asbestos houses.
It is clear that the ANC-DA partnership simply intends to move shackdwellers away from tourists view on the N2 highway and dump them in remote places where they will be out of the public eye. The fact that there is much infrastructure in Langa that people rely on (schools, clinics, buses, trains, employment projects) and the fact that many women in Langa work in domestic work in town (which is very nearby) is of no concern to the DA-ANC Gateway partnership. It costs R20 per day to travel from Delft to town and back whereas it costs only R90 per month for a monthly train ticket from Langa to town and back.
.../ends
For comment call Luthando Ndabambi, Chairperson of N2 Gateway Committee on 083 3318839 or Gary Hartzenberg from Anti-Eviction Campaign on 072 3925859
12 noon
LANGA, CAPE TOWN - About 500 tenants from N2 Gateway Tenants Committee in the new N2 Gateway flats in Langa are marching on Parliament on Tuesday 17th July, over high rents for their defective, new flats.
The march begins at Kaisergracht at 12noon.
The tenants will march on Parliament (Lindiwe Sisulu) supported by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign. Residents from Hanover Park, Khayelitsha and Zille Rain Heights are expected to join the march to show their solidarity.
The residents have faced the same problems as other poor, Black residents who move into low cost housing in Cape Town, namely that within months or even weeks, major defects show up in their flats or houses. These defects include huge cracks in walls, leaking roofs to the extent that parents with children have had to send their children to live with extended family members in other suburbs. There was also a problem in September 2006 that anybody's keys could open anyone else's flats. They still did not change the locks to this day!!!
"On top of this, the flats are tiny and the rent is extremely high for a rotten potato" said Luthando Ndabambi, Chairperson of the Tenants Committee.
The committee has submitted CDs of photos to the Rental Housing Tribunal and the MEC for Housing showing the major defects but to no avail.
About 100 homes have filed grievances at the Rental Housing Tribunal but they have not assisted the residents, despite numerous requests - the Rental Housing Tribunal has not once visited the area. Instead they sent threatening letters to the co-ordinator of the residents committee telling him he is restricted from dealing with housing problems in his community. Apparently there is a high turnover of staff in the Rental Housing Tribunal office, which worsens matters. The Tribunal has also refused to send letters to residents in their home language, isiXhosa.
The flats have since been dubbed "Gateway to Hell".
Communities have also vowed to support the remaining six thousand residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, who face forced removal next month. About 1000 other Joe Slovo residents were forcibly removed to make way for the now defective N2 Gateway flats. They were dumped in Delft against their wishes where they faced a hostile community and a desperate life since most residents are unemployed and Delft is in the middle of nowhere, without a train station.
The remaining six thousand Joe Slove residents have also been informed that they will be forcibly moved to Delft next month. They have not been given any information about how their children will be transported to and from their schools in Langa. They have only been told that they are going to be put in temporary asbestos houses.
It is clear that the ANC-DA partnership simply intends to move shackdwellers away from tourists view on the N2 highway and dump them in remote places where they will be out of the public eye. The fact that there is much infrastructure in Langa that people rely on (schools, clinics, buses, trains, employment projects) and the fact that many women in Langa work in domestic work in town (which is very nearby) is of no concern to the DA-ANC Gateway partnership. It costs R20 per day to travel from Delft to town and back whereas it costs only R90 per month for a monthly train ticket from Langa to town and back.
.../ends
For comment call Luthando Ndabambi, Chairperson of N2 Gateway Committee on 083 3318839 or Gary Hartzenberg from Anti-Eviction Campaign on 072 3925859
12 July 2007
Updated statement on the crisis in Gaza
12th July 2007
Updated statement on the crisis in Gaza
Updated statement on the crisis in Gaza
[photos show the Anti-War Coalition protest outside the SA Parliament]
The election of Hamas in January 2006 marked the rejection by Palestinians of the pro-imperialist Fatah leadership. At the same time it was a statement against Bantustan status for Palestinians (the start of the third intifada?). The rejection by the Palestinian masses of a Bantustan status was immediately punished by imperialism by cutting off of funds and now lately, of the military support of a part of Fatah to attempt to crush Hamas (in reality an attempt to crush the spirit of resistance of the Palestinian people and the limited freedom to elect leaders of their choice). Even though the Hamas leadership wants to accept Bantustan status, imperialism prefers their 'tried and tested' Fatah puppets.
The Anti-War Coalition condemns the coup d'etat 'government' of Abbas. We distance ourselves from the SA government recognition of the Abbas coup government (see their statement http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/2007/pale0627.htm) and we reject the notion of a so-called 'military takeover by Hamas'. This shows that when imperialism is being seriously challenged that the SA government will side with them against the Palestinian people. The call by the SA government for the freedom of movement of Palestinians while still supplying detonators and missiles to Israel is nothing short of hypocrisy.
Knowing full well that 80% of the people in Gaza are dependent on aid (due to the Israeli blockade), the withdrawal of the UN from the area is tantamount to an act of genocide. The fate of the over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza is worse than the Holocaust. Gaza has become the new 'Auschwitz'.
The treacherous role of the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes
By closing the border with Gaza, the Egyptian government has shown that it is a puppet of imperialism. The sending of troops by the Jordanian regime to the West bank to help crush resistance against the Abbas coup 'government' is an equally treacherous act, reminiscent of the days of the Nakba (1948). It has become clear that the puppet Middle Eastern regimes such as the Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi regimes are puppets of imperialism and pose an even bigger danger to the working class in the region than the Israeli regime. Only a united working class, standing together across religious and ethnic barriers, can effectively oppose imperialism in the region.
We call on the workers of the world to come out in support of the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people for a unitary state on the land of historic Palestine.
Immediate protest action
The Anti-War Coalition calls on all peace-loving people to protest against the SA government support of the imperialist coup 'government' of Abbas, and to call for the immediate sending of Aid to the Palestinians in Gaza :
Join us in a Picket at parliament on Friday 13th July 2007 from 10h00 -13h00
Join us at a picket outside EgyptAir offices at Shellhouse in Riebeeck str , Cape Town on Wed 18th July from 1200 – 14h00 to protest against the actions of the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes in supporting the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.
WORKERS SANCTIONS NOW AGAINST EGYPT, JORDAN AND ISRAEL!
60 YEARS OF PARTITION AND OPPRESSION IS ENOUGH!
STOP THE IMPERIALIST-BACKED GENOCIDE IN GAZA!
FOR THE IMMEDIATE, UNCONDITIONAL RETURN OF ALL PALESTINIAN REFUGEES!
ONE PALESTINE-NO BANTUSTAN!
Next Anti-War Coalition meeting: Monday 16 th July 2007, 17h30, Community House, Salt River
Further information: Shaheed ph 0822020617; Luthando 0844512505
The election of Hamas in January 2006 marked the rejection by Palestinians of the pro-imperialist Fatah leadership. At the same time it was a statement against Bantustan status for Palestinians (the start of the third intifada?). The rejection by the Palestinian masses of a Bantustan status was immediately punished by imperialism by cutting off of funds and now lately, of the military support of a part of Fatah to attempt to crush Hamas (in reality an attempt to crush the spirit of resistance of the Palestinian people and the limited freedom to elect leaders of their choice). Even though the Hamas leadership wants to accept Bantustan status, imperialism prefers their 'tried and tested' Fatah puppets.
The Anti-War Coalition condemns the coup d'etat 'government' of Abbas. We distance ourselves from the SA government recognition of the Abbas coup government (see their statement http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/2007/pale0627.htm) and we reject the notion of a so-called 'military takeover by Hamas'. This shows that when imperialism is being seriously challenged that the SA government will side with them against the Palestinian people. The call by the SA government for the freedom of movement of Palestinians while still supplying detonators and missiles to Israel is nothing short of hypocrisy.
Knowing full well that 80% of the people in Gaza are dependent on aid (due to the Israeli blockade), the withdrawal of the UN from the area is tantamount to an act of genocide. The fate of the over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza is worse than the Holocaust. Gaza has become the new 'Auschwitz'.
The treacherous role of the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes
By closing the border with Gaza, the Egyptian government has shown that it is a puppet of imperialism. The sending of troops by the Jordanian regime to the West bank to help crush resistance against the Abbas coup 'government' is an equally treacherous act, reminiscent of the days of the Nakba (1948). It has become clear that the puppet Middle Eastern regimes such as the Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi regimes are puppets of imperialism and pose an even bigger danger to the working class in the region than the Israeli regime. Only a united working class, standing together across religious and ethnic barriers, can effectively oppose imperialism in the region.
We call on the workers of the world to come out in support of the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people for a unitary state on the land of historic Palestine.
Immediate protest action
The Anti-War Coalition calls on all peace-loving people to protest against the SA government support of the imperialist coup 'government' of Abbas, and to call for the immediate sending of Aid to the Palestinians in Gaza :
Join us in a Picket at parliament on Friday 13th July 2007 from 10h00 -13h00
Join us at a picket outside EgyptAir offices at Shellhouse in Riebeeck str , Cape Town on Wed 18th July from 1200 – 14h00 to protest against the actions of the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes in supporting the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.
WORKERS SANCTIONS NOW AGAINST EGYPT, JORDAN AND ISRAEL!
60 YEARS OF PARTITION AND OPPRESSION IS ENOUGH!
STOP THE IMPERIALIST-BACKED GENOCIDE IN GAZA!
FOR THE IMMEDIATE, UNCONDITIONAL RETURN OF ALL PALESTINIAN REFUGEES!
ONE PALESTINE-NO BANTUSTAN!
Next Anti-War Coalition meeting: Monday 16 th July 2007, 17h30, Community House, Salt River
Further information: Shaheed ph 0822020617; Luthando 0844512505
06 July 2007
10 vans of city police arrive in Zille Raine Heights to break down one 60yr old man's shack
Zille Raine Heights Residents Committee Press Statement
Friday 6th July 2007
3pm
GRASSY PARK, CAPE TOWN - Ten vans of city police are currently breaking up a tiny unfinished shack belonging to Mr David Tarentaal (60 years old).
Mr Tarentaal is the father of the Zille Raine Heights Residents Committee Co-ordinator, Lorraine Heunis.
He has been living on the same piece of land, in a shack, for the past 57 years! He was three years old when his parents moved onto the piece of land. Over the past 57 years, five generations of people have come to live in the same small shack.
Mr Tarentaal's daughter, Zille Raine Heights Residents Committee Co-ordinator, Lorraine Heunis lives in the sme shack with her children and her grandchildren. Another child and her children also live there. There are more than 12 people living in this tiny shack.
Because of this overcrowded and unacceptable situation, the family decided to erect a tiny room behind the shack where Mr Tarentaal could like in privacy. They did this as a last resort after Mr Tarentaal spent 30 years on the housing waiting list to no avail. Two years ago, Mr Tarentaal was told by council that he would be getting a house but this never materialised.
Shortly after the family began erecting the tiny room, ten vans of city police arrived and started breaking up the shack. They produced no documentation at all and have been insolent and aggressive in their approach.
If you phone the family now, you will hear the noise of the tiny shack being broken up in the background, and the sounds of the poor residents trying to get the police not to damage the building material.
.../ends
Call Lorraine Heunis on 083 4319794
Friday 6th July 2007
3pm
GRASSY PARK, CAPE TOWN - Ten vans of city police are currently breaking up a tiny unfinished shack belonging to Mr David Tarentaal (60 years old).
Mr Tarentaal is the father of the Zille Raine Heights Residents Committee Co-ordinator, Lorraine Heunis.
He has been living on the same piece of land, in a shack, for the past 57 years! He was three years old when his parents moved onto the piece of land. Over the past 57 years, five generations of people have come to live in the same small shack.
Mr Tarentaal's daughter, Zille Raine Heights Residents Committee Co-ordinator, Lorraine Heunis lives in the sme shack with her children and her grandchildren. Another child and her children also live there. There are more than 12 people living in this tiny shack.
Because of this overcrowded and unacceptable situation, the family decided to erect a tiny room behind the shack where Mr Tarentaal could like in privacy. They did this as a last resort after Mr Tarentaal spent 30 years on the housing waiting list to no avail. Two years ago, Mr Tarentaal was told by council that he would be getting a house but this never materialised.
Shortly after the family began erecting the tiny room, ten vans of city police arrived and started breaking up the shack. They produced no documentation at all and have been insolent and aggressive in their approach.
If you phone the family now, you will hear the noise of the tiny shack being broken up in the background, and the sounds of the poor residents trying to get the police not to damage the building material.
.../ends
Call Lorraine Heunis on 083 4319794
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