Joe Slovo Shack Dwellers march on Parliament against Forced Removals

[download the 47 minute video at http://www.archive.org/details/JoeSlovoMarchAgainstForcedRemovalsInCapeTown]

3rd August 2007



Joe Slovo Shack Dwellers march on Parliament




About 1500 residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa marched on Parliament on Friday, 3rd August 2007, 10am from District Six (Keizergracht str) against their pending forced removal.

There are about 6000 residents living in shacks in Joe Slovo. They have been threatened by the N2 Gateway project with forced removal to Delft and told only that this will take place next month. There have been no negotiations with the community, who are being treated like animals by the government.

All the Joe Slovo children are at local schools in Langa, which also has clinics and employment projects.

“The vast majority of Joe Slovo residents are unemployed and only get piece work in the city centre from time to time. It will cost us R16 per day per child in taxi fare from Delft to Langa and back to send our children to school. There is no way we can afford this” said the Joe Slovo Committee. Schools in Delft are not at all equipped to handle an intake of hundreds more children.

“Besides which, we have put a lot of effort into community projects in Joe Slovo and are not at all willing or happy to be removed from a place relatively close to the city and dumped in Delft which is more than 30kms from the city centre and which does not even have a train station” added the Joe Slovo Committee.

The resistance movements and the people have long been striving for residence close to places of work. We have also been striving for adequate housing for all people. The government claim for an end to slums is opportunistic as they are shifting the residents from Joe Slovo to a slum called Delft. The only difference will be that the new slum will be further from work and the centre of the city (out of sight and out of mind). This is nothing else but a plan for social control of the working class. We refuse to be dumped at the outskirts of the city. The government claims it is there for the needs of the people. We say they must take responsibility to adequately house all those without homes and all who are living in the slums. We salute the residents of the N2 gateway for standing up against high rents and shoddy housing conditions.

We are also disgusted that Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town, has used the recent floods of shack areas in Cape Town to say that "people settled on low lying areas" and if they don't want to be flooded, they must submit to forced removal. This is nothing but a lie since people in Happy Valley (a place of forced removal) were also flooded.

asiyi e-Delft!
we demand adequate houses for all, close to our places of work!

for comment: Joe Slovo committee: Michael Zulu ph 0763852369; Mr Mapasa ph 0837371711
Anti-War Coalition: Gary Hartzenberg ph 0723925859

Walmer Estate family to be evicted after 80 years in one house

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

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

Updated statement on the crisis in Gaza

12th July 2007

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

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

Protest outside International Arms Fair in Cape Town

Photos of Anti-War, Umzabalazo we Jubilee, Earthlife Africa protest - weapons fair

CT Anti-War Coalition announces protest action against international weapons fairby awc-ct Wednesday, Sep. 13, 2006 at 7:25 AM
Cape Town Anti-War Coalition Press Statement - Tuesday September 12th 2006 9am - The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition will hold two protests at the Africa Aerospace and Defence weapons fair, to be held from 20th - 24th September at the AirForce Base in Ysterplaat, Cape Town.

The first protest will be held on the day the arms dealers arrive - Wednesday 20th September 2006 at 9am. The second protest will be held on Saturday 23rd September 2006 at 10am, and thousands of people from the Cape Town Anti-War Coalition, Sanctions Against Israel Coalition, Umzabalazo we Jubilee, Ceasefire, and the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign are expected to attend.

The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition firstly calls on the SA Department of Trade and Industry to explain why its website says it is supplying helicopter and aeroplane parts to Israel, while Cabinet ministers keep claiming that there is no weapons trade with Israel.

The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition is disgusted that the most unscrupulous companies in the world, and their wholly owned South African subsidiaries, responsible for the deaths of millions of civilians across Africa and the Middle East, among other places, have been invited to exhibit their weapons of death in a carnival like atmosphere.

A brief look at some of the "exhibitors" is truly alarming. Truvelo, for example, is busy manufacturing a new assault rifle. This company is expert in manufacturing sniper guns. The company refuses to say exactly which groups it is supplying in conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. It will only say that its weapons are "sold by manufacturer to Government Authorities".

The Eurocopter group is another disturbing exhibitor. This company makes 14 different military helicopters, including the "Tiger" which they supply to Israel, among other repressive regimes. The Tiger helicopter has recently been adapted to include an "air to ground missile" manufactured by Israeli company Rafael. Missiles from helicopters have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians, Lebanese and Iraqi people and are being used by the Israeli army to this day in highly populated areas.

One of the most alarming exhibitors is BAE Systems. This company is currently manufacturing over R40 million worth of ammunition for the American military, to be used in their illegal and vicious occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan against "air, surface and ground targets" as they euphemistically describe the thousands of innocent civilians who will be affected by these weapons. "With an effective range of nearly nine miles, the 57mm Mk 295 projectile achieves devastating effects against all target types in any selected mode of fuze operation," boasts the BAE Systems website. "

These arms companies will exhibit the latest and greatest in machinery designed for only one purpose, the killing of human beings. Husbands, fathers, son, daughter and infants will all die because of this machinery. This is the harsh truth behind arms expos; they supply arms for countries to go to war with other countries and against their own citizens," said the Ceasefire and Umzabalazo we Jubilee campaigns about the weapons fair.

The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition is horrified that the public is not being made aware of the reality of weapons dealings. BAE Systems alone last year sold more than R150 billion worth of weapons! Arms sales from the United Kingdom alone to Africa have almost quadrupled over the past five years and last year reached the R13 billion level!

We are also totally against the practices of Denel, which behaves like any other profit seeking arms dealer, entering into partnerships with the European weapons manufacturers to bid for contracts like supplying repressive regimes such as Turkey with attack helicopters.

Many of the arms companies "exhibiting" at the weapons fair are allegedly involved in dealing weapons through third party front companies to countries with extremely poor human rights records, like America, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Angola, Eritrea, Sudan and Nigeria.

T his method involves direct purchases by the foreign aid recipient from a government weapons manufacturer contractor, without direct government involvement in the process. O thers are involved in further impoverishing poor countries like Malawi who have no need for military equipment but who are forced by the World Bank into taking out loans to buy weapons in exchange for aid.

"Often, as was in the case of South Africa's own Arms Deal, these weapons are bought on credit, essentially diverting the country's future resources away from much needed social investments like healthcare and education. Not only do innocent civilians die from missiles, they also die because funds were diverted from clean water to arms purchases," said the Ceasefire and Umzabalazo we Jubilee campaigns. The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition calls on the public to boycott the weapons fair.

We demand jobs, bread and houses not weapons for imperialist war. We demand education, not missiles.

.../ends

For further info please contact: · Shaheed Mahomed, Cape Town Anti-War Coalition on 082 2020617 · Makoma Lekalakala, Ceasefire National Executive Member and Umzabalazo we Jubilee Coordinator on 082 682 9177

110 Cape Town residents to be evicted

Gympie Street Residents Committee

P R E S S R E L E A S E

4th April 2006

2:30pm

An eviction order has been granted to the landlords of the blocks of flats in Gympie Street, Woodstock, Cape Town. 110 people will be evicted anytime from the 6th April onwards.

No alternative accommodation has been provided for this community, the majority of whom are unemployed, pensioners, children under five years old and persons with disabilities.

Many of the residents were born in Gympie Street in the two large blocks of flats that were wholly owned by one private landlord. The flats have no toilets and have not been maintained for over 30 years, according to tenants. Windows lack window panes and many windows are papered over with bits of cardboard that do little to keep out the elements.

The landlord frequently contravenes the Rental Housing Act with residents reporting that he barges into their homes at any time of night, contravening residents right to privacy and insisting that he take individual women residents to ATM's where they are threatened and told to withdraw their money. Residents are being charged up to R1500 for derelict flats.

The residents of Gympie Street feel that they are being evicted timeously so that the sons of the now deceased landlord can sell off the two blocks of flats to property developers who will turn them into tourist accommodation ahead of the Soccer World Cup in 2010.

Property magazines have reported that the days of Gympie Street's 'run down houses' are soon going to be a thing of the past. This will leave 110 citizens destitute and homeless. Last week, police broke up a mass meeting of residents that was held in Gympie Street.

At the meeting, residents organisations and anti-eviction campaigns from Khayelitsha, Hanover Park, District Six, Workers International Vanguard League and the Cape Town Anti-War Coalition pledged support for the Gympie Street tenants, who have vowed not to be moved from their flats. Residents of the nearby Altona Court flats also pledged support.

The Residents Committee was told to appear in court on 27th February to contest the eviction order. However, when they arrived at the court they found that an eviction order had already been granted on 8 th February! The Residents Committee is currently in talks with attorneys from the Legal Resources Centre about this abuse of legal process.

The Committee is expecting a high degree of police brutality will be meted out to the vulnerable tenants from Thursday onwards and is appealing for support.

[ends]

For comment, please call the Co-ordinator of the Residents Committee, Willie, on 073 1443619