Municipality Violently and Illegally Evicts Shackdwellers in Motala Heights

Sunday, 05 November 2006
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Release

Major Crisis as eThekwini Municipality Violently and Illegally Evicts Shackdwellers in the Motala Heights Settlement (Pinetown)

On 1 November 2006, in Motala Heights, armed municipal security watched as municipal workers loaded building materials from shacks they had demolished a few days earlier and children played in the sites where their homes once stood. This was the fourth time the municipality had visited the area since Saturday 28 October and each visit had been devastating. They had fired guns, used spray guns on people, hurled insults, and threatened leaders. By sheer force the municipality had rendered more than 15 families homeless.

Abahlali baseMjondolo, a regional movement of shackdwellers for land and housing, to which the Motala Heights settlement belongs, is furious at these actions. Two months ago, Abahlali baseMjondolo used the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) in order to request information on how the housing process will unfold for those living in informal settlements. The request was directed to the city manager on the plans for upgrading shacks in a number of wards, as well as for new housing developments. The government had 30 days in order to reply. Towards the end of this period, the municipality requested and extension of another 30 days, which was granted and is set to end this Monday, 6 November. Therefore, these demolitions occurred in spite of the fact that Abahlali members including those from Motala Heights were still waiting for information concerning issues of informal settlement clearance. Zandile Nsibande, Committee member of Abahlali, commented that

‘It is amazing what they are doing in Motala heights because we are waiting for answers to our ‘w’ questions (what, when, where and how houses will be delivered) which the municipality promised to give us on the 6th’.

The ordeal began at 8:00 am on Saturday morning 28 October 2006, when about 30 metro security arrived driving vehicles with NDM number plates. They brought with them a further 15 unskilled labourers with large hammers. Shack dwellers reported that the demolition team was lead by Bhekani Ntuli and Kumbuzile Mkhize of the Housing department, while the security team was led by Mr Mthembu. Without any warning, the demolition team set about demolishing shacks in various parts of the settlements. The shacks still contained furniture, clothes, groceries and other belongings. It was believed that the timing of the clearance (Saturday) was deliberately intended to stifle attempts to get court interdicts against the demolitions.

Shacks were not demolished in one part of the settlement but rather were scattered throughout. Owners of these shacks were transferred to Nazareth housing development in ward 16. Some of those remaining believe that the allocation of houses to these people was not done on a fair and transparent basis but was rather based on a close relationship with the councillor. As one resident said: ‘If you have a connection to the Branch Executive Committee of the ANC, which is aligned with the councillor, you are allocated a new house. Others are not.’

Furthermore, even among those shacks that had been allocated housing, only one family per shack had been accommodated in the new housing development. Others living in each shack, therefore, were left stranded. Abahlali has been consistently critical of the municipality’s one house, one shack approach to housing because it leaves many homeless. ‘This is why Abahlali has been campaigning for one family one house, not one shack one house’ (Mnikelo Ndabankulu, Spokesperson of Abahlali). Many of those left homeless had been staying in these shacks for a number of years and in some cases for more than 12 years.

About 19 people slept either in other shacks or in the open on Saturday night. On Sunday 29 October, the settlement was filled with echoes of hammers as shacks were being hastily reconstructed by those left homeless. The municipality visited in order to check which shacks were being rebuilt.

On Tuesday 31 October, the municipality returned in order to re-demolish the newly erected shacks. Mr Ngcobo, an elected community leader attempted to present a letter that had been sent by Shanta Reddy, a lawyer acting on behalf of the community to the Mayor (Obed Mlaba) and City Manager (Mike Sutcliffe). The letter was intended to point out that such evictions would be illegal and the local authority should not proceed with them. The security staff refused to look at the letter and proceeded to pepper spray Mr. Ngcobo from close range. Shots were fired and people scattered. Mr. Ngcobo then attempted to hand it to a SAPS member saying this was a letter to the mayor. He replied sarcastically that the mayor for the area was ‘Mr Govendor’, a neighbouring land owner. (Attempts to lay a charge of assault for being pepper sprayed the same day were stonewalled by police at Pinetown police station).

Although the land on which the Motala shack settlement is built is owned by the municipality, many report that Mr. Govendor is putting pressure on the councillor, Mr Dimba, to clear the shacks. All land adjacent to the settlement is currently undeveloped. Mr Dimba told the shack dwellers recently that they must go back to the farm where they came from.

On Wednesday 1 November, the team from the municipality returned in order to remove the timber and other building materials, and remained from 9-3pm. Abahlali brought a camera crew that day. A community leader asked if they could retain the metal from the rubble in order to take it to recyclers to sell it for money for food. The reply from a security staff member was that once the camera was gone they would assault him.

During the clearance, it was announced that the entire settlement was to be cleared. The settlement began 30 years ago and now consists of 227 shacks. Recent information suggests that demolitions will resume on Tuesday 7 November. There were also threats that the ablution block and water supply would be destroyed in order to drive away those who did not want to move. This ablution block was built by the government in 2004 and is the only sanitation other than self built pit latrines.

Many say that they are reluctant to move because Nazareth (the new housing development) is near Marianhill in ward 16 while they are in ward 15 near Westmead. Residents depend on living close to their places of employment, normally as domestic workers and gardeners in the nearby suburb of Motala Farm and as workers in the factories of Westmead. Many families also have children enrolled in the good local schools. They have not formally been shown the place of proposed relocation and have no idea what education and other facilities there will be. The spokesperson for Abahlali states that:

‘Abahlali supports the National Policy called Breaking New Ground which states that in situ upgrading must be prioritised and relocation should be the last resort’ (Mnikelo Ndabankulu, Spokesperson for Abahlali)

Those who have seen it say that they houses are of poor quality. Houses at Nazareth are described by some Abahlali members as nothing more than ‘Formal Jondolos’, or formal shacks, because there is little difference between the new house and the old shack. There is no running water, which makes it impossible to use the toilets. There is no electricity and the floor is rough.

Furthermore, there is a concern by those living in Motala Heights that there might be friction in Nazareth, as a result of the fact that there are informal settlements nearby whose residents are desperate for the housing. Residents of Motala wonder, therefore, why they are being moved in from far away when there are local residents in Ward 16 who would prefer that accommodation.

The situation is currently tense as Motala residents anticipate further demolitions on this coming Tuesday, 7 November. All media are invited to witness the improper housing demolition expected to resume Tuesday. The Legal Resources Centre is attempting to secure a meeting with key people in the city with regards to these demolitions. Monday is also the deadline for the response for the access to information application which was submitted by Abahlali two months ago.

Abahlali believes the current actions of the municipality to be intolerable. ‘The way they treat us reminds us of the way we were treated before democracy. This is why they say there is no freedom for the poor’ (Mnikelo Ndabankulu, Spokesperson for Abahlali). The affected community say they are angry:

‘The people from Motala farm are angry and that could lead to friction similar to the clash in Umlazi recently. This kind of treatment makes it difficult for people to cope. A more consultative process where people have inputs on the process would make people less angry’ (Bheki Ngcobo)

These events are taking place in the context of pronouncements from local and provincial government that they intend to clear shacks within the next few years. As reported in the Sunday Tribune,

‘[The Housing Department’s] aim is to eradicate shack settlements by 2010 … Mabuyakhulu said he wanted the law to be passed before the end of the current financial year. He wants municipalities to employ special units similar to the so-called Red Ants – the shack settlement-clearing security guards in Gauteng which are used to demolish illegal settlements… “Our diplomatic approach is not working. We are now taking a stronger approach,” he said.’ (Mbanjwa 2006).

(see Mbanjwa, Xolani (2006) ‘KZN push for an end to slums’ Sunday Tribune. 23 April 2006. Also see article by same journalist on p five of Sunday Tribune 5 November 2006)

In response to the slum clearance policy of the government, the spokesperson for Abahlali states:

‘What does this mean? Does it mean that everyone will get a house or that shacks will be demolished even if people are not allocated a house? If everyone is allocated a house we will appreciate that. But if not, it means that the street kids will be joined by street families as the government throws people out of their shacks.’ (Mnikelo Ndabankulu)

As it waits for the response of the municipality to its diplomatic and legal request for information, Abahlali continues mobilize shackdwellers to ask questions and demand answers from the municipality.

Further information
Bheki Ngcobo 0761174473 (Motala Heights development committee chair)
Alson Mkhize 0827608429 (Chief whip of Motala Heights development committee)
Mnikelo Ndabankulu 0735656241 (Spokesperson for Abahlali)
Mahendra Chetty 0833013941 (Legal resources centre director acting on behalf of Abahlali)
Mdu Hlongwa 0723358966 (Secretary Abahlali)
System Cele 072 1067291 (Committee member)
Zandile Nsibande 0826584080 (Committee member)
For pictures of the demolitions at Motala Heights email ballardr@ukzn.ac.za

Directions to Motala Heights
Take the N3 towards PMB. After Westville, turn off onto the M13. Take Off Ramp # 19, Pinetown: Old Main Road. At the bottom of the Off Ramp turn left onto Richmond Road. Continue approximately 600 metres past the taxi rank on the right. After the third set of robots, turn right onto Trafford Road. Travel 1.2 km and turn right onto Motala Road. After 300 metres, turn right at the circle to continue on Motala Road. Continue straight for 500 metres, and turn left toward the Motala Heights shack settlement.

Previous press release: Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Press Release from the Motala Heights Development Committee (affiliated to Abahlali baseMjondolo)

CRISIS LOOMS AS HUNDREDS THREATENED WITH FORCED EVICTION AT MOTALA HEIGHTS (PINETOWN)

On Saturday 17 June ward Councillor Derek Dimba arrived at the Motala Heights settlement with municipal officials and 5 car loads of municipal security guards to mark out shacks that would then be destroyed by the highly militarised police Land Invasions Unit. They had probably chosen the Youth Day weekend thinking that many people would be away at their rural homes. They were wrong. The community was able to mobilise quickly and see off this first threat in what a number of people have described as a coming civil war.

The Motala Heights Development Commitment spent Sunday gathering detailed information from residents and preparing affidavits and were at the Legal Resources Centre first thing on Monday morning. They then moved on the Municipal offices in New Germany where they were able to win an unscheduled emergency meetings with Mr. Geoff Nightingale. Nightingale confirmed that the Municipality planned to move 63 families to Nazareth Island and evict the other residents. He also confirmed that Cllr Dimba had asked the Municipality to immediately destroy new structures that had been erected. The eThekwini Municipality does not allow the construction of new shacks or the expansion or development of existing shacks. The Development Committee pointed out that all the new shacks and developments (all well made wooden cabins) had been built by long standing residents who needed more space for growing children, had got married, wanted to move out of over crowded shacks after finding work and so on. Nightingale said that this was a matter for Ximba and the Committee to resolve and he promised to try and schedule an emergency meeting for today.

The Motala Heights settlement lies amongst the gum tress on the hill behind Motala Heights suburb which is, in turn, just behind the many factories in Pinetown’s industrial area. It was founded in 1994 and the residents mostly come from Zululand, the Eastern Cape and Ixopo although some are from as far away as the Free State. Almost everyone came here to work or to reunite families divided by migrant labour. Most of the men in the settlement work in the factories and most of the women work in the houses in the adjacent suburb. There are almost 300 shacks in the settlement. The land is owned by local tycoon Ricky Govender and he is aiming to extend the suburb up the hill in a large private development after the shack dwellers have been evicted.

The 63 families scheduled to move to Nazareth Island would rather stay in Motala Heights where they are close to work and the other benefits of being near to Pinetown. The more than 200 families who now face eviction and the destruction of their community, their houses and their access to urban opportunity are determined to resist eviction by all means. They will explore all legal options but will also use mass mobilisation and will draw on the support of shack dwellers elsewhere to defend their homes, their community and their right to live near the city. The resistance will be organised by the new democratically elected and mandated Motala Heights Development Committee which is affiliated to the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement.

For comment on the particular situation confronted by Motala Heights please contact the following members of the Motala Heights Development Committee:

Mr Bhekuyise Ngcobo 0769211289, Chair
Mrs Lewisa Motha 0781760088, Deputy Chair
Mr Alson Mkhize, 0827608427

For comment on the general situation confronted by shack dwellers in the eThekwini Municipality as they face the onslaught of the Municipality’s looming mass evictions and forced removals under its ‘slum clearance’ programme please contact the following members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo secretariat.

Mr S’bu Zikode 0835470474, Chair
Mr Mnikelo Ndabankulu 073565241, Media Liason
Miss Fikile Nkosi 0842501446

Mzuyanda Ngthobane (24), Nkosinathi Gabella (28) and Slethiwe Ngcobo (3) all confront eviction from their home in the Motala Heights Settlement. They are pictured outside Mr Ngthobane’s home. Mr Ngthobane is a long time resident of Motala Heights and has just built his own wooden home after years of sharing a shack with 6 others.

Previous press release
Thursday, 31 August 2006 12:00
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Release

Shack Dwellers to Demand Full Disclosure of the eThekwini Municipality’s Plans for Them from Sutcliffe

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Conference, Kennedy Road Community Hall, Kennedy Road, Clare Estate, Durban, Monday 4 September, 9:00 a.m.

Abahlali baseMjondolo have completed a detailed application for information from Mike Sutcliffe in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. We have excellent pro bono lawyers waiting to take Sutcliffe to court if he refuses to comply with our request for information. We are constantly told that the ‘slums will be cleared’ by 2010 yet in most settlements our people have absolutely no idea of what plans have been made for their future. In many instances we fear that the plan is to relocate us to apartheid style rural ghettoes far from work, schools, clinics, libraries, shops and so on. We also fear that many people who are not on ‘the list’ for housing face the (illegal) demolition of their homes without alternative housing being provided.

We are requesting full information on all aspects of the eThekwini Municipality’s plans with regard to the Moreland development announced by Obed Mlaba last year, the full details for the upgrade or relocation plans for each of the more than 30 settlements in which Abahlali have a strong presence, and general information about the city’s budgeting and policy making with regard to housing.

We have been trying to get the information on the city’s plans for us for a long time. Obed Mlaba announced the Moreland project, which he said would begin by August this year, after we tried to march on him on 14 November 2005. That march was illegally banned by Sutcliffe and our people were illegally assaulted by the police. When Mlaba announced the Moreland project he said that he would give us full details and agreed to meet with us at the Pemary Ridge settlement. We faxed him a detailed list of questions in preparation for that meeting on 27 November 2005. He cancelled the scheduled meeting and ignored our questions and we have never heard from him again. But we did see press reports indicating that Moreland distanced themselves from Mlaba’s announcement andf it is clear that the Moreland development has not, as promised, begun by August. Because we could not get answers from the Municipality we decided to approach the provincial government. On 7 January 2006 we faxed our questions to the MEC for Housing, Mike Mabuyakulu. We received no answer. On 20 February 2006 we attempted to march on the Mabuyakulu to demand answers to our questions. That march was, again, illegally banned. We tried again on 27 February 2006. Once again our march was illegally banned. But this time we had, due to the support of the Foundation for Human Rights, a top legal team ready to act. We went to the High Court and won an interdict against Sutcliffe and the police forcing them to refrain from illegally interfering with our fundamental right to protest. On that day thousands of us marched on to the City Hall where we delivered our questions to Mabuyakulu’s representative, Lennox Mabaso. Our questions were ignored. For months we phoned and faxed regular reminders. Eventually a meeting was scheduled for 20 July 2006. At that meeting we were told that the provincial government could not help us and that we should go to the Municipality. The Municipality has consistently acted illegally to refuse us our basic constitutional rights and has simply refused to speak to us so we now have now choice but to use the Promotion of Access to Information Act, backed up with legal force, to compel them to disclose their plans for our communities.

The press conference will start at 9:00 a.m. at the Kennedy Road Hall. There will be a very short input from Abahlali and short statements of support from some of our supporters. There will then be an opportunity for questions. At ten a small delegation will leave in a taxi for the city hall. At 10:30 we will personally deliver our request for access to information to Sutcliffe’s office.

The following individuals, and representatives from the following organisations, will be at our press conference to offer their support:

The Open Democracy Advice Centre
The Freedom of Expression Institute
The Landless People’s Movement
The Treatment Action Campaign
Durban & Pinetown Informal Traders
Wentworth Development Forum
Westcliffe Flat Residents’ Association
The Church Land Programme
The Diakonia Council of Churches
The KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council
Bishop Dladla (Zion)
Bishop Reuben Philip (Anglican)*
Professor Dennis Brutus

For further information on the Access to Information Legislation, the right to information and processes for realising that right please contact:

Mukelani Dimba, Open Democracy Advice Centre, 0826996586
Na’eem Jeenah, Freedom of Expression Institute, 0845742674

For further information or comment on the growing solidarity with Abahlali from various church organisations please contact:

David Ntseng, Church Land Programme, 0728391153
Lucas Ngoetjona, KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council, 0722541341

For further information or comment from Abahlali baseMjondolo please contact:

S’bu Zikode, President, 0835470474
Philani Zungu, Deputy President, 0729629312
M’du Hlongwa, General Secretary, 0723358966
Mnikelo Ndabankulu, PRO, 0735656241
Lindela Figlan, Foreman Road Settlement, 0725274600
Zodwa Nsibande, Kennedy Road Settlement, 0834925442
Louisa Mota, Motala Heights Settlement, 0781760088

*Bishop Reuben will in Cape Town on Monday but he will send a representative with a written statement of support.