Ash Road 19 May 2008 (Relocation to a transit camp looms….)

[fsg_gallery id=”329″]“The large number painted carelessly on the front door has become one of the symbols of relocation.”
– Laurine Platzky and Cherryl Walker, The Surplus People: Forced Removals in South Africa, 1985

Who gets a cross? Who gets a number? Who decides? Who will be left homeless? Who will be dumped in a transit camp far out of town? How long will they have to live there? Will they be able to work, to go to school, to medical care, to go to church, to play soccer? Who will get beaten and arrested when the men with guns and dogs and gas come to implement the role out of housing delivery ? Will the local leaders be bribed with houses for their friends and family to silence the community when the time for relocation comes?

Pictures by Filipo Mondini