Solidarity: Newfields Village residents angered at Cape Town Community Housing broken promises

Newfields Village Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Statement
Friday 18th January 2008
4pm

CAPE TOWN – The Newfields Village Anti-Eviction Campaign is planning more protest action against the Cape Town Community Housing Company.

The residents from Newfields Village and nine other villages of “low cost housing” built by the Cape Town Community Housing Company already campaigned for years to force the government to allocate R46 million to repair the defects in their houses. These included crumbling walls, leaks, cracks and others. Their campaign included a massive and long running rent boycott.

The Cape Town Community Housing Company agreed in writing with the community that the workers employed to fix the defects would be 50% contract workers and 50% workers hired from the community. However, they have reneged on their own written agreement and only 6% of the workers are to be hired from the community. The Cape Town Community Housing Company says that these will be labourers only – artisans will be hired from companies.

The Newfields Village Anti-Eviction Campaign has uncovered that the person in charge of the repair process has a 40% share in ABE, a company that has been suddenly hired to repaint all the defective houses.

The Newfields Village Anti-Eviction Campaign is very angry about this and demands an end to this corruption, and jobs for the community, failing which they have vowed to chase all contractors out of the area.

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For comment call Gary Hartzenberg on 072 392 5859