Shack dwellers ignore police warning

This article was originally published on page 2 of The Mercury on April 11, 2007

Shack dwellers ignore police warning

April 11 2007 at 12:56PM

By Proffesor Ndawonde & Matthew Savides

After lengthy discussions between Sydenham Police and members of shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, a proposed march from the Kennedy Road informal settlement to the police station on Tuesday night was halted as police declared the protest illegal.

However, 14 members of the movement, including its leader, S’bu Zikode, walked to the station to hand over a memorandum to Superintendent Glen Nayager, who they claim has been harassing the community.

According to the Public Gatherings Act, a group of 14 or fewer can march without prior permission.

About 80 members of the movement met at Kennedy Road Community Hall in solidarity with five of their members who are being held at Westville Prison in connection with the death of Mzwakhe Sithole, who was caught by community members after having allegedly robbed one of the settlement’s residents.

Police say the five are part of a group that assaulted Sithole before handing him over to police.

He later died in custody.

However, the group say it is the police who should take responsibility for his death.

The five are into the tenth day of a hunger strike, which started in protest at what they call their unfair arrest and harassment by police.

Zikode said they were determined to continue the strike until their formal bail application on Friday.

The memorandum accuses the police of racism, having no respect for the residents’ homes, making poverty a crime, criminalising the poor, protecting and working with criminals, working with people who have “declared themselves enemies of the shack dwellers”, ignoring crimes against shack dwellers and refusing the community permission to open cases against the local police.

Nayager would not comment on the hunger strike and denied accusations that the arrests were politically motivated and aimed at Abahlali baseMjondolo members.

proffesor.ndawonde@inl.co.za

matthew.savides@inl.co.za