March in Clare Estate, Monday 18 November 2013

17 November 2013
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Abahlali baseMjondolo to March in Clare Estate on Monday 18 November 2013

We will be marching on Councillor Bhekisane Ngcobo on Monday 18 November 2013. The march will leave the Foreman Road shack settlement at 9:00 a.m. and will finish at Ngcobo’s office in Asherville at 13:00.

The message of the day is that: FOREMAN RD DEMANDS LAND, HOUSING & DIGNITY IN OUR LIFE TIME.

This is the first time that the ratepayers’ associations are supporting an Abahlali baseMjondolo march. We have had a number of meetings with the Clare Estate Ratepayer’s Association. The politicians are always using the ratepayers as an excuse to force the poor out of the city. They blame their programme of reruralisation on the ratepayers. However we and the ratepayers have agreed on a common programme. We have agreed that we want to build a Clare Estate for all, a Clare Estate where everyone has a decent house, decent services, good schools, where development is democratically decided and everyone feels at home and can enjoy living in the area in safety. The march is organised by Abahlali baseMjondolo and supported by ratepayers and civic organisations of ward 25; viz. Clare Estate; Asherville; Springtown & Puntans Hill. It is also supported by the local taxi association and other local businesses.

The demands for this march are as follows:

–           The municipality must build a community hall in the Foreman Road settlement.

–           The city must buy all the vacant land in Clare Estate and Reservoir Hills and set it aside for housing development.

–           There must be an immediate end to job reservation for ANC volunteers. All jobs must be open to everyone without regard to political affiliation.

–           There must an immediate end to giving priority to ANC volunteers for houses and services. The government must be for everyone that lives in South Africa.

–           All shack settlements must be fully electrified and, until this is done, the armed disconnections by the municipality must stop.

–           We need demarcated taxi ranks in the Foreman Road, Kennedy Road and Palmiet settlements.

–           We need more toilets in the new sections that have been opened up (from below) in the Foreman Road settlement (i.e. Zone 14, Marikana and eZinkawini).

–           We need a proper access road to the Foreman Road settlement. It is ok if it is gravel but it must be usable on rainy days.

–           The Development Committee in Foreman Road must be abolished. It is unelected and is only ANC. The Municipality must only work with freely elected structures open to all and not unelected ANC committees. All organisations in our settlement with elected leaders and proven support must be allowed to participate in decision making.

–           We need concrete pathways and steps, as well as drainage, in the Foreman Road settlement.

–           DSW jobs must be freely available to all residents and not just ANC volunteers

–           Government policies must be there to serve all our people and not just those in the ruling party.

–           More than a hundred million rand is generated in tax in Clare Estate each year and yet people are living like pigs while the politicians and their families and friends get fatter and fatter. We want our area to be turned into a home for all, a home that we can all be proud of. There is enough land and money to achieve this. The ratepayers are clear that this money should be used to integrate all shack dwellers into the area with decent housing.

–           We need Section 21 Schools in Sydenham & Reservoir Hills. The government thinks that we are all rich here because we are living in the suburb but in fact many of us are poor. We Therefore we need these schools here.

–           The bus shelters in Clare Estate, Sydenham and Reservoir Hills must be repaired.

–           We need traffic lights at Foreman Road and Clare Road intersection.

–           The vacant land next to the Loon Road cemetery must be set aside for housing for Foreman Road residents.

–           We demand to know how many houses have been reserved for Foreman Road in the Cornubia Development.

–           There is massive corruption in Durban. The Manase Report is out but no one is arrested. For the last two years the Municipality have rolled over the housing budget to treasury due to corruption and incompetency. Therefore Nigel Gumede must go.

–           The illegal evictions and repression by the state and the ruling party at the Marikana Land Occupation in Cato Crest must be bought to an immediate end. There must be a full and public inquiry into the corruption, illegal evictions and state and ruling party violence in the area. And due to the serious repression of anyone who stands up against corruption in this city Nigel Gumede must go.

We stand for a Clare Estate for all. We stand for land, housing and dignity for all.

Contact:

Mnikelo Ndabankulu, Abahlali baseMjondolo: 081 263 3462

Bandile Mdlalose, Abahlal baseMjondolo Secretary General: 084 557 5090

S’bu Zikode, Abahlali baseMjondolo Chairperson: 083 547 0474

Dennis Pillay, Clare Estate Ratepayers: 082 567 8162

Rajen Rajpal, Clare Estate Local Businessperson: 082 442 2588