Squatters square off with municipality over evictions

Times Live

Bongani Mthethwa

Shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo approached the Durban High Court on Monday to stop the eThekwini municipality from carrying out evictions after residents were allegedly evicted from a “transit camp” on Friday.

According to an Abhalali statement‚ the eThekwini municipal Anti-Land Invasion Unit descended on the Barcelona 2 area in Lamontville on Friday and “violently and unlawfully evicted the residents from the disgraceful ‘transit camps’ that were forcefully imposed on them seven years ago for the FIFA World Cup.”

The movement claimed residents were told that they were amaMpondo and that they should return to the Eastern Cape.

“This is not the first time that people from the Eastern Cape have been openly discriminated against by high-ranking politicians and officials in Durban. This is a dangerous politic that continues to tear apart all the gains made by our democracy‚” said Abahlali’s Thapelo Mohapi.

He accused the ANC of creating “a very dangerous situation” in which impoverished people are forced to fight among themselves.

“When Xhosa-speaking people are removed from the tins at gunpoint‚ and Zulu-speaking people are then brought into the tins‚ there is a very high risk of serious conflict.

“Our position as Abahlali is that we are all amaMpondo and we are all amaZulu. A neighbour is a neighbour and a comrade is a comrade. We will continue to build unity in the neighbourhoods and we will continue to oppose politicians that are trying to divide impoverished people.”