Shack dwellers boycott the ballot

This article was originally published on page 6 of Daily News on March 02, 2006

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060302115131590C422223

Shack dwellers boycott the ballot
Monica Langanparsad
March 02 2006 at 03:59PM

Their message was clear, “no land, no house, no vote”.

The residents of Foreman Road and Jahdu Road informal settlements ignored their voting stations on Wednesday.

Instead they stayed home proudly wearing their slogan on matching red T-shirts.

In the background, an old radio connected to a discarded car battery blared out the sound of a popular kwaito song.

‘Can you smell that?’
“Should I translate the words for you?” asked 21-year-old Mnikelo Ndabankula.

“Its a song by Phusekhimis titled Ama Councillor… he’s saying that we won’t vote for local government anymore… there’s no development.”

The song echoes the emotions of the people living in these informal settlements or, as it’s referred to by the Independent Electoral Com-mission, ward 25.

“Why should we waste our votes on a candidate who has done nothing for us in the past five years. We are proudly ANC supporters, but the ANC councillor nominated has failed our community,” said Ndabankula.

He confesses he voted for ANC candidate Yacoob Baig in the previous elections. A mistake, he says, that he’s not willing to repeat.

Of 686 registered voters, only 93 had voted by lunch
With approximately 7 000 people living in 1 200 shacks and temperatures reaching their mid-30’s on Wednesday, their desper-ation for proper housing had only deepened their anger.

“(Mayor Obed) Mlaba wants to relocate us to Verulam. Why? Because of property prices. I thought the government slogan was Batho Pele (People First) and not property prices,” he said.
He points to an empty plot of land adjacent to the settlement, “They promised to build us housing on that side … we don’t want to move to Verulam, we like it here in ward 25.”

Opposite the settlement is a small dwelling that houses five toilets, two for men and three for women, showers and outside taps.

“How can we be expected to live in these conditions? It’s un-healthy. We wash our clothes in the showers, use the water for bathing and cooking. We have struggled and fought to get houses and we will continue” he warned.

Gideon Nzuza, 43, has lived in Foreman Road since 1993.

“Mlaba (Obed) told me personally that if I vote for Baig, I will get a house; that was five years ago,” he said. Some people had gone to vote and Ndabankula says it’s because they were hungry and were fed breyani.

On the other side, there’s the Jahdu Road Settlement which houses about 4 000 people in 720 shacks. The chairman, Bheki Themba Mncwango, explains that they too have the same problems.

“Can you smell that?”

“It the man-made toilets. Children play around here. They say they can’t build us formal houses because its too steep, but we are surrounded by formal houses built on steep ground,” he said.

He proudly adds that not a single resident of his settlement voted yesterday. “We are also a part of ward 25, but how can we vote for a councillor who breaks promises? No breyani today,” he says, shaking his head.

At the nearby polling station where Jahdu Road residents would have voted, 2 380 people were registered, but at lunch time only 241 votes were recorded.

Clareville Primary School was used as the polling station for ward 25, but of 686 registered voters, only 93 had voted by lunch.

By midday, the heat is unbearable. “In summer it’s too hot and in winter it’s too cold,” complained Ndabankula.