Mercury: Shack Demolitions Halted

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4222239
The Mercury

Shack demolitions halted

January 25, 2008 Edition 1

Tania Broughton

WHILE two little boys played in the rain in the ruins of a neighbour’s home, lawyers acting for shack dwellers from Reservoir Hills were in the Durban High Court securing an interim interdict preventing the council demolishing any more homes.

The urgent court action against the eThekwini Municipality by six Annette Drive settlement residents came after officials from the city’s land invasion unit destroyed three shacks there earlier this month and another yesterday.

Residents claimed the demolishers warned they would be back this week to tear down more shacks.

In an affidavit before Judge Sharmaine Balton yesterday, one of the residents, Musa Jaca, who is also the local chairman of the shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, said people had settled on the vacant lot in 1972 after being evicted from Newlands East and, before that, Cato Manor.

He said the shacks were made of wood and iron sheets and any other odd pieces of useful rubble.

Explaining the history of the evictions, Jaca said in August last year about 18 families, including himself, had added on to their existing dwellings or built new shacks because their homes had become too cramped.

In November, members of the land invasion unit had arrived at the settlement “and wandered around looking at the shacks”.

They had then used spray paint to mark some with an X. They had not communicated with the community at all that day.

On January 17, the officials had come back and “used saws to break down and demolish” three of the marked shacks.

Left destitute

“They did not explain why they were demolishing the shacks and did not offer any assistance or alternative accommodation to the families affected, all of whom had young children. One was a household headed by a woman.

“They have now been left destitute.”

Jaca said he and others had then contacted their lawyer, Mahendra Chetty, of Durban’s Legal Resources Centre, who had written to the municipal manager contending that the demolitions were illegal and asking for an explanation.

There had been no response.

This week the officials had come back to the settlement, threatening more demolitions.

According to correspondence, Chetty again wrote to the municipal manager, advising that an interdict would be sought yesterday. But before lawyers could get to court, another shack was demolished and the officials said they would be back this week.

The shack dwellers claim the demolitions are illegal, arguing that any evictions have to be done through the Prevention of Illegal Evictions and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (commonly known as PIE) and that requires a high court order to be served on the occupants.

“In the absence of an application for eviction being granted, the council has no right to demolish our shacks which would effectively mean evicting us from our properties.”

The council opposed yesterday’s court action, citing a new provincial law, the KZN Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act which, it says, entitles officials to demolish shacks erected after October 2007.

The matter will be back in court on February 21.

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Letter to the Editor

(Reservoir Hills local paper)

Viva The Reder Red Shirts

Red Greetings to the editor.

Firstly I want to chart a bit abaut the famous Ret Shirts in the Durbun area. Especially since the formation of the Shack Dwellers Movement in KZN in early 2005 the red shirts get more popular. It is like as if nobody ever wore them whereas the SACP, COSATU, SATAWU etc have and still where Red t shirts and these trade unions sometimes use the same strategy used by this social movement like mobilising and protesting or so. Then come to clarify why its reder on a Shack Dwellers point of view we all still remember about what happed in Shanon drive in Reservour Hills when shacks were demolished and people left homeless including school kids and women. So resently the Land Invasion unit visited another area, also in Reservoir Hills, Annet Drive and demolished peoples shacks without a court order and alternative accomodation resulting to hemelessnes of people also includes women and school kids also but because of the help of the Reder Shirts (Abahlali Basemjondolo Movement South Africa) led by Honourable Sbusiso Innocent Zikode and the Legal Resource Centere an Non Gorvenmental Organisation based in Diakonia Centere directed by Honourable Mahendra Chetty fully helped the Annet Drive demolition victims from start up to the end by taking the matter to the Durbun High Court and the judge issued an urgent court interdict agaist the carring on of demolishes in Annet Drive by municipality and the Judges dicision was greeted by hullulization as there were abaut 40 to 50 Grannies in the court from deferent branches of Abahli movement and and revolutional songs as there was a uncountable number of yuoth as ather combrades were sitting on the floor of court as it was in packed Red all over and people passing by the court asked is Zumaz case back soon. The responce said no Zikodez yung lions. May the mighty God bless all peoples efforts who helped the helpless of Annert Drive

A Happy Annet Drive resident
Reservoir Hills KwaZulu-Natal