9 May 2011
Makhaza Land Invasion
Makhaza Land Invasion
Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape support the initiative of creating community from below by Makhaza back yard dwellers.
Within the city of Cape Town there is a backlog of housing for more than 500 000 people and this number increase by 20 000 while the city of Cape Town can only afford to build 8 000 houses per year.
It is clear that people who are in the waiting list and those living within informal settlements will have to wait more than 30 years before they can access decent houses within the city of Cape Town.
For the past few days people of Makhaza at section 36 have been building their own shacks at an open space of unused land for more than 17 years, most of these people have been in the waiting for more than 15 years.
As an organisation we fail to understand as to why the city of Cape Town is against the notion of people driven development by building communities from below, because it is clear that the city is failing completely to meet it's housing demand.
As Abahlali baseMjondolo we call on the City of Cape Town to immediately:
1. Stop demolishing peoples structure without order from the court
2. To immediately return people's material that was confiscated illegally by it's reactionary anti land invasion unit and law enforcement
3. Instead of demoliting people's structure they rather focus on enclosing the open air toilets that they have build for people of Makhaza as per court order from the high court.
For more info call Nosiphiwo, (Community leader) at 073 856 7518 and for more comment call Mzonke Poni the chairperson of Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape @ 073 2562 036