http://squattercity.blogspot.com/2008/08/blame-victims.html

Blame the Victims

The Johannesburg Government now blames squatters for the fires that periodically devastate their communities. Here's what a spokesman for Johannesburg Emergency Management Services told the Star newspaper about a fire this past weekend that destroyed 1,000 homes in the Denver hostel squatter camp in southern Johannesburg: "In illegal informal settlements there are a lot of social factors that come into play. High on the list is drunkenness... where a person drinks and forgets to put out the candle... or they might leave a pot cooking on a stove and go and buy beer again."

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a777240328&fulltext=713240928

Editorial
Author: Bob Catterall
Published in: journal City, Volume 11, Issue 1 April 2007 , pages 2 - 3

Introduction

'We start where we are but we fight to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. We fight to make those who are blind to poverty to be able to see the poverty that we see. We work to show those who are blind to the poor the strength of the poor.'

The speaker is S'bu Zikode, one of the leaders of a community organization working within the shack communities of Durban, South Africa. But can those of us that live among the blind, but have nevertheless taken the trouble to ensure that we can at least see a little, share his confidence that our people can be made to see that poverty? And if they can, will they understand it? What kinds of understanding are required?

http://squattercity.blogspot.com/

Friday, March 09, 2007
Zambia gets the demolition bug

The government of Zambia has decided to demolish all shantytowns. These communities, it so happens, are also where the opposition draws its support. The horror continues. Isn't there a difference between squatter settlements and well-off people who have grabbed government land for their own gain. And where will the dislocated people go? Reuters and the Times of Zambia have details.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2080477,00.html

Zambia to demolish shanty towns
08/03/2007 12:34 - (SA)