Category Archives: Bhekisani Ngcobo

A Shack Fire in the Foreman Road shack settlement in Clare Estate, Durban has Claimed Two Lives

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

A Shack Fire in the Foreman Road shack settlement in Clare Estate, Durban has Claimed Two Lives

Yesterday we had a very successful march, together with our Congolese comrades, against the politic of death. Early this morning two residents of the Foreman Road shack settlement lost their lives in a huge fire. We are the people that can be freely murdered without consequence. We are also the people that are left to live like pigs in the mud and to die in shack fires.

For almost ten years we have been struggling to force the state to take shack fires seriously. We have won many victories over the years but we remain the people that are left to burn. Every time there is a fire the politicians and the police rush to blame us for the fire. They never blame the conditions in which we are forced to live. They never meet with us to work out a way to improve these conditions. We will not rest until we have forced this society to recognise and respect our humanity. Continue reading →

Puntan’s Hill Shack Dwellers Blockade Umgeni Road

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
12 July 2012

Puntan's Hill Shack Dwellers Blockade Umgeni Road

At around 3 a.m. this morning angry residents of the Puntan's Hill shack settlement blocked Umgeni Road with tyres in protest at their dissatisfaction with Cllr. Bhekisani Ngcobo. When Ngcobo was mobilising for votes he promised them that as soon as he takes office as a councillor he would electrify their shacks. The shacks have never been electrified and last week someone was killed while trying to make a self-organised connection.

Ngcobo has not kept any of his promises. The community have tried several times to talk to him but he has neglected them and ignored their demand. Once more the poor have been used as ladders by politicians. This is why they decided to block the road this morning.

Continue reading →

Police & Municipal Security Break the Ward Councillor’s Promise & Return to Kennedy

04 July 2011
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Police & Municipal Security Break the Ward Councillor's Promise & Return to Kennedy

Yesterday the new ward councillor Bhekisani Ngcobo arrived at a road blockade erected to defend the community against armed de-electrification by the eThekweni Municipality and promised residents of the Kennedy Road shack settlement that the municipality would stop trying to disconnect them from electricity. Today the Municipal Security Guards arrived, with police back up, and tried to continue to disconnect the people. The people resisted and organised another road blockade. Right now the police have stepped back but it may be that they are waiting for reinforcements.

Continue reading →