Category Archives: Canaan Mdletshe

Sowetan: Celebrations as shack dwellers get bail

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http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1160526

Celebrations as shack dwellers get bail
13 July 2010
Canaan Mdletshe

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THERE were joyous celebrations outside the Durban high court yesterday morning after five Kennedy Road settlement residents were granted bail.

The five, Studo Goyi, Zandisile Nqotshane, Khaliphile Jali, Samkelisiwe Mkhokhelo and Scelo Mambi, have been held at the Durban Westville Prison since their arrest in September last year.

Initially 12 members of Abahlali Basemjondolo Movement (ABM) were detained, but seven were released on R5000 bail each in November last year.

The shack dwellers had been arrested in connection with violence that erupted at Kennedy Road on September 26 last year, which resulted in two people being killed, 30 houses burnt, property looted and some residents chased out.

ABM leader S’bu Zikode said they were excited about their members being granted bail after spending 10 months in prison.

The trial was expected to resume yesterday, but it was adjourned because some of the witnesses had been victims of shack fires that ravaged Kennedy Road settlement last Sunday.

“We have been vindicated by the court’s ruling since it was clearly stated that it was unconstitutional to detain people for such a long time without trial,” Zikode said.

He said the fact that the five had not been brought to court yesterday was a clear indication of “political interference”.

Zikode said they took solace in the court’s ruling that yesterday’s adjournment was final.

“We will now receive a fair trial as the Constitution says,” he said.

Though they were not present, the five shack dwellers were granted R1000 bail each.

The court said they would appear today to hear the bail conditions.

Sowetan: Invaders take over vacant council land

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http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1100367Invaders take over vacant council land
Canaan Mdletshe
28 December 2009

Mayor says third force behind illegal invasion

UMTSHEZI municipality mayor Maliyakhe Shelembe has lambasted a massive Zimbabwe-style illegal land invasion in Estcourt in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Christmas Day.

About 300 people arrived at vacant municipal land and erected shacks and makeshift structures in a move Shelembe said was spearheaded by a “third force hellbent on destabilising the municipality”.

The invaders marked “their plots”, put obstructions around them and started building shacks.

“We are using the Constitution and municipal by-laws to protect civilian and municipal property. The land they have illegally occupied has been set aside for low-cost housing development. Locals know that people who will get houses there are those who earn little or no income at all,” Shelembe said.

He said contrary to this, the people who have illegally occupied the land were driving fancy cars and some were teachers and did not qualify for low-cost houses.

He said the fact that some of the occupiers came from Gauteng, Richards Bay, Pietermaritzburg and Mpumalanga was an indication that there was a third force behind the move.

“The motives are clearly criminal. We view this as an attempt to destabilise the municipality and it is our duty to preserve and protect municipal property, which is why we will use every piece of legislation to defend that property. We have deployed the police to stop people from putting up structures,” he said.

One of the invaders Sowetan spoke to accused the government of ignoring their pleas for houses. He said he had been waiting for too long for a house and when he heard of the available plots he grabbed the opportunity.

“After waiting for nearly nine years it was time for action and when I heard that there were plots available, I thought to myself that God had finally answered my prayers ,” he said.

Landless People’s Movement national organiser Mangaliso Kubheka said though the “invaders” were not their members, they supported them.

“We support the move by these people because municipalities take the land and use it to build luxury homes for rich people ,” Kubheka said.

Sowetan: ‘Give us a basic grant of R1500 or we’ll wreak havoc’

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http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1035297

‘Give us a basic grant of R1500 or we’ll wreak havoc’
17 July 2009
Canaan Mdletshe

UP IN ARMS: Unemployed people have vowed to destroy shops in KwaZulu-Natal if the government fails to meet their demands within seven days . PHOTO: THULI DLAMINI

A GROUP representing the unemployed in KwaZulu-Natal has threatened to set townships alight and unleash an army of looters on shops unless all jobless people received a basic income grant of R1500 a month.

National spokesperson for the SA Unemployed People’s Movement, Nozipho Mteshana, said a survey the group commissioned had uncovered more than 26million unemployed people in South Africa, more than half of the population.

The figures had gone up recently because of job losses from the economic meltdown.

Mteshana said the country would soon be in flames if the government failed to do something because people’s anger could not be contained much longer.

“We give our government and eThekwini municipality, which is our focus at this point, seven days to give us answers.”

The group has handed the municipality a memorandum of their grievances.

“If we don’t get positive answers by next Wednesday we will let people loot all the big shops and take whatever food they find in those shops. If this is the only language our government understands, then we will speak it very loudly,” she warned.

Mteshana said most of their members were young tertiary graduates. They were fed up with “ANC pals and the same people getting tenders” while others went hungry.

She said in a country where pensions were granted only at 60 it pained her to note that most unemployed people were between 18 and 35.

Crime was escalating because people were hungry.

“Hungry stomachs are angry stomachs, which is why we feel that unemployed people should be provided with a basic income grant. Our government has money but it is not prioritised properly.”

Economic expert Bonke Dumisa said it was unreal to expect an economic solution to these problems.

“Business can’t do it. Business is in the business of making money with as few people as possible, given the economic downturn.”

He said the answers lay with the politicians and their will to deal with the real unemployment figures.

Sowetan: On the boil – angry residents clash with cops in protest

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http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1022517

On the boil – angry residents clash with cops in protest
24 June 2009
Canaan Mdletshe – mdletshec@sowetan.co.za

DISGRUNTLED residents in Lindelani, north of Durban, went on a rampage yesterday blockading roads with burning tyres and forcing the closure of schools.

The residents are complaining about lack of service delivery, particularly the allocation of low-cost housing in the area.

Lindelani was in flames from the early hours as incensed residents became violent.

Schools were closed as teachers went home fearing for their safety and examinations were disrupted. People on their way to work were accosted and forced to join in the protest.

Though Lindelani is an IFP stronghold, residents are complaining about an IFP councillor, Skhumbuzo Myeza, who they accuse of “failing them”. They said that since he took over as councillor in 2005, they have seen no difference.

The protest which had been anticipated to be peaceful got out of hand as early as 5am. Annoyed residents started blockading roads with stones.

When Sowetan arrived , the situation was volatile as police fired rubber bullets in a bid to disperse the unruly crowd.

Nine people were arrested, one with a firearm . Others were injured . Two police vans were stoned and some police officers were injured as they were pelted with stones.

March organizer Bonginkosi Mbonambi said they decided to protest because they have “had enough” of their councillor.

“He has done absolutely nothing for us . Our houses were damaged during heavy storms in 2007 and nothing has happened.

“Instead, he has colluded with the eThekwini municipality and decided to instal water meters for us, though we live in shacks without electricity or employment,’ Mbonambi said.

Residents also accused Myeza of employing people who are his cronies. “ He also sells sites to his cronies and we can’t take it anymore,” Mbonambi said.

IFP provincial organiser Phumlani Khuzwayo said the IFP’s PEC was meeting on Wednesday and Myeza would top the agenda.

KwaMashu police spokesperson Captain Phindile Nxumalo said the march had to be cancelled after it turned violent.

“We had to use rubber bullets to bring the situation to order. Those arrested will be charged with public violence.”

Sowetan: ‘My shack was better than this house’

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http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1018802

‘My shack was better than this house’
17 June 2009
Canaan Mdletshe

WHEN homeless people were moved from shacks and tin houses in Lamontville to newly built double-storey structures in the township, they thought their housing problems were finally over.

But it was not to be. The joy of the 65 families who were moved to the new homes between Friday and Sunday last week was short-lived. They discovered that the houses they were moved to were incomplete and too small even to accommodate a double bed.

The houses had also not been plastered, had no ceilings, no electricity or running water.

When Sowetan visited the area yesterday, the new occupants were battling to fit in their belongings such as beds and wardrobes into the houses.

“I wish I had stayed in my tin house. We had no electricity or clean running water, but we were used to that kind of a life,” complained Zanele Ndlovu.

“The new house has no running water, so we can’t flush the toilet and I have to go to relatives’ houses if I want to relieve myself,” she added.

But Nigel Gumede, the chairperson of the housing department in eThekwini municipality, downplayed the complaints. He said the houses had water and in cases where there was none, pipes had been installed to help people access water while waiting for the taps to be fitted in.