Category Archives: Daily Sun

Daily Sun: Homes Go Up in Smoke!

http://dailysun.mobi/news/read/2998/homes-go-up-in-smoke

IT never rains but it pours for the residents of Kennedy Road squatter settlement, near Sydenham in Durban.

A few days ago they were trying to sort out a disaster caused by heavy rain.

Then on Sunday, more than 100 shacks were burned to ashes. Fifty people were injured and 400 spent the night squashed in the municipal halls.

The cause of the fire is not known but it is suspected that faulty electrical connections were involved.

One of the shack dwellers, Mlungisi Khumalo (22), told Daily Sun that he was sleeping in his house at about 11 am when he heard people screaming outside.

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Daily Sun: Shot in the Back!

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71627?oid=408481&sn=Detail&pid=71627

Daily Sun (October 1 2013) – THE protesters say they were ­defenceless . . . Cops say they were violent . . .

WHEN THE BULLETS STOPPED FLYING, 17-YEAR-OLD SCHOOLGIRL NQOBILE NZUZA LAY DEAD IN THE STREET.

Nqobile's father said he got a call telling him his daughter had been shot.

"When I got there she was already dead," said Dumisani Nzuza. "She was shot in the back and the bullet was still inside her body."

While Nqobile died at the scene, another woman Luleka Makhala (26) is in King ­Edward VIII Hospital fighting for her life after also being shot.

The march, organised by the shack dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, took place on Monday morning in Cato Manor, Durban, KZN ­police said.

Nqobile and Luleka were on a march with other Mayville residents who were ­demanding RDP houses.

A protester who didn't want to be named for fear of persecution said they were ­running away when the cops shot at them.

"I heard Nqobile and Luleka screaming but I couldn't help them,'' she said.

"They were being chased by the police."

The source said the march started in the morning on Bellair Road.

"But the police had already blocked the road,'' she said.

"We took another route but they blocked that as well.

"Eventually they chased us and started firing live bullets at us."

Aaron Mzimela, chairman of Abahlali baseMjondolo, said: "Our leaders are killing us and the perpetrators are known but nothing gets done about it."

But Colonel Jay Naicker claimed residents attacked police and threatened to kill them.

He said the police received a report that the community had blocked Bellair Road at about 4am.

"When the police got there they could not get through and tried another route but found about 500 protesters waiting for them," said Naicker.

"The cops were ambushed.

"The people surrounded the vehicle, stoning it and breaking the windows.

"Then they opened the doors and ­attempted to pull the members out.

"Police also heard gunshots coming from the crowd and realised they were going to be killed."

He said the police then started firing at the group and the residents ran away. Police went to get back-up.

"When police arrived at the scene they found two females had been injured in the shoot-out,'' said Naicker.

"One was taken to hospital while the ­other died at the scene prior to the arrival of police."

Front page of the Daily Sun: Official Must Eat His Words!

LENNOX Mabaso, a senior KZN housing department official, said last week that all the developments started in the province so far had been completed.

There were NO examples where projects had been started and then abandoned by developers, he said.

BUT HE’S WRONG…HE’S TALKING RUBBISH!

That’s the accusation from Fred Wagner, the chairman of a community forum in Pietermaritzburg.

He told the People’s Paper that the housing department was supposed to build 714 RDP houses at Madiba Park, Ward 14 in Eastwood, Pietermaritzburg.

“The department issued 714 subsidies to residents of the area. But developers only managed to build about 500 houses. They then built the foundations for more than 200 houses before vanishing – and that was in December 2005.

“Mabaso says no project was abandoned. What is then?” asked Wagner, pointing to half-finished foundations.

He challenged Mabaso – and his boss Mike Mabuyakulu, the MEC – to visit the area and see for themselves.

He further said: “The concrete slabs that have been abandoned have now become playgrounds for the kids. They play soccer there. The developers also built a very narrow road. It is only 2m wide when it was supposed to be 4 m…for that they were paid R2 million!” he said angrily.

This is the SECOND challenge to Mabaso. Last week he was challenged to spend give days in informal settlements by the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement.

He accepted the challenge – but has not yet given a date when he will move into a squatter settlement.

* About his latest challenge Mabaso said he needed time to do his own research before he could comment.

Front page of the Daily Sun: Come and Live Here, Mabaso!

Come and live here, Mabaso!

KZN HOUSING ANGER GROWS!

HOMELESS people in KZN are angry – VERY angry.

They’re tired of waiting for houses that do not come…tired of not getting answers to their questions.

NOW THEY THINK THAT LOCAL OFFICIALS ARE NOT TAKING THEM SERIOUSLY ENOUGH!

Officials should leave their offices and come and see for themselves, angry squatter leaders said.

The comments of Lennox Mabaso, a spokesman for the KZN Department of Housing, were reported in the Daily Sun yesterday.

He said there was no housing backlog in KZN.

Later he explained further by saying what he actually said was that there were no half-built developments which had been abandoned by developers in KZN – as there were in other provinces.

But that did not pacify angry people.

S’bu Zikode, president of the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement of South Africa, said “I challenge Mabaso and his boss, the MEC Mike Mabuyakulu, to come and spend five days and live in a shack and experience at first-hand the suffering the people have to endure!”

Zikode said there were about 500 ‘informal settlements’ in the province and 80% of these settlements are in the eThekwini region.

“The people that matter are never consulted. Decisions are taken at the ICC, Umhlanga and the Sibaya Casino. For a long time we have negotiated with the municipality and asked them to tell us how many people are on the waiting list. But no one can give us a figure!”

“We want answers to five questions. Where the houses for the homeless are to be built? When? How many? How? And what assurance do we have?”

Mabaso told Daily Sun he never claimed that there was no housing backlog.

“What I said is that we do not have any housing projects left abandoned by developers. We have checks and balances in place to ensure developers complete projects. Regarding shack settlements, our department has been dealing with a moving target.”

“People have been allocated houses but rent them out and then return and build shacks. We also have slumlords who own a number of shacks and charge rent for them.”

“We have passed the Slum Bill and this will ensure that no new slums are created. In the meantime, we will carry out surveys and then get a real number of people that need homes,” said Mabaso.

Mabaso said that since 1999 they had built close to 500 000 houses in the province.

Update: In a debate on iGagasi FM this morning Mabaso promised that he would come and live in Kennedy Road for 5 days.