Category Archives: land occupation

With or Without a Permit our March Goes Ahead

27 July 2011
Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape

With or Without a Permit our March Goes Ahead

Today the Mitchell’s Plain backyarders, supported by Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape, Communities for Social Change, Western Cape Anti Eviction Campaign, Mandela Park backyarders, and many other community based organizations will appear in front of Cape Town High Court to oppose the interdict from the City of Cape Town, which follows occupation of unused piece of Land by M/ Plain backyarders 2 days before 2011 local government election (May).

17 members of ABM WC from Langa Temporal Relocation Area will also appear in front of Magistrate Court at Bellville follow their illegal arrest by police during occupation of empty RDP houses at DELFT Last month.

Last month more than 100 ABM members occupied empty bond houses at DELFT, after they were thrown out of houses by police just few hours after the occupation, The following day they went straight to occupy empty RDP houses and 17 members were arrested and charged with public violence, and all 17 were refused free bail, R500 bail was granted to each person, as a results of that 5 members had to spent 3 nights at Pollsmore because they did not have money for bail.

For comment and full details on on these matters please call Cindy, the spokeslady for Langa TRA’s @ 076 086 6690

As an organization we condemn police repression into our activists, just few days back serious charges against our members at Durban were withdrawn due to a lack of sufficient evidence against them.

We understand that there’s is no charges against our members, and we are so disappointed to see that not all criminal charges are not treated the same, especially those that falls under schedule 1 of criminal offence. All of our members were first offenders in terms of law, they did not have any pending cases, all provided the court with valid home address and personal details and they did not pose any danger to anyone and all remain committed to the struggle for land and housing.

And we must say it we are very surprising to see people who participated on a peaceful occupation of houses without intimidating anyone, without burning any tyres but still being charged for public violence, and still the court becomes blind at interpreting these charges in terms of law, this raises many question about independence of our juridicial system.

In solidarity
Mzonke
073 2562 036
follow on twitter @mzonkep

“The struggle continues”

For the march that goes to City of Cape Town tomorrow, please call Charles at 074 689 5980.

And please note we are not going to ban our route. We are going to stick on our route as indicated on the application form which was sent to the city. We are not going to be intimidated by city of Cape Town by their cheap tactics that they are applying to illegally ban our march. As long as we submitted application form in advance, and as long as no valid reason given by the city of Cape Town in writing our event will continue as planned.

If it means we must also be arrested, and charged let it be and we are prepared to pay the price if being poor in South Africa that’s what it means.
But one thing for sure, we are going to remain united in our struggle for land and housing and if it means we must expose state tactics and abuse of power we will always do so, being in court or at street. We will remain strong and united.

Aluta

We March Today in Defiance of the City of Cape Town!

27 July 2011
Press Release by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign

We March Today in Defiance of the City of Cape Town!

With or without the permit from the city, today, we will be marching first to the High Court and then to the offices of the City of Cape Town. In terms of the Gatherings Act, when we want to march, the law says we must notify the city and SAPS within 7 days. The law further suggests that if the city refuses to grant a permit they need to provide us with written reasons after meeting in person with the organisers of the march. The City has not fulfilled its legal obligations and therefore the march is 100% legal.

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Sunday Tribune: No home, no four walls, no warmth

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http://www.sundaytribune.co.za/no-home-no-four-walls-no-warmth-1.1082149

No home, no four walls, no warmth

June 11 2011
By Kowthar Solomons

WEEKEND ARGUS

Three-year-old Jim-Bop clutches a white teddy bear. It’s a gift for Imaan – the baby who will soon come home from hospital to live in a field.

The 10-day-old girl is the latest member of a community who live in makeshift shelters next to Kapteinsklip train station.

Jim-Bop idolises Spider-Man, but the toddler and the rest of the 120-strong community living on a field in Swartklip don’t need fictional heroes – there are real heroes living next door.

It’s getting dark on Thursday evening, and the 20 families are setting up their makeshift tents. A High Court interdict prevents them from putting up any solid structures and their materials have been confiscated by City of Cape Town officials.

The community instead uses branches as support poles and a blanket or plastic sheet as cover. They put up the shelters at night and take them down before the regular inspections. If the structures are up for more than 48 hours, law enforcers cannot pull them down.

While the tents are being set up, Jim-Bop runs across the field, helping to get wood for tonight’s fire. His real name is Neville, but he answers only to Jim-Bop – the nickname his dad gave him.

The toddler has spent the past six months living in the field with his mother, Renecia Davids, 25, and his brother, one-year-old Jermaine.

Davids claims she was beaten by her drug-addict boyfriend, Jim-Bop’s father, who often threatened her with a knife. When Jim-Bop sees a knife, he hides.

Davids was so scared that her boyfriend would attack their six-year-old daughter Chanice, who tried to protect her mother from the abuse, she sent her to stay with a relative.

She thought the abuse would never stop, but help arrived in the form of “land invaders”, who moved on to a nearby field a month ago. These people, her heroes, saved her and her children.

“They noticed the bruises on my face and continually tried to get us to move to their camp. Eventually I took my children – and my boyfriend left us and never came back. Since then we’ve become a part of the community here, and this is how we survive.”

It’s 7pm and the fire that Jim-Bop helped make is roaring. The last group of commuters walk home from the nearby station. Many live in the camp and are greeted with smiles and a hot plate of food. Tonight’s supper is a pot of fish breyani, donated by Rene Adams, a nearby resident and another one of the community’s heroes. If it weren’t for her act of kindness, there would have been no food on the crates that serve as a table.

It’s a special night for the camp. New mother Ilhaam Abrahams, 27, has come home after giving birth to Imaan, Arabic for “faith”. Imaan, who was born six weeks prematurely and had to be delivered by Caesarean, remains in hospital. The camp residents helped to get Abrahams to the hospital after she started bleeding.

The area is barren except for the bushes which provide firewood. Some of the residents have dug underground shelters to protect themselves from the gale-force winds and heavy rains.

The camp’s residents offered to pay for a room for her to stay in with the baby, but Abrahams declined the offer, saying she wanted to stay at the camp with the people she knew cared about her and her child.

“It hurts so much to think I’ll have to bring her home to a field but I can’t give up my baby. I plan to look after the baby during the day, but I will leave her with relatives at night to keep her away from the harsh conditions here,” she said.

Residents chat about politics. They want new mayor Patricia de Lille to visit them – to see how they are living. They discuss Albertina Sisulu’s death. A man with a Manchester United beanie and scarf is chided by Liverpool supporters and told he’ll have to take off the kit or they’ll “evict him”. Everyone laughs – even the United supporter.

The residents catch up with each other until 1.30am, when they finally call it a night and retreat to their tents and trenches. The men take turns watching over the camp while the others sleep. There is no space in the camp for me or photographer Neil Baynes. We retreat to the car.

It is 6am and cold on Friday morning when the camp wakes up to start taking down the structures before law enforcement arrives.

Adams arrives at 8am to see how the people are doing.

A former member of the camp, Adams moved into the backyard of her parents’ house.

She often prepares food for the camp and stores any meat they receive. The children wash every second day at her house, and spend the day there when it is too wet and cold.

“I understand what the people go through because I went through the same thing, but I was fortunate enough to have a place to go back to after the raids started. The people here are like family and I’m only too happy to help where I can,” she says.

Faeza Meyer, one of the camp’s leaders, says the group has become stronger as a result of their adversities.

“Every challenge that comes our way we face together, whether it’s law enforcement taking down our tents or dealing with problems inside the camp.

“We are a real family and our bond will only become stronger.”

They have faith, none more so than Ilhaam Abrahams, who was about to make her way to hospital to feed Imaan.

“I’ve miscarried twice before, but with the faith of Allah, I knew I would give birth to my beautiful baby girl. I have faith that this child will live a blessed life.” – Weekend Argus

kowthar.solomons@inl.co.za

Timeline of the ongoing battle at Tafelsig

* May 15: Thousands of backyard dwellers invade four sites in Tafelsig, earmarked for housing development over the next four years.

* May 16: Violent clashes between the invaders and police follow, after hundreds of shacks are demolished at Swartklip, one of the four sites. Eighteen people are injured and 14 backyarders arrested during the incident.

* May 17: The day before local government elections, and the City of Cape Town wins a Western Cape High Court interdict, allowing them to demolish the illegal structures and prevent the building of any new structures on city land. The city also applies for an eviction order.

Police and residents continue their battle on the Swartklip sports field, with police taking down dozens shacks rebuilt overnight. Police force the invaders off the field only for ANC provincial head Marius Fransman to lead them back moments later. Albert Fritz, then Community Safety MEC, calls for an investigation into Fransman’s actions.

* May 18: Most of the invaders comply with the interdict and the numbers at the four sites start to drop.

* May 20: The city is accredited to build houses by national government and newly elected mayor Patricia de Lille admits housing is still a major problem for the province.

* May 22: Land invaders drop to a few hundred. The city announces its plans to take invaders to court on June 1.

* May 26: More than 500 invaders march through the CBD against eviction order.

* June 1: Hundreds of backyarders from across the city demonstrate outside the High Court in support of the Tafelsig land invaders, as the court hears the application for the eviction order. Both sides agree to postpone the case until July 27 to allow invaders to find legal representation.

* June 5: Nine Swartklip families press charges of assault against city law enforcement. A pregnant woman is rushed to the hospital undergoing contractions after she claims she was assaulted during an inspection.

* Present: Law enforcement continues to patrol the four sites. A group of around 120 remain on the Kapteinsklip site, despite the threat of eviction.

More press reports on the Mitchell’s Plain land occupation

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Solidarity with the Taflesig land occupation has been expressed by Abahlali baseMjondolo (Western Cape), The Anti-Eviction Campaign, Zilleraine Heights, Newfields Village AEC and the Mandela Park Backyarders. For comment from Tafelsig phone Mastura on 0718917564.

There is a picture gallery of the occupation and the police response here.

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=66033

Police withdraw from invaded CT land
Rafiq Wagiet | 18 May

Cape Town police withdrew from the Swartklip Sports Field in Mitchell’s Plain on Wednesday after forcing illegal dwellers off the vacant municipal land.

The city secured a court interdict on Tuesday allowing it to evict the land invaders.

Wednesday’s stand-off was rather short and subdued compared to the violent clashes seen at the weekend when police were met with the barrage of rocks and in turn fired rubber bullets at the illegal occupants.

A representative of the Mitchell’s Plain Backyarders’ Association kept the crowd calm.

The association said it would attempt to secure a meeting with city officials about the illegal occupation.

In the meantime, the city’s anti-land invasion unit dismantled some of the structures and removed them from the land.

(Edited by Lindiwe Mlandu)

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/05/17/residents-to-boycott-elections-over-houses

Residents to boycott elections over houses
17 May 2011 | Moses Mackay

HUNDREDS of people living in back-yards in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, said they would not vote in tomorrow’ elections and accused police of brutality.

The large group occupied a piece of vacant land in Tafelsig on Saturday and built about 2500 shacks, saying they had been on the waiting list for many years.

But police opened fire on them with rubber bullets and sprayed the crowd – which included pregnant women and pensioners – with tear-gas.

“We have been on the waiting list for between 16 and 30 years,” an elderly woman said.

A man sustained serious injury when he was shot in the eye. Resident Ismail Abrahams was also injured and admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital. Twelve other people were arrested.

Yesterday, people were busy re-building their shacks after an incident on Saturday.

Police, accompanied by several ambulances, gathered near the area. Sympathetic residents from Khayelitsha and ZilleRaine Heights, about 20kilometres away, came to give their support.

Back-yard dweller Faizel Lee, whose family and four others were staying in a big tent, said they would not vote in the local government elections tomorrow.

“Both the DA and the ANC have failed to address our housing crisis. We have decided not to vote,” he said.

Lee, a father of three, said the ANC and DA had visited on Saturday and gave them food, which only showed that they were trying to buy their votes.

Terence Hoskins said he was also beaten by police armed with batons and that he had suffered injuries to his body.

Hoskins said they had been told by city officials that though there was land, there was no money to build houses.

Mastera Collop of the NGO Women of Action in Tafelsig, said people were tired of false promises and had decided to build their houses in the area.

“Residents will fight for their rights until the bitter end,” Collop said.

She said that they were not happy about the situation and have threatened to disrupt tomorrow’s elections.

ANC mayoral candidate Tony Ehrenreich was set to visit the area today to persuade the group to vote ANC. The withdrawal of hundreds of voters in Mitchells Plain would be a blow to the DA as this area is one of their strongholds.

City of Cape Town spokesperson Rulleska Singh said 18 people had been injured but defended the police’s shooting of pregnant women.

“Yesterday some of the occupants on the land were using women and children as human shields.

“Law enforcement officers were also attacked with bricks and stones, necessitating the use of a water cannon and rubber bullets” Singh said.

She said the city had plans to build houses on that land and would not allow land invasions.

http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/land-grab-not-political-1.1070082

‘Land grab not political’

May 17 2011 at 12:02pm

NATASHA PRINCE

Staff Reporter

ONE OF the leaders of a group which has illegally occupied city-owned land in Tafelsig insists that the move is “not a political stunt”.

Yesterday marked a second day of violent clashes between members of the Mitchells Plain Backyarders Association and city law enforcement officials after members of the association moved on to the Swartklip Sports Field, which is owned by the city.

The group started erecting structures and tents on the field and on Sunday the city’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit moved in to begin dismantling these.

The land invaders flung rocks and bottles to keep officers at bay, and law enforcement officers and the metro police fired rubber bullets and water

Protesters scramble out of the way of a city law enforcement vehicle, flinging rocks as they go, during a second day of clashes at the Swartklip Sports Field.

There were similar scenes at the field yesterday.

City spokesman Pieter Cronje told the Cape Argus just before 9am today that approximately 80 new structures had been built overnight.

“The police and city staff are on the way to the scene,” he reported.

He said they had heard claims that the actions had been politically motivated – this from various sources, through various channels, as they negotiated a solution to the issue.

But he stressed that the city was not alleging this and that these allegations remained unproven.

Mayor Dan Plato’s spokeswoman, Rulleska Singh, said the mayor had received “allegations of political motivation from members of the community and has requested that it be investigated”.

But Sulaiman Stellenboom, the co-ordinator of the Mitchells Plain People’s Forum, which is supporting the Backyarders Association, said the organisations had been fighting with the city about housing and other issues since March.

“I disagree with (allegations of) it being an election stunt because we have had several meetings and it’s because they can’t face the community. It’s not a political thing,” Stellenboom said yesterday.

“What’s happening is that the sports field is becoming a dumping site, so they might as well give us that land for housing,” he said.

Stellenboom also serves as a member of the Mitchells Plain Community for Social Change, which caters for residents of various disadvantaged communities across the city.

He said they had marched to the local municipality in early March, when a memorandum was handed to the city with their grievances.

Several meetings had then been called with Plato, he said.

The mayor’s office confirmed that a memorandum had been received from the Mitchells Plain People’s Forum, not in their individual capacity, but as part of a larger alliance, and that a response to the memorandum was given.

The city said yesterday that portions of the land in Kapteinsklip and Swartklip which were invaded had been earmarked for formal housing and that the invasion and illegal structures could delay formal housing in the area.

Cronje said the city was considering development options in the Swartklip area that could include housing and sport.

The city also plans to erect formal houses in the Kapteinsklip but, he added, the project would take time as roads, water, electricity and sanitation had to be put in first.

“The city hopes that the occupation can be resolved and that planning for 1 200 housing units there can go ahead and that the essential bulk services can be installed,” he said.

The city said in a statement that if people continued to attempt to occupy the land and erect illegal structures, it would consider approaching the Western Cape High Court for an eviction order to evict them and to break the structures down.

“It will also ask the court to grant an interdict to stop any further structures and unlawful occupation.”

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=65863

Mitchell’s Plain land invaders stand firm
Nathan Adams | Yesterday

Backyard dwellers illegally camping on an open field in Mitchell’s Plain on Monday vowed they would not move.

Organisers of the land invasion were arrested this past weekend following clashes with police.

Hundreds of families have built shacks on council-owned land in Mitchell’s Village claiming they have waited years for a home of their own.

There is little else for the backyard dwellers to do but mill around fires and stay warm.

One man said they are not squatters and they are entitled to land.

“They thought this was going to be a squatter camp that everybody will just come here. I told them it’s people who are on the waiting list. They’ve been waiting for houses for 30 years,” he said.

Lanai Titus said she moved because the promise of her own home is better than her current circumstances.

“I will take them there to go and see where we live. We also live there without electricity and without water,” she said.

The city’s anti-land invasion unit is planning to break down the illegal structures.

(Edited by Lindiwe Mlandu)

http://www.timeslive.co.za/specialreports/elections2011/article1071156.ece/Mitchells-Plain-residents-threaten-boycott

Mitchells Plain residents threaten boycott
May 16, 2011 11:25 PM | By PHILANI NOMBEMBE

Mitchells Plain, home to more than a million people, is considered to hold the swing vote in city.

The residents, who have dubbed themselves the Mitchells Plain Backyarders Association, moved on to portions of land in the Kapteinsklip and Swartklip and built shacks.

Yesterday, Terence Hosking, who claimed to be the spokesman for the group, urged them not to vote. He said group would put up more than 12000 people on the land.

“If they remove us from here no one is going to vote. One month ago [mayor Dan] Plato said the municipality has got land for 3000 houses but has no money to develop them. People have been waiting for houses for 30 years. We are going to put 12900 people from all over Mitchells Plain on this land,” said Hosking.

City authorities and police destroyed hundreds of shacks on Sunday, resulting in a clashes in which 18 people were injured. City officials claimed that the residents used women and children as shields when attacking police with bricks and stones.

Before lunchtime yesterday, smoke from burning tyres filled the sky, while some families and small children sat among pieces of metal sheets and wood on the vacant land, hoping to rebuild their shacks.

“We are explaining to them that it is their land now, 48 hours has passed. They [government] must give us services if they want votes,” said Hosking. Residents had already named the place New Horison.

But city spokesman Pieter Cronje said the land had been earmarked for formal housing and the invasion and “illegal structures” would delay development.

Cape Argus: Bricks, bullets fly in land grab

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http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/bricks-bullets-fly-in-land-grab-1.1069542

Bricks, bullets fly in land grab

There is a picture gallery here.

May 16 2011
By NATASHA PRINCE

An open field in Tafelsig turned into a war zone yesterday as a group of land invaders pelted police and city law enforcers with rocks and bottles.

The officers retaliated by firing rubber bullets and blasting the invaders with a water cannon to bring them under control.

The group, who call themselves the Mitchell’s Plain Backyarders’ Association, moved on to the Swartklip Sports Field on Saturday.

They built makeshift shacks and set up tents on the field, saying it should belong to them.

Yesterday, members of the city’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit tore down 338 structures and 100 tents before they were forced to retreat.

In tit-for-tat moves, the land invaders continued to move in to rebuild their structures, only for them to be torn down again by a phalanx of policemen, flanked by a water cannon and heavily protected metro police officers.

Residents claimed they had been pepper sprayed, and insisted that metro police had used “live ammunition”, a claim the city strenuously denied.

City of Cape Town spokeswoman Kylie Hatton said rubber bullets had been fired several times, but officers had “definitely not” used live ammunition.

She said two law enforcement officers and a metro police officer were injured.

Police said today 14 people had been arrested after yesterday’s clashes.

Yesterday, residents showed the Cape Argus injuries they said were sustained during the day’s skirmishes. Some said they had been hit by bottles and rocks, and others by rubber bullets.

The water cannon blasted the land invaders with coloured water, marking them for later identification.

This morning, some of the invaders, many of whom had slept in tents on the field last night, were slowly rebuilding their structures.

Cooking fires were dotted across the field, and people started their day by brewing coffee in small pans.

Some said they were uncertain of their next move, with others saying they would try to keep the police at bay without using violence.

Hatton said the area was quiet this morning.

This weekend, another group of people also invaded a plot of land in nearby Kapteinsklip, and city law enforcement officers moved in swiftly to dismantle 75 structures, Hatton said. Building materials were removed from that site.

The plot of land in Tafelsig is city-owned.

“Residents have been trying to illegally occupy the land and we as landowners have the right to prevent the illegal occupation,” Hatton said.

As the invasion started this weekend, members of the Mitchell’s Plain Backyarders’ Association cordoned off “plots” on the Tafelsig field using rope and sticks.

They also assigned erf numbers to people, saying these had been given to them by the council.

But Hatton said the numbers were “certainly not sanctioned by council”.

“We found that the people themselves marked off and pegged the numbers to the area,” she said.

Tempers started flaring yesterday as the Anti-Land Invasion teams moved in to pull down structures on the demarcated “plots”.

One man, Nasief Abrahams, swore as he watched his tent pulled down and shouted: “They don’t do anything for us but they want our vote!”

Abrahams said he, his wife and their two children had been living in a friend’s backyard for seven years.

“All we ever wanted was for the government to offer us a piece of land with electricity and water… they have the budget for other projects. Why can’t they invest in a project that will help us get the land?” he said.

He said he had spent all Saturday night in his tent on the field and he would not go to work because he felt he was fighting a just cause.

“I will keep fighting until I get what I want… we’re going to be back here (today) until we’ve got our land,” he said.

Terence Hosking, spokesman for the Mitchell’s Plain Backyarders’ Association, said they would stay on the land “until the day of death”.

He said it was unfair that backyarders in Tafelsig were paying between R500 and R1 500 to live in people’s yards.

“We have been negotiating with them (the city) and now we’ve said enough is enough.” – Cape Argus

natasha.prince@inl.co.za