Category Archives: Roderick Macleod

ENCA: City shows zero tolerance for ‘Marikana’ settlement

Please follow the link below to watch a video of this TV news report.

http://www.enca.com/south-africa/city-shows-zero-tolerance-marikana-settlement

Finding a place to live in overcrowded informal settlements can become a daily struggle for the Cape Town’s poorest

Some have opted to start their own settlement on privately owned land. One such settlement is known as the Marikana. 

Philippi resident and member of the shack dwellers organisation, Abahlali baseMjondolo, Tumi Ramahlele, said: “For many years the land has been vacant, neglected, no-one has barricaded, no security, so we thought to ourselves in terms of minimising crime in our community let us occupy the land, because lots of us are unemployed and when you are unemployed you are facing eviction.” 

In April 2013, backyarders began erecting structures on the land along Symphony Way in Philippi East township.

After their shacks were continually demolished they resorted to living in tents on the land.

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ENCA: Shack dwellers ready to die for ‘Marikana’ land in Cape Town (Television News Report)

For an explanation of why the evictions shown in this television news reports were illegal please see this article at the Daily Maverick.

“This is Marikana because we believe people will die here for this land,” says shack dweller Simphiwe Winston, before hurriedly returning to build his home for the third time in just three days.

The race is on for Winston, who, along with about 100 other people, including women and children, are hurriedly trying to rebuild their shacks before law enforcement officers return to once again destroy them.

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