Category Archives: Rumana Akoob

Cato Crest: ‘We will stay…we have nowhere else to go’

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2014-06-26-cato-crest-we-will-staywe-have-nowhere-else-to-go/

‘We will stay…we have nowhere else to go’

On Sunday the eThekweni Municipality destroyed dozens of homes in Cato Crest, which it said had been built illegally on land earmarked for housing. RUMANA AKOOB, for Daily Vox, was there.

Durban’s shack dwellers live in constant fear. Evictions have become a common phenomenon in Durban and around the country.  On Sunday morning the eThekweni Municipality destroyed 48 informal dwellings in the Cato Crest settlement.

According to the 101 ward councillor, Nzimuni Ngiba, the municipality broke down these homes because their inhabitants were illegally occupying land that would be used for housing.

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Daily Maverick: On the outskirts of Durban, life among the eviction debris

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2014-05-01-south-africa-votes-on-the-outskirts-of-durban-life-among-the-eviction-debris/

The eThekwini municipality says it is determined to continue demolishing what it terms “illegal” settlements in and around Durban. But what about the people for whom these settlements are home? By Rumana Akoob for SOUTH AFRICA VOTES 2014.

Sixty-three-year-old Trevor Momepele has been on the streets since 1994. He says he hasn’t voted in his life and doesn’t see the need to. “Life has just started going down prior 1994, then I found myself sleeping on benches. I honestly thought there would be hope when the ANC came into power but I’m here, 20 years on, and I’m still on the street,” Momepele says.

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