Category Archives: Sweet Home

Launch of the Sweet Home Farm Abahlali baseMjondolo Branch

28 February 2013
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Launch of the Sweet Home Farm Abahlali baseMjondolo Branch

The Sweet Home Farm community will be launching its branch under the banner of Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement South Africa, this coming weekend on the 2013-03-02 @ 11:00 in their Local Community Hall next to St. Barnabas Anglican Church. One should remember that, this is a membership based organization struggling for the restoration of human dignity of the majority of poor South Africans. Sweet Home Farm is situated in ward (80) eighty, Philippi in Cape Town, a place where people live in shacks .

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Newspaper articles on the 1 October protest in Cape Town

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Click here to see some pictures from this protest.

http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/klapmuts-protesters-block-road-1.1394377#.UGr94ZhFyFd

Klapmuts protesters block road

Jason Felix

Klapmuts residents vented their frustration against poor services and houses in a protest that started at 5am, barricading roads.

They marched on the Klapmuts Main Road, burned tyres tree stumps and road signs, chanted and sang Struggle songs. They protested about a poor sanitation, roads and formal housing.

Protesters blocked the road with dirt, rocks and broken concrete water pipes. Some 50 residents protested on Main Road, while a group of about 400 sat on a field next to it.

Negotiations between police and community leaders failed after local ward councillor Sophia Louw did not arrive to address the protesting residents.

Police warned protesters to disperse but they ignored the this.

After an hour, at 6am, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowd. Protesters ran between shacks and houses.

Motorists passing the area were turned away by protesters who threatened to stone cars if they passed.

The situation calmed down, but at 1pm two police Nyalas drove into the area and all the residents re-grouped and took to the streets again.

Police again fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowd. Residents jumped over a wall of a sports field to get away from them.

Community leader Malibongwe Gebha said some residents had been on a housing waiting list for 20 years, and were promised formal housing in August last year.

“The municipality told us that houses will be built once the land was bought from its owner. The land was bought this year and we thought we are going to move in, only to be told that residents from [nearby] Koelenhof will have to move in [instead],” Malibongwe said.

“We want our houses and we will not stop at anything. Until our demands have been met we will protest,” he said.

Anneline Damonse, 44, who is unemployed, said the municipality had promised her a house since she had moved to the area in 1989.

“Since I started living in a shack, we were promised houses. We looked forward to having decent toilets, a nice home and running water. This was all just empty promises made,” she said.

Meanwhile, in the city centre, more than 400 residents of Samora Machel and Sweet Homes Farm in Philippi marched from Keizergracht Road to the offices of the MEC for Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, to hand over a memorandum of demands yesterday.

Madikizela’s spokesperson, Bruce Oom, said the memorandum was received by the department and would be checked.

Shack dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo organised the march and mobilised residents from the areas “because the government has sidelined the poor”, said its provincial chairperson Mthobela Qona.

“We will fight for poor people living in unacceptable conditions. Residents of the area live without toilets and they have been promised formal houses for years now.”

In August nearly 500 residents from the settlements closed several roads, demanding sanitation, housing and electricity.

The city is unable to provide services because the land is privately owned.

Sweet Home Farm community leader Siyambuleka James said they would protest until their demands were met.

http://ewn.co.za/2012/10/01/Housing-MEC-receives-memorandum

Housing MEC receives memorandum

Rahima Essop

CAPE TOWN – Western Cape Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela on Monday received a memorandum of demands from protesting shack dwellers.

Dozens of residents from three informal settlements marched on the provincial legislature earlier in the day.

Sweet Home Farm community leader, Siyamboleka James, said residents want basic services and homes.

“They need to engage the community and communicate openly.”

The MEC’s spokesperson Bruce Oom said, “The issues are related to housing. We will definitely look at them. However, the reality is that the Western Cape can only deliver about 12,000 houses per year.”

The province has a housing backlog dating back to 24 years.

The province has recorded the highest number of service delivery protests in 2012.

Open Letter to Mayor Patricia de Lille regarding her failure to receive our memoranda and treat us with dignity

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Open Letter to Mayor Patricia de Lille regarding her failure to receive our memoranda and treat us with dignity

Dear Mayor Patricia de Lille,

Re: failure to receive our memoranda and treat us with dignity

As shackdwellers from Sweet Home, Samora Machel and Langa TRA, we would like to express our shock and extreme displeasure at the way you have treated us by refusing to accept our memoranda during our march on the 1st of October 2012.

Almost 500 of us decided to march on the Mayor, the Premier and the offices of the Housing Development Agency to show how we are being ignored by the government when they fail to engage with our legitimate grievances. Despite this, you as the Mayor continues to ignore us, disrespect us, and undermine us.

When we organised the march, city officials called on us to meet with them at the Civic Centre as required by legistlation. These officials agreed to help facilitate our march from Salt River Train Station to the Civic Centre, the Provincial Parliament and HDA. However, at the last minute, without even consulting with us, our march was re-routed forcing us to begin at Keisergraght and to not go to the Civic Centre. We assume this was a political move by the City to prevent us from coming to your office.

Officials did assure us, however, that the City would still meet us at the provincial parliament to receive our memorandum.

This unilateral re-routing of the march is a violation of the 1993 Gatherings Act and shows how our Constitutional right to march and gather when we want and where we want is being assaulted from – Marikana to Durban to Cape Town. We feel shamelessly undermined by the City of Cape Town which had no good reason to prevent our march from Salt River Station.

Expectations not fulfilled

The purpose of our march as poor shackdwellers not aligned to any political party was to meet the Premier and the Mayor who are responsible for ensuring that government talks to us and works with us. Yet, neither the Premier nor yourself in the capacity as the Executive Mayor of our City feel that we are important enough to accept our memoranda in person.

Furthermore, Mayor Patricia de Lille, you have shown us the most disrespect because you did not even bother to send over a representative from your office to accept the memoranda in your place. We have proof that you have been informed that we requested you to receive our memoranda on the 1st of October and you have even replied acknowledging receipt of our request (see the attached email correspondence).

Instead you kept us waiting outside the Provincial Housing Department and we eventually, reluctantly, agreed to request that MEC Madikizela forward our memoranda to your office.

This type of behaviour is shocking to us! Do you think so little of us poor shackdwellers that you don’t even recognise us as human beings?

We don’t know if you and your fellow government officials will even respond to us or address our demands which we have attached for you. You will probably just throw it in the dustbin with the memoranda from all the other protesting communities in the City of Cape Town. You’re officials will probably continue to ignore our emails and phone calls when you fail to provide us with the services promised to us.

Just in case you do bother to read it, we have attached our memoranda. If you fail to respond and to meet with us within 14 days, we will be returning to your office.

Signed,
Lulama Magadla (084 433 8461, elulama6@gmail.com)

On behalf of:
Sweet Home shack settlement
Samora Machel informal settlements forum
Abahlali baseMjondolo baseLanga TRA