Category Archives: Witness

Witness: “We remove about a ton of illegal wires a week”

The constant removal of self-organised electricity connections, which are immediately replaced, reduces people’s ability to make these connections safely. Elites need to be educated on the dangers of not providing electricity to all, which include regular deaths in shack fires, and the futility of using armed force to prevent people from connecting themselves.

http://www.mywitness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=75644

Illegal connection kills man

Siyethemba Gcumisa

A MAN was electrocuted and died early yesterday morning while making an illegal electrical connection in Northdale.

Sibusiso Ndlovu (23) appears to have slipped on wet grass while carrying a live wire from a central distributor unit at the end of Darjeeling Drive, said Msunduzi electricity inspector Mervyn Patrick.

“He was going to attach it to a long piece of bare wire that came from an informal settlement and crossed the Greytown road,” said Patrick.

Ndlovu’s companion fled the scene.

Patrick said residents of nearby houses heard a scream outside.

Later, in Park View informal settlement in Raisethorpe, Ndlovu’s brother, Siyabonga Chonco, heard a voice outside the home that he shared with Ndlovu, shouting: “Go check your brother, he’s dead in the bushes at Darjeeling Drive”.

He went there and found Ndlovu’s body, with his chest and face burnt.

“I was hurt to see him lying there,” Chonco said.

“I knew him as a good boy and not troublesome and he loved his friends.”

Chonco (30), said he last saw him alive on Tuesday evening after watching Generations.

“After the soapie he went out and I went to sleep,” Chonco said.

Electricity inspector Mervyn Patrick said making illegal electricity connections was a regular activity in informal settlements.

On Tuesday, he had been to two other attempts.

“We remove about a ton of illegal wires a week,” he added.

DA councillor Mergan Chetty, who alerted the officials about the incident, said people needed to be educated about the dangers of electricity theft.

“Electricity theft not only poses a danger to the perpetrator, but to the residents as well.”

Chetty added that people use overgrown areas to connect power between the suburbs and Copesville.

Overgrown grass needed to be cut because that was where “izinyoka” hid the cables.

“Illegal connection is dangerous and costs lives,” Chetty added.

The police have opened an inquest docket.

No Room for the Poor in our Cities?

The article by Ndivhuwo wa ha mbaya from the KZN Housing Department, to which this is a response, is here and there is a pdf of the published version of this article here.

No Room for the Poor in our Cities?

by Bishop Rubin Phillip

Since the KwaZulu-Natal Slums Act was first mooted there has been tremendous concern about a piece of legislation that has been widely condemned as a return to apartheid legislation. This concern has been expressed by a large number of organisations and individuals beginning with the shack dweller’s movement Abahlali baseMjondolo and then including the churches and the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing at the United Nations.

As Christians we believe that every person is created in the image of God and is loved by God. Our social policies and practices must strive to reflect that. No group of people are expendable or unworthy of care and consideration. We therefore take the view that it is essential that our cities be organised on the basis of care and support for the most vulnerable. Any approach to social problems that seeks to create the impression of progress by simply sweeping the oppressed out of the cities must be vigorously opposed. If this happens it will be our duty as church leaders to, once again, stand before the bulldozers.

We are therefore very disturbed by the article from the Department of Housing’s head of media services that appeared in the Witness recently[1]. The article is written in praise of the KwaZulu-Natal ‘Slums Act'[2] and to celebrate the initial dismissal of a court challenge to the constitutionality of the Slums Act that was brought by Abahlali baseMjondolo. Abahlali have decided to take their challenge to the Constitutional Court itself, and we await the outcome of that process with considerable interest. In our view, Abahlali are clearly correct to challenge this odious piece of legislation. And, since the judgement against Abahlali is going to be reviewed, it seems inappropriate to say the least, for the Department to crow – let alone to ridicule and undermine the seriousness and integrity of its critics, and the justice of their cause.

Our first serious briefing on this matter took the form of a report from an Abahlali task team on what was then just a Bill. All the members of that task team were shack-dwellers. They had studied the document with scrupulous care and had an obvious concern to understand properly the real meaning of the proposed legislation. Their report-back was very well balanced, taking time to highlight the positive statements and intentions in the Bill before pointing out the problems they foresaw with it. And when independent experts looked at it– lawyers, academics, housing specialists and human rights activists – they all confirmed that Abahlali were correct and that there are serious reasons to be highly alarmed by this legislation.

By contrast, the Housing Department’s language displays a worrying arrogance, and indeed a contemptuous attitude to poor people and to shackdwellers. When elites talk about the poor they all too often reveal an underlying assumption that the poor are essentially stupid and invariably criminal. What else explains the Department’s opening comment that Abahlali’s court challenge was done “probably without proper analysis of the act”? What else explains the Department’s casual connection of the communities where shack-dwellers live with “havens for criminals”? As Christians we strive to always remember that Jesus Christ was a poor man, and affirm that whatever we do unto the least in our society we effectively do unto Jesus himself.

However we live in a society where open contempt for the poor is rank. We live in a society where irresponsible spending on vanity projects, like stadia, often trumps the basic needs of ordinary people. Given how deeply ingrained these attitudes are it’s hardly surprising that what the Department (repeatedly) describes as its “consultative” approach, was in fact experienced by poor people as contemptuous and intimidatory. Until the rich and the powerful learn to be able to talk to the poor with respect it is surely inevitable that government policies and practices will be experienced as (and revealed to be) premised on a fundamental rejection of the poor. As religious leadership we must urge a completely different approach based on a completely new set of values. For Christians, we cannot avoid the clarity of Christ’s singular message: to bring “life in all its fullness”. This message simply cannot be reconciled with an approach to development that ultimately means bulldozers and prison for the poor.

There is no doubt that we collectively face a massive challenge to make sure that everyone has decent housing. There is no doubt that the government has done well to build many houses over the years. But treating shack settlements as an abomination to be moved out-of-sight, and treating shack-dwellers and the poor as stupid and criminal, is wrong in principle and counter-productive in practice. The creativity, intelligence, and struggles of the poor are the greatest resource for overcoming the challenges put before us all. Indeed we need to recognise that shack settlements, imperfect as they are, have been an effective means of providing housing for the urban poor. Working with people in a respectful way should be the basis for a proper partnership that begins to change our cities to more just, equal and shared spaces where shalom reigns.

And finally, if as the Department claims, “government at all levels understands the challenges of homeless people”, then why are they proposing to destroy people’s existing housing to address homelessness? Surely shackdwellers are correct to point out the need for better housing than the appalling conditions people are sometimes forced to endure in the shack settlements – but they are not homeless – not yet. God has promised us that there are many mansions in the Kingdom of heaven. It is our task to ensure that here on earth our cities are open and welcoming to all and that no one should fear that their fragile home will be bulldozed and that they will be banished to a transit camp far outside of the city where they work and their children attend school.

Bishop Rubin Phillip

Bishop of Natal

Anglican Church of Southern Africa

and

Chairperson

KwaZulu Natal Christian Council

[1] “Working towards a slum-free SA”, Ndivhuwo wa ha mbaya , 24 Feb 2009, at: http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=19991

[2] the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act 2007

Witness article on Ash Road settlement

Millions pumped into Jika Joe re-settlement programme
07 May 2008
Sandile Waka-Zamisa

Jika Joe shack dwellers who were displaced by floods early this year
will be housed in a temporary establishment while construction of
permanent accommodation is under way.

A budget of R4,3 million has been allocated for the emergency settlement
programme. More than 200 people who are currently staying in tents
provided by the Msunduzi disaster management will be accommodated near
Masukwana (East) Street.

The emergency settlement programme comes after hundreds of people were
displaced in floods in January and February.

Msunduzi Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo, the deputy mayor and chairman of the
infrastructure, services and facilities committee, Mervin Dirks, Ward 33
councillor Peter Green, and Jika Joe community leader Bongani Mkhize
attended the sod turning event yesterday.

It has been proposed that the temporary units should be three- or
four-storey buildings. Green said the plan is to permanently clear the
informal settlement and relocate its people.

“There are two phases in this project. The first is clearing of the
floodplain and the second phase is to build the sustainable human
settlement (SHS) in line with the informal settlement clearance.”

A social survey is under way to determine how many people live in the
informal settlement as well as their family composition, so it can be
determined how many units to build in the second phase.

John Gutridge of disaster management said the temporary accommodation
will later be developed into permanent accommodation. He said all shack
dwellers will be removed to the SHS. Gutridge said a few places have
been earmarked for building of permanent accommodation.

Some of these areas include open land near Ash Road and Paton Street.
The construction of SHS is expected to be complete two years following
the completion of the temporary settlement.

Mkhize said the community acknowledges the efforts of the municipality.

“We are grateful that we will finally have formal accommodation. These
are the fruits of our struggle to be recognised as permanent residents
in the city. We have refused to be removed to France and elsewhere far
away from the city because we belong here.”

The existing shacks will be demolished when people are being moved to
new accommodation. Dirks said the area will be monitored to prevent
people coming back.

“We will also make sure that we do away with the illegal landlords. The
emergency settlements are a free accommodation, no renting will be
allowed,” said Dirks.

sandilez@witness.co.za

Witness: Shack dwellers to oppose ‘slum’ bill

(Mnikelo is from Foreman Road, not Kennedy Road and S’bu and the meeting in general stressed the need for mass mobilization and legal strategies and discussed, carefully, how to ensure that the later don’t weaken the former)

Shack dwellers to oppose ‘slum’ bill
•Mon, 16 Jul 2007

By Thabisile Gumede

THE Abahlali baseMjondolo (shack dwellers’’) Movement, an organisation of shack dwellers with members in more than 40 informal settlements in the province, has vowed to oppose the KZN Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Bill, 2006 by all means necessary.

This was revealed at a meeting to discuss legal and political strategies to oppose the slums bill on Friday at the Kennedy Road settlement community hall.

The meeting set up a “slums bill elimination task team” that will educate shack dwellers about the bill. Chairman Sibusiso Zikode said the task team will ensure even the most uneducated shack dweller is familiar with the contents of the bill.

“Abahlali has realised we can’t tackle this bill by thousands of people marching to the streets. We need a technical approach — lawyers and a coalition of experts and NGOs that will assist us in reading through the
documentation in preparation for a legal battle to forge a way forward,” Zikode said.

Representatives from the movement will meet with a team of advocates this week.

The bill makes it illegal to occupy a building or land without permission from the owner.

The bill will give municipalities the authority to formulate slum clearance plans. Municipalities will be able to take land from landowners to set up transit areas and also to evict people in the public interest. Any person who attempts to stop an eviction can be fined up to R20 000 or face five years’ imprisonment.

Abahlali expressed concern the bill will not oblige government to provide existing settlements with basic services while they wait to be relocated or upgraded, or prevent government from evicting citizens without a court order.

“We want government to follow the existing laws and policies that protect against evictions, like the ‘breaking new ground’ policy, that aims to upgrade settlements where people are already living instead of relocating them far from work and schools,” said Mnikelo Ndabankulu of the Kennedy Road settlement.

‘Little consultation’

“The government is very good at doing things in the name of the poor but there is little consultation with the people they claim to assist,” Zikode said.

The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions , which works closely with the Abahlali movement, has written to Premier S’bu Nebele, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and KZN MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu, expressing concern about the KZN legislature’s approval of the bill, which it says may be
in conflict with other laws.

“This is in our view a totally inappropriate piece of legislation that represents a giant step backwards in national efforts to improve slum dwellers’ lives and which should be urgently reconsidered,” the letter
said.

When the bill was announced, Housing Department spokesman Lennox Mabaso said it would assist municipalities to act against land invaders.

Published: 16 July 2007

Witness: Housing policy ‘anti-poor’

Housing policy ‘anti-poor’
•Tue, 19 Jun 2007

By Thabisile Gumede

MSUNDUZI’S low-income housing policy has been criticised by housing rights organisations for being regressive and anti-poor.

A document sent to city officials and residents by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Cals) and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) states that the general lack of affordable housing in the city has led to an increase in the number of informal settlements.

The two organisations embarked on a joint investigation of possible housing rights’ violations after the 2005 Willow Gardens estate evictions.

Initial research found rentals for state-owned and council-owned housing are being increased at a rate of 15% per annum.

The municipality said the percentage will be revised when “break-even” market rentals are reached.

The report gives the municipality suggestions on how they can go about addressing inadequate housing provision.

The organisations recommend the municipality recommit itself to providing affordable social housing and negotiate an amicable resolution with low-income residents. Planning the phased in situ upgrading of informal settlements instead of disruptive and costly relocations was also emphasised.

Democratic Alliance (DA) caucus leader Bill Lambert said he is particularly concerned by the housing problems of the poorest residents and the apparent shortcomings of the municipality’s response to these housing needs.

“The DA has never supported the imposition of market-related rentals on council’s existing low-income tenants,” Lambert said.

Msunduzi Municipality spokesman Skhumbuzo Mpanza said he was not aware of the report from Cals and COHRE, but that the municipality is in the process of addressing housing issues.

Published: 19 June 2007