http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5517586
Marchers protest against World Cup
June 17, 2010 Edition 1
Kamcilla Pillay
THE sound of vuvuzelas cut through the air in Durban yesterday – but for one large group there was little to celebrate.
Amid cries of phansi ngama-fat cats, phansi (down with fat cats, down), and a sea of banners proclaiming the government cared only for the rich, civil rights organisations took to the streets protesting against poor service delivery and the World Cup.
Abahlali Base Mjondolo, KwaZulu-Natal Subsistence Fisher’s Forum, Clairwood Social Forum and about 17 other organisations gathered for what they dubbed an “anti-Thiefa” protest march which started at Dinizulu Park and ended at City Hall yesterday.
“The R40 billion the government has spent on the World Cup could have comfortably housed three million homeless South Africans,” said Alice Thomson of the Durban Social Forum.
“Soccer will not make a better life for all – it will only make the rich richer and the poor poorer,” Thomson said.
This week, Thomson was arrested for distributing anti-Fifa pamphlets at the Fifa Fan Fest in Durban.
Bongani Mthembu, of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, said that the decision to hold the protest on Youth Day was deliberate.
“Youth Day is an opportunity for us as the youth to air our grievances and raise our concerns. We can show the foreigners here the truth about what’s happening behind the World Cup,” he said.
Chairman of KZN Subsistence Fisher’s Forum Essop Mohamed said: “Some people were ‘tired of falling by the wayside’. We are marching against oppression.
Fish
“They let Fifa come here and do what they want, but they won’t let us fish,” he said, referring to a city ruling to bar fishing in certain areas along the beachfront.
Said Shamitha Naidoo, community chairwoman in Pinetown of Abahlali Base Mjondolo: “We need to show them (tourists) what’s happening. How will these poor people benefit from the World Cup?”
Protester Kirubavathi Pillay, 68, was also angry at what she said was the inability of the eThekwini Municipality to deliver adequate services.
“No one worries about us. We can’t manage without some help from the government,” Pillay said.
“They are not fighting for us. We must fight for us,” added Jaysh Ramphul, another marcher.
Deputy Mayor, Logie Naidoo, said people were not seeing the “bigger picture” and were “a bit narrow-minded”.
Naidoo charged. “In terms of infrastructure and upgrades, the World Cup has made a positive difference. We knew what we were getting ourselves into. What difference does it make to protest now?” he asked.
“Anyhow you cannot put a value on the free marketing the city is benefiting from. The world’s spotlight is on us now” Naidoo added.
kamcilla.pillay@inl.co.za