Daily News: ‘No rubbish collection since election’

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/no-rubbish-collection-since-election-1.1724504

By Mphathi Nxumalo

Durban – Nothando Ngema fears for the health of her unborn child.

The 20-year-old, who is five months pregnant, lives next to piles of uncollected refuse and is greeted by its powerful stench in the morning. When she goes to sleep at night it’s the last thing she smells.

Ngema is one of many residents in Durban’s Cato Crest informal settlement who believe their children are at risk from the rubbish festering outside their homes.

This week the residents threatened to barricade the N3 with burning tyres unless the municipality cleared the rubbish.

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Settlement Agreement in the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA)

Settlement Agreement in the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA)

Bandile Mdlalose was expelled from our movement on the 6th of April. This followed the lodging of a set of formal complaints against her from members of our movement. Following the lodging of these complaints, which were serious, a disciplinary process was followed. This process was carefully documented, conformed to the movement’s rules and was transparent and fair.

Following her dismissal Bandile lodged an action against our movement with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) claiming that she had been unfairly dismissed. We were surprised that she took this action as she was expelled from a political organisation after being found to have violated a number of its rules and not dismissed from a job. We never considered her to be an employee and therefore did not understand why she was taking us to the CCMA. Continue reading →

The Politic of Freedom without Land

17 July 2014

The Politic of Freedom without Land

An address to the 10th Biennial Consultation on Urban Ministry, 15-17 July 2014, Pretoria, on the theme "Un-Shack-led: Faith and the City 20 Years Later"

By S’bu Zikode

I am honoured and humbled to be invited to be here, and to speak at this church. On behalf of Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA, the movement that has entrusted me with this responsibility to participate in your meeting, I wish to express our gratitude for this invitation.

The churches have rallied to our struggle in difficult times – after shack fires, after arrests, after beatings, after evictions and after shootings. We know about the role that churches have played in Brazil and in Haiti. We believe that the churches can play the same role here in South Africa if they take a clear decision, as some church leaders bravely have already, to be with the people, to clearly take the side of the people, instead of being another stakeholder in another government or civil society meeting. Bishop Rubin Philip has stood strong in the politic of the poor.

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The Daily Maverick: Evictions: South Africa’s bitter, year-round trauma

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2014-07-15-evictions-south-africas-bitter-year-round-trauma

Evictions: South Africa’s bitter, year-round trauma

Stuart Wilson

Every year, when the temperature dips toward zero, there is a stream of stories in the national media about evictions. The stories emphasise the brutality of evictions – and what Colin Bundy, many years ago, described as the “trauma, frustration, grief, dull dragging apathy and surrender of the will to live” that follow them. And the winter weather helps us imagine the depth of that trauma, and the experience of sleeping on the streets in the frigid night air. But the reality is that evictions and their associated traumas are a year-round feature of South African society.

It isn’t supposed to be this way. Our “never again” Constitution, as the Chief Justice has called it, requires that evictions take place only with the permission of the court – and only where the court has decided that it would be fair, just and equitable to do so, all things considered. An eviction is only fair, in the eyes of our courts, if an evicted person has somewhere else to go – some shelter either provided through their own efforts, or through state support.

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The Times: Forced removals: 2014-style

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2014/07/15/forced-removals-2014-style

Forced removals: 2014-style

Leonie Wagner

The eThekwini Municipality's apparent flagrant disregard for the law has resulted in it building RDP homes in people's back yards.

The eThekwini Municipality’s apparent flagrant disregard for the law has left families in the absurd situation of watching RDP homes being built in their back-yards before being occupied by strangers.

Last month, in anticipation of a new road being built, the municipality began demolishing homes and building RDP houses in Inanda’s eTafuleni township, north of Durban: some for the over 300 residents, others for people outside from the community.

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Our Struggle to be counted as Part of the Public Continues

Tuesday, 15 July 2014

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Our Struggle to be counted as Part of the Public Continues

On the 5 of September 2013 Sibongile Msiya, Nokulunga Magobongo and Bhekani Mzinhle were arrested in Cato Crest. Their homes in the Marikana Land Occupation had just been illegally destroyed by the eThekwini Municipality. The residents responded by organising a road blockade. When the first police officers arrived on the scene the three comrades showed them a court order interdicting the Municipality from carrying out evictions. When the Superintendent, Mganga, arrived the three comrades were arrested on the spot. They were all charged with ‘public violence’. Their real ‘crime’ in the eyes of Mganga was that they were standing up for their rights and showing the police that the Municipality’s actions were illegal and criminal acts against the public.

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The Local ANC Disrupted an Abahlali meeting in Madlala Village Yesterday

Monday 7 July 2014

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

 

The Local ANC Disrupted an Abahlali meeting in Madlala Village Yesterday

Madlala Village is situated in the South of Durban near Lamontville Township.  The settlement was founded by Siza Madlala in 2012. This community was a home to about 389 residents before they were evicted more than twenty five times. The settlement is now home to about 25 families.

Abahlali in Madlala Village, mostly women, had scheduled a meeting with the leadership of Abahlali in order to present ubuhlalism to the community. This is part of the process for a community to join the movement. This was intended to be the second meeting Abahlali meeting in the community since February this year when we joined the community as friends of the court in the Constitutional Court for the case known as Zulu and 389 other vs MEC for Human Settlement and Public Works and another. The first meeting went very well but at the end of the meeting there came a young man who claimed to own the settlement and warned us that in future we will have to get a permit from local ANC structures and the local councillor or the Abahlali cars will be burnt. It was clear that the local community was very angry and did not approve his threats. They told us not to worry. We are used to these kinds of threats, as well as anonymous threats by telephone, and we did not worry.

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