Category Archives: Abahlali baseMjondolo Cape Town

15 Protestors Shot With Rubber Bullets in Cape Town

http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/2009/07/re-urgent-update-on-abm-wc-protest.html

Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Re: an urgent update on ABM-WC Protest

5 Protestors Shot With Rubber Bullets in Cape Town

The ABM-WC is calling an end to state criminality of criminalizing it’s members by applying old apartheid tactics of arresting, assaulting, and shooting people with rubber bullets when they exercise their right to freedom of expression and the right to protest.

The movement will not be silenced by the state under the leadership of so called ANC government, and will continue to be vocal using any forms of engagement.

The ANC NWC had issued the following press statement, calling on communities not engaging government on mass base activities and as ABM-WC we are calling on to the ANC-NWC not on employing the old regime tactics through using police force to disperse people and we are saying they must come down and listen at peoples demands and not be reactional as their head of human settlement Tokyo who owns a 56 million house, while the poor are struggling to get the security of tenure to the land that they have occupied for years, still dumped our site the cities and living under appalling conditions with no access to clean water and toilets.

Update no 1:

More than 15 people were shot at by rubber bullets by reactional SAPS and Metropolice Members at yesterdays protest at Khayelitsha and one of them is under critical condition at Grooteschuur Hospital. He is the only bread winner for his family and he is having 5 children, which four of them are still schooling, and he is between the age of 45 and 50.

Currently we are not aware of any arrests that have been made and we’ll be able to update the media regard to arrests during the course of the day and with further injuries.

Currently the Landsdown road from Steve Biko Drive to Bonga drive is still not working and QQ, RR, and BM residents will make sure that today as early as 08:HRS in the morning they continue with their freedom of expression through mass base activities and if Dan Plato and his disaster management team continues with their attitude of undermining the poor, we will also continue with our protest till he comes down to the poor.

PLEASE NOTE: on the 20th July 2009 Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape will be marching to the City of Cape Town in support of Macassar Village land occupation and against city’s illegal demolitions of peoples structures at Macassar Village and in demand of peoples material that were confiscated illegal by so called city’s anti land invasion unit.

for more info please call:

for macassar village please call Theliwe Macekiswana at 083…

For Khayelitsha Protest please call Mbongeni Mkhalipi at 076 981 6945 for QQ and RR
Mthobeli Qona at 076 875 9533 for QQ, RR and BM
Cebo at 073 5657850 for PJS

For ABM-WC march and further information please call Mzonke Poni ABM-WC chairperson at 073 2562 036

ANC NWC MEDIA STATEMENT ON SERVICE DELIVERY PROTESTS

The African National Congress (ANC) National Working Committee (NWC) today (13 July 2009) held its regular meeting at Chief Albert Luthuli House in Johannesburg to deliberate on various challenges facing the organisation.

Noting the various service delivery protests in some parts of the country, the NWC expressed concern at the violent nature of the demonstrations. The burning of buildings and stoning of vehicles have been among the violent tactics employed by the protesters.

We call on our people to stop the violence and engage meaningfully with leaders at all levels to express their concerns.

Issued by:
Brian Sokutu
African National Congress
Chief Albert Luthuli House
54 Sauer Street
Johannesburg 2001

13 July 2009

Enquiries:
Brian Sokutu 071 671 6899

AbM Western Cape: 15 Settlements to March in Support of the Macassar Village Land Occupation

http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/2009/07/re-press-for-immediate-release-abm-wc.html

Tuesday, July 14, 2009
RE: Press for immediate Release (ABM-WC Protest)
Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape will be Marching to the offices of the City of Cape Town on the 20th July 2009 in support of Macassar Village Land Occupation.

Lansdown Road is Currently Barricaded

It will be joined by 15 informal settlement throughout Khayelitsha that are the part of the Movement, all the areas that will participate at the march will submit their own list of demands in a view to make their voice heard by the new Mayor of City of Cape Town.

While the Movement is busy organizing the March 5 communities from Khayelitsha (i.e. QQ section, RR Section, BM Section, PJS Section and NN Section) who will participate at the march have joined forces together and are currently engaging on a protest, as we speak the Lansdown Road from Bonga Drive to Steve Biko drive is barricaded by burning tyres, rubbish and stones.

As the ABM-WC is expecting other communities to engage at mass base activities is also calling to all other struggling communities within the City of Cape Town to come out and make their voice heard through engaging at mass base activities, so that the officials and politicians can see that it is not communities that affiliates to ABM-WC who are struggling but all the communities.

for more info please call

Mtobeli Qona
076 875 9533

Mbongeni Mkhalipi
076 981 6945

Cebo
073 565 7850

for ABM WC contact Mzonke Poni the Chairperson @ 073 256 2036

AbM Cape Town on New Politicians & Creating Communities from Below

Visit http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/ for ongoing updates on the Macassar Village situation.

Abahlali on New Mayor for City of Cape Town and Housing MEC for the Western Cape

Abahlali baseMjondolo of the western cape welcomes the appointment of Madikizela as the new housing MEC of the western cape, while we welcome it but we are also clear as Abahlali that Madikizela will just be the face that represent MEC for housing for the Western Cape and we believe that Zille will be the one that will make and take crucial decisions about housing crisis within the Western Cape and Madikizela is just there to implement those decision.

That is also the same with the City of Cape, Dan Plato who performed very bad while he was the head of service delivery for the city and now become the new mayor for the city is also not given the job by Zille because of competence but because he is one of Zille’s loyalist and he will be please to take orders from his madam and implement them.

Event for Wednesday the 13th May 2007

The newly formed branch of Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape by backyard dwellers at Macassar Village will be having a cleaning campaign of the vacant land that is nearby the area along N2 next to Shell garage (when heading to Somerset West from Khayelitsha with N2).

Three weeks back the backyard dwellers of the area tried to occupy the land and they were intimidated by the police and members of Metro police and their building material was confiscated.

Tomorrow the backyard dwellers will clean the land with a view to show the Local and Provincial government that there is a plenty of land to build houses for the people of Macassar at Macassar.

As the members of Abahlali baseMjondolo we are going to make sure that each an every day we are going to use that land into our own advantage until government decides to build houses for the people of Macassar and we are prepared to make things easier for them by creating a community from below.

Every day at 18:00 more than 100 homeless people gathers at this piece land to discuss issues that affects us such as high rents (which starts from R 350 to R 600 per month, just for putting a shack at the back of the house) that we are paying to the owners of the houses and other issues that affects us.

Tomorrow we’ll gather at 10: 00 am

For comments: please contact Mzonke Poni the Chairperson of ABM Western Cape

Or Theliwe Macekiswana 083 248 1658 or Ronell 073 775 5132

AbM Cape Town to hold first ever grassroots workshop on the City’s Master Plan

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Friday August 8, 2008 – For Immediate Release

Date: 9th August, 2008 (Saturday)
Time: 14h00 – 16h00
Venue: QQ Revolutionary Community Crèche

QQ Section – Tomorrow, the newly formed AbM Western Cape will be holding a workshop for over 10 informal settlements in Khayelitsha on the City’s ‘Comprehensive Plan’ for Informal Settlements.

Speakers at the workshop will include: Mzwandile Sokupa, Director of Informal Settlements for the City of Cape Town, Helen Macgregor from Development Action Group, Professor Martin Legassick, and others.

The aim of the workshop includes the following:

1. To empower communities in terms of understanding the City’s Master Plan.
2. The way the idea of ‘development’ is being structured with regard to this Plan
3. The way the City tries to control the development of informal settlements by using this ‘Master Plan’

The primary intendant outcome of workshops like this one is to empower Abahlali towards a critical understanding of the City’s approach to urban planning. We would like all abahlali in our settlements to be able to engage with government officials and NGOs on these kinds of issues and democratically come up with informed alternatives to current authoritarian approaches.

Abahlali baseMjondolo is a community-based and community-controlled movement and we do not believe in this so-called ‘stakeholder approach’ to development which seeks to make top-down government policies seem democratic. We are committed towards seeking alternatives with regard to these neoliberal-based policies which affect people living in informal settlements. We believe in the principles of participatory democracy where such alternatives only come from below and to the left.

For more information, please contact 073-256-2036