Category Archives: Nomangesi Mbiza

Cape Argus: Metro Police tear down shacks despite interdict

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Available at http://antieviction.org.za/2009/06/02/media-metro-police-tear-down-shacks-despite-interdict/

June 1 2009

Metro Police officials have torn down shacks of backyard dwellers living on city-owned land in Macassar Village in Strand despite a court interdict ordering them not to do so.

Residents allege that Metro Police officials destroyed their shacks on Saturday morning for the third time, despite being told about the court interdict issued in the Cape High Court on Friday evening.

“We told them about the court interdict and even gave it to them but they refused to even have a look at it,” said resident Thembile Komani.

The court interdict, which is in possession of the Cape Argus, states that the City of Cape Town is not entitled to de-molish, or authorise or instruct any person to demolish the structures of the occupiers of the land on New Road in Macassar Village.But city spokesman Charles Cooper denied that the city had acted illegally and said they had demolished four new structures that were in the process of being erected.

“The interdict relates to existing structures and the city will continue to remove any new structures.

“The city is not contravening anything,” he said.

The residents, who said they have now become “one family”, claimed they had decided to occupy the piece of land because they could not afford to pay rent anymore and some of them had been kicked out by their landlords.

Andiswa Kolanisi, who has been a backyard dweller for five years, said they could not afford to pay rent as they worked only seasonally on nearby farms.

“I was kicked out by my landlady and had nowhere else to go… she said she was going to extend her house and had no space for me,” she said.

“If it is not grape-picking season, we don’t work. (Landlords) are now taking in people who have money to pay rent in their yards,” said Kolanisi.

Three Metro Police cars have been guarding the area since Saturday.

The group was set to apply for another urgent interdict against the City of Cape Town manager this morning.

Cape Argus: Leader held on violence charge

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June 02, 2009 Edition 1

NOMANGESI MBIZA

A community leader has been arrested and charged with public violence after a clash between police and a group of people who have been sleeping on an open field in Macassar Village.

Their informal dwellings were dismantled by the city’s anti-land invasion unit last month.

Mzonke Poni, the chairperson of the Abahlali Basemjondolo activists’ group, was arrested yesterday after aggrieved residents, who say they are tired of sleeping outside in the cold, started burning tyres on a road in Macassar.

Late last month the residents illegally cleared a piece of land alongside the N2 owned by the City of Cape Town and erected structures, vowing not to move from the area.

But those structures were demolished by the city.

A resident, who declined to be named, said the group had started burning tyres yesterday because they were tired of sleeping outside in the cold.

“There are children here who have to wake up in the morning and go to school and the cold is unbearable for them,” said the resident.

She said there were also newborn babies who were staying on the field with their mothers.

“What is happening to us is not fair… when we ask the government to give us houses they don’t and when we build our own homes they destroy them. What are we supposed to do?” she said.

The group’s protest brought police to the field, and Poni was arrested along with a woman who was later released on warning.

Khanyiso Tyani, who is also staying on the field, alleged that the City of Cape was ignoring court interdicts and in the process breaking the law.

“The city is undermining the court interdicts and we want to know why they are doing that,” Tyani said.

City spokesman Charles Cooper said they would continue demolishing illegal structures on city land.

“That piece of land is reserved for houses and we are going to build houses there,” Cooper said.

He said they were not evicting people who had been living on the land for years or many months but were simply removing structures that had had been put on city-owned land.

Cape Argus: Residents attack police during protest

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Residents attack police during protest

April 29 2009 at 12:29PM

By Nomangesi Mbiza and Natasha Prince

Lansdowne Road in Khayelitsha was turned into a war zone for the second consecutive night as residents vented their fury over service delivery problems, forcing police to close the road in the face of stonings and burning of tyres and rubbish.

The protesting residents in Site C charged that they had seen no change in the area in 15 years, with conditions now deteriorating further.

“We have no toilets, no water and no electricity, and we are being forced to connect electricity illegally,” said resident Justice Tshaka.

On Tuesday municipal workers spent much of the day clearing the charred remains of rubbish, tyres and three containers after protests on Monday night, sparked by the arrest of four residents accused of stealing electricity.
Last night protests resumed in both the AT and BT sections of Site C, with the police closing Lansdowne Road and diverting traffic after residents started stoning cars.

Another resident, Nawakhe Kula, said her husband had died in 2008 after he was hit by a car while crossing the road to throw water down a drain opposite them.

“We don’t have drains and toilets. We don’t have anything and speeding cars make the situation worse,” she said.

Kula said the police could “come and shoot us” because they would continue blockading the road “until someone come to address us”.

“We are actually not scared of police any more because we are tired of being isolated and treated like we don’t exist,” she said.

Khayelitsha police spokesperson Constable Mthokozisi Gama confirmed that residents had initially become angry on Monday when they arrived to arrest the four, charged with stealing electricity from one of their neighbours.

The resident who laid the charge claimed she had got an electricity account of about R1 500 for a single month after four neighbours connected their homes to her power source without her consent.

Last night one of the four was released on bail, with the others due to be released today.

o This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Argus on April 29, 2009

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20090429121942662C105014

Cape Argus: Shack Dwellers Vow Not to Vote Again

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http://allafrica.com/stories/200811060577.html

South Africa: Shack Dwellers Vow Not to Vote Again

Cape Argus (Cape Town)

5 November 2008
Posted to the web 6 November 2008

Nomangesi Mbiza
Cape Town

Traffic on Lansdowne Road in Site C, Khayelitsha was still restricted to one lane on Wednesday morning after chaos erupted at an informal settlement on Tuesday after city law enforcement officials tore down illegal cables connected to a legal electricity supply.

“We are waiting for them to put up their container or tent for registration and we are going to destroy them because we are not going to register and we are not interested in voting either,” said Thozamile Boyi.

The angry residents of Island informal settlement blocked Lansdowne Road with stones and burning rubbish for about seven hours on Tuesday to protest against the removal.

They dispersed at 8pm, but on Wednesday morning another resident, Nothobekile Bhoki, said they would continue with their protest action on Wednesday.

It is the second time in the past two months that law enforcement officials have removed cables providing electricity to the impoverished community from a formal neighbouring community.

On Tuesday, irate residents threw stones on to the road, despite police officers trying to control the situation by firing rubber bullets into the crowd.

Three people were injured by rubber bullets. Nevertheless, residents said they would continue to express their anger until their electricity cables had been returned.

“We are not going to sleep tonight until they bring our cables back,” said an angry resident, Nontsapho Nodede.

Residents said they were going to connect the electricity again because it was their only way of survival.

Nodede, who has been living in Island since 1996, said the residents were now tired of empty promises and vowed not to vote in next year’s elections.

“They are going to come here now and start making even more empty promises, but we are going to ignore them because we are no longer interested in what they have to say.”

Boyi added that they were not going to allow any voter registration to take place at the weekend.

He said that when they voted before, they had expected service delivery, including electricity.

“They want us to become criminals now because we use this electricity they keep stripping away to make a living.

The things we sell in our fridge are going to rot and now we are going to start robbing people.”

Bonginkosi Madikizela, communications officer in the mayor’s office, said: “We can’t condone illegal electricity connections and law enforcement was asked by Phambili Nombane (a company responsible for electricity in Khayelitsha) to help disconnect the illegally wired electricity.”

Madikizela said that it was not as easy “as ABC” to install electricity as there were procedures to be followed.

“We will start upgrading and installing substations. There will be two new substations in Khayelitsha,” he said.

Ward Councillor Mpendulo Solizwe said he had been trying to get the municipality to install electricity in the area or to move the people, but all his efforts had been unsuccessful.

“About two months back, I managed to get the mayor to come and have a look in the area but it also didn’t help,” said Solizwe.

He said the residents were also complaining about the rubbish container, saying it brought rats to their homes.

“I have been telling them to come and remove the container and now people have used the rubbish to cause damage,” he said, referring to the burning mess on Lansdowne Road.

Cape Argues: Thambo Square Floods

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http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4627067

NGO steps in to help shack dwellers

September 25 2008 at 12:37PM

By Nomangesi Mbiza

Thambo Square informal settlement residents in Gugulethu, whose shacks were flooded in recent rains, received blankets and food parcels from the International Islamic Relief organisation on Wednesday.

The plight of the residents came to light after they occupied the social services building in Gugulethu on Tuesday, seeking building materials and plastics for their shacks, as well as blankets and temporary accommodation.

The homeless group were offered shelter at a local community hall after their protest.

Zoliswa Fuyani, who has lived in the area for more than 20 years, said ward councillor Belinda Landingwe had not wanted to listen to those who had voted her in.

“When she (the ward councillor) is called to listen to our grievances she tells the people she cannot do anything for them,” Fuyani said.

However Landingwe said the residents of Thambo Square were taken to a temporary area in Delft after the flooding began.

“I don’t know why they came back but some of them told me that when they arrived in Delft their rooms were occupied by other people,” she said.

Landingwe said some of the residents had houses in a nearby area which were provided by the government, but that they had decided to rent them out.

“I am dealing with people who are affected by floods, not people who already have houses. And this is not the only place affected, there are other areas,” Landingwe pointed out.

She said she had conducted an inspection of the affected area and discovered that the water level had dropped, adding that she did not deal specifically with leaking roofs, but assisted only when flooding took place.

But the residents said they were tired of the “soup” that Landingwe kept feeding them, when all they wanted was proper housing.

“We don’t need anything from them as they always respond with soup,” said resident Silindile Mvambo.

Mcebisi Twalo, a representative of the Anti-Eviction Campaign, said they had called the International Islamic Relief and told them there were people who needed help.

“They visited the area last night and decided to offer people food and blankets.

“A local butcher also donated meat,” said Twalo.

o This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Argus on September 25, 2008