Category Archives: Nompumelelo Magwaza

Mercury: Squatters resist relocation plan

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And Mabukyakhulu promised that no one would be evicted as a result of the Slums Act…

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4873282

Squatters resist relocation plan

March 05, 2009 Edition 1

NOMPUMELELO MAGWAZA

Disgruntled residents of the Palmiet Road informal settlement, near Clare Estate, Durban, have threatened not to vote in the April 22 elections if the eThekwini Municipality moves them to transit camps in Chatsworth.

Yesterday, residents burnt posters and wielded knobkierries in protest.

Nhlanhla Shezi, a spokesman for the group, appealed to the municipality to intervene in the matter. He said they would not move because they would lose their jobs and residents feared they would not be moved into new houses.

“We will leave this area only if we are moved to new houses, or else we will not vote. We do not want to stay in such (slum) conditions but, if we move to the transition camps, we would lose our jobs.”

Ward 23 councillor Jayraj Bachu said the plan to move the people was in line with the Slum Clearance Act, which aims to clear all the slums in KwaZulu-Natal by 2014.

He said Shezi’s group had been offered housing in Verulam, but they had refused the offer and the houses had been given to others.

Bachu said the conditions in the Palmiet Road settlement were “horrible”. “There is no sanitation, water and other basic services. The transition camp is better than the current settlement they are staying in.”

The residents yesterday turned away municipal trucks that had arrived to move their furniture to the Chatsworth transit camp.

Mercury: No homes, no vote threat

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http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4935269

No homes, no vote threat

April 15, 2009 Edition 2

Nompumelelo Magwaza & Samantha Blair

More than 300 residents of Siyanda, near Newlands in Durban, marched through KwaMashu yesterday, threatening not to vote in the elections unless the government did away with transit camps.

The camps comprise temporary shelters for people waiting to be placed in proper housing.

Siyanda shack dwellers’ spokesman, Bongani Ngwenya, also called on the government to provide them with houses in nearby areas.

A memorandum of their demands was handed over to provincial Housing Department officials.

Ngwenya said many people had lived in transit camps for more than five years, waiting for houses.

“We are asking the government to give us houses with proper electricity and sanitation. We also ask not to be moved away from the urban areas because we will lose our jobs.”

He said shack dwellers would not vote in the April 22 elections because it would be a “disgrace” to do so while they lived in transit camps.

eThekwini housing committee chairman Nigel Gumede called on the protesters to speak to the city.

“We have explained about transit camps to the Siyanda residents. They were told to wait while houses were being built,” he said.

Mercury: Project halted by protests

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http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4845970

Project halted by protests

February 17, 2009 Edition 1

NOMPUMELELO MAGWAZA

Construction work on houses in the Siyanda informal settlement in Newlands East was stopped yesterday after angry residents demanded that they be given jobs by the construction company spearheading the project.

Last year, the Khulula housing project was stopped for two days after residents staged a similar protest.

A spokeman for the residents, Thembi Zungu, said they had protested outside the offices of Namandla Civic Construction.

“We, as locals, want to be employed by the construction company . . . we have people who can do some of the work the company requires,” she said. However, the construction agent on site said they only had a limited number of available jobs.

The head of housing at eThekwini Municipality, Cogie Pather, said the municipality was aware of the shutdown.

Pather said every construction company employed some of the people in the area in which they were working, but could not hire everyone.

Mercury: Residents battle after fire guts 80 shacks

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http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4508828

Residents battle after fire guts 80 shacks

July 16, 2008 Edition 1

GUGU MBONAMBI & NOMPUMELELO MAGWAZA

RESIDENTS of the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Clare Estate, Durban, are still waiting for building material to be delivered so they can rebuild their lives after a fire gutted 80 shacks on Monday morning.

Officials who visited the area yesterday sparked an angry reaction from the displaced people, who had expected building material to be delivered after about 200 people were left destitute.

Thembuyise Mbanjwa said: “We are scattered everywhere and the municipality promised to provide us with building material, but they have failed to deliver. We are now forced to gather the pieces of our burnt shacks in order to have a roof over our heads.”

Vumile Nzimande said that a tent provided by disaster management officials had been placed on a wet area, making it impossible for them to occupy it during the cold night. They had had to find alternative accommodation with friends and family. Those who had nowhere to go spent the night in a community hall.

A list of residents affected by the fire had been compiled by Thokozani Mthwana of Abahlali Basemjondolo (the shack dwellers’ organisation).

“About 90 children have registered. Their names will be given to the Red Cross for assistance,” he said.

Mthwana said most of the affected children could not attend school as their uniforms and books had been destroyed.

Vanesh Gokal, principal of Burnwood Secondary School, said the fire had affected school attendance.

“We are appealing to parents, teachers and the government to donate everything they have to the school so that we can assist our pupils,” he said.

While at the scene The Mercury watched children helping their parents rebuild their shacks with remnants from the fire.

The eThekwini Municipality has called for a meeting to discuss how the displaced people will be assisted.