Category Archives: South African Unemployed Peoples’ Movement

Isolezwe: Bazitapele ezitolo bekhala ngendlala

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http://www.isolezwe.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5095504

Bazitapele ezitolo bekhala ngendlala

July 23, 2009 Edition 1

BONISWA MOHALEnoCELANI SIKHAKHANE

KUQUBUKE igidigidi enkabeni yedolobha iTheku izolo ngesikhathi iqulu labantu, elizibiza ngabantu abangasebenzi, ligasela ezitolo ezinkulu zokudla lizitapela ukudla okubizayo kanti abanye bebezitika ngakho khona ngaphakathi.

Laba bantu iningi labo obekungabesifazane bathi bangamalungu enhlangano, i-Unemployed Peoples Movement of South Africa.

Izitolo ezehlelwe yilo mshophi kubalwa uShoprite oseBerea Centre, uShoprite okuWest Street noPick ‘n Pay eWorkshop.

Abasebenzi bakulezi zitolo bathi leli qulu elilinganiselwa ku-300 lingene njengabantu abasuke bezothenga ladonsa izinqola lalayisha izinhlobonhlobo zokudla.

Kuthiwa ngesikhathi sebefika lapho kukhokhwa khona badudule abantu abebelinde ukukhokha badlula ngehubo.

Izimpahla abaqinise kuzo ngamafutha, inyama, balayisha noncamnce neziphuzo.

Sebephumile kuthiwa bebememeza bethi iMeya yeTheku, uMnuz Obed Mlaba, nguye ozokhokha ngoba abasebenzi futhi kade babemxwayisa ngalesi simo.

Amaphoyisa athwale kanzima bezama ukubavimba abanye bephucwa ngesidlozana impahla abese beyilayishe ezinqoleni.

UMnuz Bheki Mthombeni, oyisikhulu kwaShoprite obethukile, uthe basazobheka ukuthi balahlekelwe kangakanani njengoba isitole siphenduke umazitapele.

UCaptain Khephu Ndlovu uthe kuboshwe abantu abangu-100 abazobhekana namacala.

Iningi lababoshiwe bekungabesifazane.

UNksz Nozipho Mteshana, okhulumela i-Unemployed Peoples Movement of South Africa okungamalungu abo lawa aboshiwe, uthe kuseyisiqalo lesi basazoqhubeka nokungenela izitolo ngoba uhulumeni akafuni ukulalela izikhalo zabo.

Esitatimendeni esithunyelwe ngabakwa-Shoprite bathe ukwebiwa kwezimpahla ezitolo kubalahlekisela ngezigidi kanti lesi sitolo sivule amacala angu-40 okweba izolo bathi njengoba lolu daba seluphethwe ngamaphoyisa angeke baphawule kakhulu.

Daily News: 94 arrested for protest thefts at supermarkets

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http://www.dailynews.co.za/?fArticleId=5095860

Looting sprees to continue
94 arrested for protest thefts at supermarkets

July 23, 2009 Edition 3

MPUME MADLALA

PROTESTERS behind the looting of two Durban supermarkets have pledged to continue targeting food retailers to highlight their hunger and desperation.

One of the supermarkets has announced, in the wake of surprise invasions yesterday which saw 94 people arrested, that it would pursue prosecutions in each and every case.

KwaZulu-Natal has been hardest hit by the recession in terms of job losses, and the SA Unemployed Peoples’ Movement (SAUPM) said today the food snatches would continue until the plight of the jobless was recognised.

Police said they arrested 44 people at Checkers in Dr Pixley KaSeme (West) Street yesterday, and 50 were arrested at Pick n Pay at The Workshop. “They were arrested for illegal gathering and theft and they will appear in court soon,” said provincial spokesman Captain Khephu Ndlovu.

Nozipho Mteshana, the chairwoman of SAUPM, said yesterday’s protest was the first where unemployed people targeted supermarkets in Durban.

For more than an hour yesterday Shoprite Checkers remained closed after a large group walked into the store and started eating food off the shelves without paying. A strong contingent of police arrived and customers and onlookers were told to leave the premises.

The protesters were made to lie down inside the store while more police vans were called.

An elderly woman who had gone to collect her pension money from the store said that one moment she was standing in the queue, and the next thing she was told to go outside along with many other customers.

“When I saw the police, I panicked, but I was told to go outside quickly. I have never been so scared in my life, the guns gave me such a fright. So I won’t go back there until tomorrow when everything has calmed down,” she said.

Ndlovu said the protesters at both stores had helped themselves to perishable goods, such as roast chicken and chips. Most of them were women.

Mteshana insisted the protesters had done nothing wrong except eat and this was because they were hungry: “This is the frustration that people are experiencing and the financial situation and the continuing job losses do not make things any better for our people.

“Look at the Early Morning Market traders, what will happen them?” she asked.

Sarita van Wyk of Shoprite Checkers said more than 40 charges of theft had been laid by the Shoprite Group with the SAPS.

Brian Weyers, corporate marketing director of the Shoprite Group, said shoplifting remained a problem in the retail industry. It cost businesses millions of rands annually and, for this reason, the Shoprite group would seek prosecution in each and every case.

“As the matter is under police investigation, the supermarket group is not in a position to comment on the matter,” he said.

In its analysis of the quarterly labour force figures, Stats SA said more than 117 000 jobs were lost in KwaZulu-Natal in the first quarter of 2009 because of the recession.

The numbers showed that this province has lost the most jobs in the country when compared with the first quarter of 2008.

The first-quarter figures showed that South Africa’s unemployment rate increased by 1.6 percent from 21.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 23.5 percent, and a total of 208 000 jobs were lost in South Africa between the two quarters.

Job losses recorded within the trade sector accounted for 143 000, followed by construction (65 000) and manufacturing (62 000).

In KwaZulu-Natal, the trade sector registered the highest number of job cuts (79 000), followed by agriculture (29 000).

Sapa: Scores nabbed for looting supermarkets

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http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_News&set_id=1&click_id=79&art_id=nw20090722143920736C768643

Scores nabbed for looting supermarkets

July 22 2009 at 03:02PM

Members of the SA Unemployed People’s Movement went on a rampage on Wednesday afternoon looting shops in Durban, police said.

A hundred people were arrested after hundreds of people stormed Shoprite Checkers and Pick n Pay, said Captain Khephu Ndlovu.

“Earlier today we received information that the organisation was going to hold an illegal march. We then decided to deploy our members in town to monitor the situation,” Ndlovu said.

Ndlovu said 35 women and 15 men were arrested at Shoprite and 50 people were arrested at Pick n Pay at the Workshop shopping mall.

He said they would be charged with looting and theft. – Sapa

Sowetan: ‘Give us a basic grant of R1500 or we’ll wreak havoc’

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http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1035297

‘Give us a basic grant of R1500 or we’ll wreak havoc’
17 July 2009
Canaan Mdletshe

UP IN ARMS: Unemployed people have vowed to destroy shops in KwaZulu-Natal if the government fails to meet their demands within seven days . PHOTO: THULI DLAMINI

A GROUP representing the unemployed in KwaZulu-Natal has threatened to set townships alight and unleash an army of looters on shops unless all jobless people received a basic income grant of R1500 a month.

National spokesperson for the SA Unemployed People’s Movement, Nozipho Mteshana, said a survey the group commissioned had uncovered more than 26million unemployed people in South Africa, more than half of the population.

The figures had gone up recently because of job losses from the economic meltdown.

Mteshana said the country would soon be in flames if the government failed to do something because people’s anger could not be contained much longer.

“We give our government and eThekwini municipality, which is our focus at this point, seven days to give us answers.”

The group has handed the municipality a memorandum of their grievances.

“If we don’t get positive answers by next Wednesday we will let people loot all the big shops and take whatever food they find in those shops. If this is the only language our government understands, then we will speak it very loudly,” she warned.

Mteshana said most of their members were young tertiary graduates. They were fed up with “ANC pals and the same people getting tenders” while others went hungry.

She said in a country where pensions were granted only at 60 it pained her to note that most unemployed people were between 18 and 35.

Crime was escalating because people were hungry.

“Hungry stomachs are angry stomachs, which is why we feel that unemployed people should be provided with a basic income grant. Our government has money but it is not prioritised properly.”

Economic expert Bonke Dumisa said it was unreal to expect an economic solution to these problems.

“Business can’t do it. Business is in the business of making money with as few people as possible, given the economic downturn.”

He said the answers lay with the politicians and their will to deal with the real unemployment figures.

Daily News: Protesters besiege city hall

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http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5085725

Protesters besiege city hall
Sutcliffe refuses to take memos

July 16, 2009 Edition 1

SLINDILE MALULEKA

A PEACEFUL march almost turned violent yesterday when more than 1 000 protesters waited three hours for city officials to receive a memorandum outside the Durban City Hall.

The protesters, including disgruntled bus drivers, took to the streets to demonstrate against the loss of jobs and the removal of traders from the market.

They have also called for a commission of inquiry to investigate the collapse of Remant Alton.

Two memorandums were handed to Desmond Myeza, an official from speaker James Nxumalo’s office, who received them on behalf of city manager Michael Sutcliffe, who refused to come out.

The first was handed over by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), which represents Remant Alton employees who were dismissed on June 29.

The second memorandum was from the South African Unemployed Peoples’ Movement, which demanded a basic income grant of R1 500 for the unemployed.

Satawu’s general secretary, Zack Mankge, who represented the drivers, said the decision by Remant Alton to dismiss its employees was political and threatened the smooth operation of buses.

“Here we have workers who have dependants and needs, and the idea of better job creation is not there,” he said.

“If you are a passenger who would be travelling on the new buses, you must know that you are boarding the transport at your own risk. If we have to, we will march every day to the city council, Transport MEC Bheki Cele’s office and the eThekwini Transport Authority’s offices.

“We will sleep there if we have to. If Sutcliffe does not come out and receive our memorandum, we will sleep here until he comes out to face us.”

Transnat Africa, the bus company tasked with taking over the city’s transport system, is expected to begin operations on Monday.

Ernest Nzuza, a spokesman for the drivers, said only some of the Remant Alton employees were being offered jobs.

As protesters marched down Pixley ka Seme (West) Street in groups, they sang apartheid era songs including My mother was a kitchen girl, my father was garden boy, that’s why I’m a socialist and converted president Jacob Zuma’s Awuleth’ umshini wam to Awuleth’imali yami mali yami (Bring my money).

On arrival at the city hall, they were informed that Mayor Obed Mlaba, who was expected to receive the memorandums, had left the previous day for Zimbabwe. Organisers then asked for deputy city manager Derrick Naidoo, who was declared unavailable, while Sutcliffe, who was on the premises, refused to come out to accept the memorandums.

Sutcliffe said he had a very busy diary and no arrangements had been made for him to collect the memorandums.

“It is unfortunate that threats are being made but I am sure that the law will take its course,” he said.

“There was also no coalition in the protest, it was just different groups complaining and taking advantage of the fact that I have authorised one march.”

The crowd at one stage threatened to enter the hall by force. Eventually, the protesters dispersed after signed documents were returned to them.

Transnat Africa CEO Mike Jesserman was not available for comment.