Category Archives: Warwick Junction

Witness: Rising xenophobia

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Rising xenophobia
23 July 2009

THIS country is awash with strikes or threatened strikes for higher wages, and with township protests about government failures in service delivery. It seems that the gloves are off in spite of, or perhaps because of, the exigencies of recessionary times.

A disturbing feature in some of the current protest has been the resurgence of xenophobia. This has been particularly noticeable on the Reef where last year’s xenophobic attacks first broke out. It is unfortunately to be expected that, in straitened times, people will turn on one another where there is perceived competition or threat. This can affect anyone deemed to be “the other”, whether the person concerned is a foreign national from elsewhere in Africa or a fellow South African of a different culture or background.  Continue reading →

ANC administration sows seeds of racial discord

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http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5093475

ANC administration sows seeds of racial discord

July 22, 2009 Edition 1

Trevor Ngwane

SHOUTS of “Hamba khaya! Hamba uye eBombay!” (Go home! Go to Bombay!) rang out, seemingly crystallising the mood of some of those at the public meeting called by the Durban city fathers at the ICC on July 10. The meeting concerned the impending closure of the Early Morning Market, which is hotly contested by traders of all races.

Later that afternoon I returned to my Chatsworth flat a troubled person. Most of my neighbours are of Indian descent, and since I moved here a few months ago from Soweto, they have treated me like one of their own.

As a youngster growing up in Lamontville we had stone throwing skirmishes across the Umlazi River with our Chatsworth neighbours. We all laughed hard when, in a candid moment of neighbourly bonding, I told that story to a group of Chatsworth youngsters. Everyone thought it was a joke. But suddenly, thanks to the meeting I attended, it is no longer a joke.

There was hostility and hatred among some of the people listening to the mayor and the city manager explain why the market had to go.

It was naive for any of us to imagine that decades of racism would simply disappear because our country has adopted a democratic constitution that outlaws racial discrimination.

My socialist political convictions compel me to watch out for and to combat racism with the same vigour in the new South Africa as I did in the days of apartheid.

Roy Chetty, the chairman of the Early Morning Market Support Group, was disturbed by the racism directed against people of Indian descent.

Isizulu

He objected to the decision by Mayor Obed Mlaba to speak only in isiZulu, despite many traders not understanding fully what he was saying about an issue that concerns them directly.

The mayor opened his speech saying he assumed that as South Africans all of us present should be able to understand isiZulu since it was after all one of the 11 official languages. But since not everyone knows isiZulu, Mlaba’s message contained a provocative sub-text: if you don’t understand isiZulu this might not be your meeting.

Even when translation was later provided for the other speakers it left a lot to be desired. The translation from Isizulu to English was selective. A lot was left out by the translator, either because he didn’t like translating travesty or the intention was to keep English speakers ignorant about what was being said.

If you understood isiZulu the message was crystal clear. Sometimes it was stated outright, other times it was oblique, implied or idiomatically expressed. The message? The Indians are a problem.

Despite city manager Michael Sutcliffe’s cogent Power Point presentation, many people left the ICC thinking that the main social benefit of getting rid of the market was getting rid of the Indians and that the proposed mall would provide business opportunities to long-denied Africans. (In reality, it will be chain stores of multinational corporations who will take the biggest mall locations.)

Councillor Majola, who was chairing the meeting, quoted an old “ANC strategy and tactics document” stating that the struggle was about liberating blacks in general and Africans in particular. A senior city official was less restrained. “Kufanele sibakhiphe iqatha emlonyeni” (we must remove the piece of meat from their mouths).

Given South Africa’s past, the accusations of racism and exploitation levelled at some elements within the Indian merchant class are valid.

Capitalism continues unabated in South Africa and where there is capitalism there is exploitation and oppression. Yet this should not be generalised.

One thing that has struck me about Durban is the widespread anti-Indian feeling among many Africans.

As one worker complained to me, recently: “The Indians and the makwerekwere will run this country.” Makwerekwere is the extremely derogatory – and deadly – term used for Africans who originate outside of South Africa.

But ordinary working class people are not born racist or xenophobic. These ideas are entrenched by the system.

Political and business leaders sometimes peddle racist ideas. But ideology is not just words, it is also practice. When people are forced to compete over crumbs, when the only way to go up is to push someone else down, then don’t be surprised when anti-social attitudes abound.

When people are victimised or denied economic opportunities because of their race or the perceived machinations of a racially defined cabal we can expect racist attitudes. Towards the end of his life the American black power leader Malcolm X, who fought racism by calling for black separatism, realised the futility of this approach.

Pilgrimage

Two wrongs don’t make a right. As a devout Muslim Malcolm met white Muslims for the first time in his pilgrimage to Mecca and returned a changed man, espousing class rather than race strategy to rid the world of injustice and inequality.

Nelson Mandela was exemplary in embracing his racist enemies as fellow human beings. What he failed to realise was that a system designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer invariably breeds racism, sexism and other forms of oppression. In his long road to freedom he took a short cut – he fought racism but ducked the fight against its true source: the economic system of exploitation.

This is the trap the eThekwini Municipality is creating for itself. By deploying capitalist forces to solve the Warwick Junction hubbub of urbanisation, they will be forced to attack the many in favour of the few. They seem to be doing that with their ill-conceived plan to destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of people associated with the market.

The 1949 Durban anti-Indian race riot left 142 people dead. In May 2008 the xenophobic attacks left 62 dead.

The ANC administration in Durban should refrain from sowing dragon’s teeth as they appeared to be doing at the meeting. In their eagerness to win the argument, they retraced their steps away from South Africa’s non-racial vision. Respect and fairness should be accorded to everyone, irrespective of country of origin or historical origins of our ancestors.

Daily News: War over Warwick rages on

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War over Warwick rages on
Traders get third court order to open market

June 16, 2009 Edition 1

Lyse Comins

The war of Warwick Junction rages through Youth Day after traders obtained a third court order against eThekwini authorities.

The Early Morning Market traders secured another Durban High Court order yesterday forcing the municipality to open the market to legal traders tomorrow.

This came in the wake of another violent clash with Metro Police and a day of lost trade yesterday.

The Early Morning Market Traders’ Association chairman, Harry Ramlall, said his attorney was scheduled to meet the city’s legal counsel in court again today to clarify the dispute over legal and illegal traders in the market.

Dozens of traders waited all day yesterday outside the market, hoping it would be opened. Police fired rubber bullets, injuring four traders. Five traders were arrested on charges of alleged public violence.

“The city has given us the assurance that the market will be open. The order has been granted for the third time. The market will definitely be open on Wednesday morning,” said Ramlall.

“I will be at court at 9am (today) verifying the so-called illegal traders because they need to be legalised.

“It’s only fair if they have been there for a long time that they should be legal because the council has accepted rental from them.”

However, deputy mayor Logie Naidoo earlier said traders collectively owed the municipality hundreds of thousands of rands in rental arrears and many traders were illegal tenants.

Traders have opposed the demolition of the market to make way for a R400 million shopping mall.

Several “barrow boys”, who ferry fresh produce around the junction, told the Daily News they were hungry and worried about feeding their families. They worked for themselves, they said, and had lost their daily income of R100 to R200 a day since Friday.

Minority Front leader Amichand Rajbansi, who visited Warwick Junction yesterday, said he would call for a special motion to have the issue “re-debated” by the council. He said he would take the fight to the Human Rights Commission and the Equality Court.

“We were misled (by the council) that this (mall) would be developed over the railway line. Mike Sutcliffe calls this an apartheid structure and says he is concerned about the democratic majority. What does he mean by this?

“The saviour of our province is going to be SMMEs and the informal sector. We are going to take this issue very seriously. It is very strange that the leaders of this province are keeping silent,” Rajbansi said.

SAPS Captain Khepu Ndlovu said two women were injured yesterday when Metro Police fired rubber bullets at protesting traders, and two women were injured in falls. They were taken to hospital by ambulance.

Three men and two women were arrested and charged with public violence. Metro Police Superintendent Wiseman Mchunu said police had used “minimal force” to control the crowd.

eThekwini Municipality business support unit manager Philip Sithole said legal traders had been allowed access to the market but chose to stand in solidarity with the illegal traders.

SPCA chief inspector Dougie Du Plessis said traders had alerted him to the plight of 200 caged chickens inside the building. Eight chickens had died, but this was not from a lack of food and water.

Du Plessis said market managers had allowed some traders entry to tend their chickens, but not all the owners were present.

“They can’t stay cooped up here in small cages forever. Normally, they are sold within two days.

“We have been feeding and watering the birds at our own cost.

“Fruit and vegetables are going rotten but the municipality won’t allow traders in because if they do they will have another sit-in.

“It’s very sad because there are hungry people out there,” Du Plessis said.

Mercury: Market traders, cops clash

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http://www.themercury.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn20090616052926246C772391

Market traders, cops clash
16 June 2009, 07:21

By Sinegugu Ndlovu

Five people sustained minor injuries on Monday when traders at the Early Morning Market in Durban’s Warwick Junction clashed with metro police officers as tensions between the traders and the city continued to simmer.

The traders claimed they were attacked without provocation, while the metro police said they had been forced to fire rubber bullets to contain traders trying to force their way into the market.

The eThekwini Municipality was accused of defying a court order permitting traders access to the market.

While the city said that only traders without permits were not allowed entry on Monday, the traders claimed that permit holders had also been barred from the market site.

On Saturday, the traders applied for a court order preventing the city from closing the market or denying entry to all traders. Their lawyers argued that the city had been accepting rent for the stalls even from people who did not have licences and questioned why they were being barred from trading there.

The order was granted by Durban High Court Judge King Ndlovu and would be valid until this Friday. However, it was in dispute whether the order applied to all traders or just to those with trading permits and, while the market would be open on Wednesday, the matter remained unresolved.

The city’s Business Support Unit head, Phillip Sithole, said the city had not been in contempt of court in acting on Monday because the order granted to the traders only applied to those with permits.

Metro police spokesperson Joyce Khuzwayo said officers had been forced to use rubber bullets when the traders tried to force their way into the market without producing trading permits. She said three people had been arrested on public violence charges.

“The traders without licences outnumbered those with permits and tried to force their way in. They were a stronger force and we were forced us to use rubber bullets,” she said.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said five people had sustained minor injuries and were taken to Addington Hospital.

Roy Chetty, of Durban, said he had been walking past the market when he saw the police cordon off the area. He said traders with licences had moved into the market’s parking area on the officers’ orders when they were “viciously attacked” without provocation.

“It happened quickly. The traders weren’t being violent. The police jumped over the boundary wall and started shooting. People were shot in the face and some in the back,” Chetty said.

The conflict between the city and traders is over a proposed multimillion-rand development of Warwick Junction, which would include a shopping mall. The traders are opposed to relocating to make way for the mall, which they argue would destroy their livelihoods.

Recent Articles on Warwick Junction Eviction & Resistance

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http://www.dailynews.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20090615131411280C220198

eThekwini council in trouble with the law
15 June 2009, 14:56

The eThekwini municipality has been accused of defying a court order after it locked traders out of the Early Morning Market on Monday despite the Durban High Court ruling that they can trade.

Chaos broke out when metro police officers fired rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of people who wanted to break the market gate after the municipality prevented traders without valid permits from entering.

Two traders were injured by rubber bullets and were taken to hospital.

Senior Superintendent Joyce Khuzwayo said:”The municipality has made it clear that it wants to sort out the issue of people who do not have permits. The traders then decided to adopt the ‘injury to one is injury to all’ strategy.”

The city locked out hundreds of traders after it emerged that many were trading without permits. The court at the weekend ruled that traders be granted occupation and possession of their stalls.

“As far as we know, the court stated that we should be allowed to trade but the council has sent police to shoot at us. The city is defying the court order and that is very sad,” said traders” spokesperson Roy Chetty.

Khuzwayo said the municipality was sorting out the issue of permits by arranging another venue for traders.

“Traders are being removed from the market to make way for the multi-million rand development of Warwick Junction which will include a mall,” she said.

She said it was important for the municipality to ensure that all traders had permits so that they would be provided with an alternative place to do business. – Sapa

http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=3532&fArticleId=vn20090607080229464C125111

Malls are not for the poor
7 June 2009, 08:12
Related Articles

By Vivian Attwood

Faced with the spectre of imminent eviction, the prevailing mood among the traders at the Early Morning Market is remarkably upbeat. While they freely discussed their concerns, it appeared most thought popular opinion would prevail, stalling development in the area.

“Our market is here to stay. Our market feeds us,” a banner at the market entrance read. Another, more sinister, promised: “Be prepared to remove coffins, not traders.” On a lighter note, a wit had penned: “Final notice of relocation. Council and their employees can now move into their new site. Traders will still be operating from this market.”

“We are not going anywhere,” said an elderly woman known to traders as “Mummy”.

“It’s our life at stake. We’re not going into any marquee”. (The city has erected two marquees to provide temporary shelter for the traders.)

“A mall is for rich people. We are the poors (sic),” said Vasie Pillay.

“How would the city councillors and developers feel in our position?” queried Mani Govender.

“When we tried to have a sit-in last week they used pepper spray on us. We have human rights; we are not criminals.”

The Early Morning Market, or “Squatters’ Market” as it was once known, has seen its fair share of conflict over the years.

Here is a summary of its history:

There were originally four distinct markets, the City Market (Warwick Avenue), a whites-only trading area; the “Native” Meat Market (Victoria Street); an enclosed Indian Market called the Victoria Street Market and a street market in Victoria Street known as the Squatters’ or Early Morning Market. About 153 000 Indians arrived between 1860 and 1911 to work as indentured sugarcane cutters.

By 1885 there were about 2 000 market gardeners. They began to supply local markets, but initially encountered a series of difficulties at the fresh produce market, which was run by the Durban Town Council. These included high fees and being forced to ask lower prices for their produce than their white counterparts.

In 1908 a Hindu priest, Swami Shankevanand, formed the Indian Farmers’ Association, and subsequently founded the Indian Market Committee to oversee the welfare of Indian traders.

It wasn’t long before the town council flexed its muscles again, insisting on August 1, 1910, that the traders move to a new site in Victoria Street. The farmers protested that the site was too small, and too close to the Catholic Church and “native” market. They boycotted, but the protest was soon quashed.

The town council divided the market into stalls selling fruit, vegetables, ice-cream, sweetmeats, birds and curios, and organised a street market in Victoria Street for Hindu farmers.

The traders lined both sides of the street with stalls and horse-drawn carts, leading to protests from colonialists.

In July 1930 the town allocated £15 000 for a proper enclosure for the Warwick Street traders, and the Early Morning Market, comprising 618 stalls, opened on January 31, 1934.

The Victoria Street Market was destroyed by fire in March 1973, and a temporary market was erected in November that year.

That structure was replaced in 1984 by the current Indian Market.

* This article was originally published on page 10 of The Sunday Tribune on June 07, 2009

http://www.dailynews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=3532&fArticleId=vn20090527110313812C434306

‘This 2010 mall will starve us’

27 May 2009, 11:45
Hundreds of Early Morning Market informal traders and their employees have vowed to resist the city’s plan to remove them from the market, amid allegations that city officials have tried to bribe traders to make way for development.

During a peaceful demonstration on Tuesday, traders marched in small groups to the city hall in protest against the proposed new R400-million shopping mall development, saying it would literally starve the poor.

Streetnet International co-ordinator Pat Horn addressed the rally of traders and sympathisers who gathered at the top of Dr Pixley kaSeme (West) Street to march to the city hall to hand a memorandum of demands to deputy mayor Logie Naidoo.

However, city police stopped the march at the last minute, saying the traders’ application o stage the march had been declined.

Horn said city officials had apparently walked around the market on Monday offering vendors bribes of R1 000 and television sets if they would accept the development in an attempt to prevent the march.

The allegation has been rejected by city leaders, who said anyone with evidence should present it to city manager Michael Sutcliffe. But this did not stop the traders who gathered with banners reading “Save the market, we feed the poor”, “This 2010 mall will starve us”, “Come hail, come sun, come May, our market will stay”, and, on a more personal level, “Down with Mike Sutcliffe and Porky Naidoo”.

About 460 000 commuters travel through Warwick Junction daily, generating revenue of R1 billion annually upon which the livelihood of an estimated 7 000 to 10 000 traders depends. Traders have been given notice by the city to vacate the market premises by Sunday.

The proposed development has received wide criticism from NGOs, the KZN Institute of Architects and academics who claim the municipality has not followed legal and public processes in tendering and granting a 50-year lease to the developer Warwick Mall Consortium. Informal traders fear they will be permanently removed from the area and that the mall will direct commuters away from stalls into the mall.

“Let us take notice of tactics other countries have used, like long sit-ins, which would make it extremely difficult for the municipality to evict you under South African law if you refuse to move,” Horn said.

Roothren Moodley, Warwick Precinct Plan Stakeholders Forum chairman, said: “The Early Morning Market is here to stay for another 100 years, we must tell them clearly.”

Protesters walked in small groups to the city hall where representatives, including the chairman of the Early Morning Market Traders’ Association, Harry Ramlall, met dep-uty city manager Derek Naidoo, deputy mayor Logie Naidoo and city councillors.

After the three-and-a-half hour meeting, Ramlall said traders had achieved their goal by stalling the removal process.

Independent urban planning consultant Dr Susanna Godehart said that as far as she understood, the development was “completely illegal at this stage” as an environmental impact assessment to build on the market site had not been done.

* This article was originally published on page 3 of The Daily News on May 27, 2009