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- Thursday’s sudden protest in Khayelitsha was sparked by residents who say their demands for water and toilets have been ignored.
- They said that the memoranda sent to the city of Cape Town and Parliament were ignored, so they had no choice.
- Three Golden Arrow buses and a Checkers truck caught fire, and a handicap transportation service was attacked.
- A spokesman for the protesters blamed this on criminals who took advantage of their complaints.
Residents of Khayelitsha woke up Thursday to a fiery day of protests apparently caused by requests for recently occupied plots of land to obtain toilets and water for those now living there.
Providing background on Thursday’s decision to take the protest, Mabhelandile Twani told News24 that they had nothing to do with the arson that sent plumes of black smoke into the air as three buses and a truck were reduced to charred remains.
He said the protest stemmed from their being ignored after they tried to install basic services in the newly created shanty town suburbs.
Three Golden Arrow buses that cost about R2.4 million each and a Checkers truck that delivered groceries caught fire. A telephone access service for the disabled was also stoned, leaving at least 30 people stranded and the service ashore during the day. Two excavators, belonging to contractors, also caught fire.
These were being used for the water supply project from Baden Powell to Cape Town’s Khayelitsha.
Police were on the scene with their Public Order Surveillance Unit.
The city of Cape Town said it also suspended services because it was considered too dangerous for its staff to go to work there. This included the delivery of water as part of the Covid-19 hygiene programs.
One of his employees in Macassar had to call for help after a crowd came to his home and threatened to burn down a city vehicle, while a traffic patrol vehicle was stoned and a law enforcement vehicle was damaged when he was involved in an accident with two others. vehicles while those vehicles made U-turns to avoid protests. Two people were injured in the incident.
Retailer Shoprite said products and food worth thousands of rand were destroyed when one of its Checkers-brand food delivery trucks caught fire in the early hours of the morning. He was on his way to Cape Town on the N2 when the attack occurred.
“We are grateful that our driver escaped unscathed,” Shoprite told News24 in response to questions.
“We denounce these senseless acts of violence that ultimately put the livelihoods, lives and security of others at risk, especially in the face of a global pandemic that has renewed South Africa’s food security challenges.”
Bronwen Dyke-Beyer of Golden Arrow Bus Service said the company had offered a reward of R200,000 for information on who set three of its buses on fire. The company had lost 11 buses in this way so far this year.
The province’s education department said 11 schools delayed the start of their tuition exams until 10:00 to give students more time to get there, and they got off to a successful start.
Spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said:
However, we are aware that there are isolated cases in which students were unable to reach their place. This is devastating.
They are talking to the national department about the possibility of a backup role for students who were unable to make it to school due to protests.
Residents on the edge
Residents had been nervous after a mass shooting, a “red zone” rule requiring police escort for ambulances after paramedics were attacked, and transportation services strained from dysfunctional train service and a contract. of stalled express bus.
The education department said it was not possible to accommodate tuition exam students elsewhere due to social distancing and not having additional papers on hand at the other locations, so those who missed the extended time limit for 10:00 would have to wait. for news on what to do.
Twani said the protesters had nothing to do with the car burning and attacks, and blamed the criminals.
All they did, he said, was block roads to draw attention to their plight.
“We are not responsible for the burning of buses and the burning of a truck and so on. We consider that as a criminal and people who were not part of this march,” he said.
Twani said the protesters had discussed the possibility that their action could disrupt the tuition exams, but decided that students could rewrite next year if necessary, or write a companion article this year if possible.
For Twani, the stake was securing services for at least 12 slum settlements scattered around and around Khayelitsha.
Blockade settlements
The new settlements appeared during the Covid-19 shutdown, and were given names that reflect the pandemic that they say turned their lives upside down due to sudden unemployment and overcrowded houses awaiting hard shutdown.
New residential areas called Thembeni, Level 2, Sakhile Nathi, Covid-19, Phumlani, Social Distance, Mpolweni, Makhaza, and Pandemic are visible from some of the main roads running through the area, with seas of corrugated iron and people carrying water. . to their huts.
eThembeni was in the spotlight when Bulelani Qolani was filmed being accosted while naked and again while inside his hut and collapsing around him.
The incident became the subject of a court action that restricted the right of the City of Cape Town to evict people without a court order. The City had argued that it had the right to regain the land that was taken from it and that the regulations of the Disaster Management Act also prohibited illegal occupation of land.
Twani said that people lost their jobs due to the closure, their living conditions at home were already overcrowded before people had to stay indoors all day and some had not been able to pay their rent so they saw each other. forced to settle in the vacant lots.
He explained:
These lands have been there for years. At some point they even told us that the land was going to develop, but it didn’t happen.
‘Trash for criminals’
He said that since the vacant lots were occupied, they had become safe spaces and were no longer “dumps for the corpses of criminals.”
Twani said they wrote to the city of Cape Town and delivered a memorandum to Cyril Xaba, who presided over the recent public hearing in Khayelitsha on legislation planned to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to allow expropriation of land without compensation.
An earlier statement from Parliament on the hearing acknowledged receipt of the memo.
Twani said not receiving a response from the city or Parliament was the last straw for them and they decided to protest Thursday.
READ | Six people shot dead in Khayelitsha tavern, 6-year-old girl wounded in ‘ambush’
Cape Town’s MMC for Human Settlements, Malusi Booi, told News24 that the City had been saying for months that it could not provide immediate services to areas where there were large-scale occupations during the shutdown.
The City considered the occupations illegal and had indicated that they were on land intended for housing for other beneficiaries or to improve services to other parts of Khayelitsha or that they were not suitable for people to live on.
“The City has repeatedly advised people not to settle in these areas,” he said.
Booi said that one of the settled parcels was supposed to be the site of a 5km water pipeline for improvements in a large section of Khayelitsha, but this was on hold.
“Some groups of activists, political instigators and others in leadership roles that tolerate and encourage illegal occupations are putting people’s health and safety at risk and putting the stability of communities at risk,” he said.
Request for a meeting with the mayor
Booi urged anyone forced to build a hut because they had been evicted during the confinement for not being able to pay the rent, to file a complaint with the police who would investigate for them because this would have been a violation of the regulations of the Management Act. Disasters
A request for a meeting with Mayor Dan Plato was receiving attention, the city said.
Twani said they hoped it could be Monday.
The city’s MMC for Transportation Felicity Purchase said that after the attack on a Dial-a-Ride vehicle at 05:45, disabled transportation services to Khayelitsha, Cross Roads, Makhaza, Philippi and Mfuleni were suspended.
“At this time, the City cannot determine the extent of the damage and vandalism to public roads and traffic signs in the affected areas, as it is too dangerous for officials to make an assessment. This will be done once it is sure do it, “Purchase said.
