Informal settlement residents protest for basic services on Human Rights Day

Residents of Social Distance informal settlement in Khayelitsha protested for electricity and water services on Human Rights Day. They held up placards that read: ‘Our kids study in darkness’, and ‘Sifuna amanzi’ (‘We want water’), singing struggle songs and blockading Mew Way with rocks and burning tyres since Wednesday.

Social Distance is one of the informal settlements that was established during Covid-19 as backyarders and those who didn’t have homes of their own, resorted to occupying vacant land, in Khayelitsha and other parts of the city and country. The name Social Distance itself remembers the Covid-19 lockdown regulation that forced people to keep at a distance from one another when gathered in a group or a queue. Social Distance residents say they were struggling to pay rent due to job losses during the lockdown, and living in overcrowded homes and unable to keep social distance in their homes, they wanted to have a space of their own.

Community leader Sonela Mntsini said the protesters wanted to enjoy their basic human rights. “It’s Human Rights Day, so we want the authorities to know Social Distance and allow us human rights. We only get water from City of Cape Town water tankers. They come any day. They have no regular schedule. Eskom technicians just removed our electrical wires on Tuesday without prior notice. Had they warned us in advance, we would have placed our food at relatives,” he said. He wants to know the date by when the settlement will receive electricity, because they can’t buy perishable food.

On Tuesday, Eskom removed wiring and poles of those who had connected themselves to the grid, according to GroundUp.

Nomfundo Nzima, who sells sausage, pork and chicken, said the recent removal of illegal connections forced her to close her business. “I had to throw away meat worth about R70,000 because I could not store it in the fridge,’’ she said. Since she no longer sells meat, said Nzima, she can’t provide food to poor shack dwellers who relied on her for food, nor send her children to school because she has no money for their transport.”

Lindokuhle Dlokolo, who stays with her three kids, said lack of electricity prevents her kids from doing their school homework and ironing their school clothes. She uses candles to light her shacks, fearing that they present a fire hazard. She gets water in A section nearby since Social Distance has no taps.

Mabhelandile Twani, deputy chairperson of Intlungu Yabahlali Basematyotyombeni Movement, said the new occupations will intensify their efforts to get basic services. “We will engage in different forms of actions until the City of Cape Town listens to our demands,” he said.

The City of Cape Town said it has noted the demands of the protesters but were quick to point out that some of the areas that were established during Covid-19 lockdown cannot get services because of the condition of the land and issues of ownership. “The massive unlawful occupation spike that happened ahead of and over the Covid-19 period primarily happened in high risk areas where it is mostly not feasible to electrify or provide underground services due to the land conditions,” said the City of Cape Town.