“Parkwood has a problem, people live under inhumane conditions”
Widespread protests for land and housing are taking place with backyarders and landless people occupying vacant land in Cape Town.
Housing
Houses in Pietermaritzburg shock residents
The Msunduzi Municipality has recognised the problem of ‘wirewall houses’ delivering electric shocks to their occupants. A Wirewall Rectification Programme started in 2011 did not reach Imbali Unit 18 and it doesn’t look like they have a plan to assist the 70 households affected.
City of Cape Town accused of dividing the community
A meeting between leadership of the Vrygrond community and the City of Cape Town, after several stand-offs between law enforcement officers and backyarders who have attempted to occupy vacant land, has not taken place even though a date was set.
Vrygrond land occupiers defiant
Backyarders in Vrygrond near Muizenberg have vowed to continue building shacks on a piece of land that they have occupied because they cannot “afford to pay rent” anymore.
Community forcibly removed in 2011 languishes in transit camp
In 2011, the informal settlement of Bhungeni in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape was demolished to make way for a shopping mall and the residents were relocated to a transit camp erected by the Department of Human Settlements. They remain to this day in this camp they called Eugene and no shopping mall has been built on the land they vacated.
One death as police disperse Mitchell’s Plain gathering
The conflict between the Siqalo and Mitchell’s Plain communities flared up late on Thursday, despite the suspension by Siqalo of their protest action. Police fired on a gathering of Mitchell’s Plain residents, killing one and wounding two.
Khayelitsha residents demand justice for slain leaders
Zwelethu Occupation Movement from Khayelitsha picketed outside provincial police headquarters demanding justice for murdered leaders.
Residents want councillor out of rental unit
Allegations of housing corruption have been made against Ward 44 councillor in Cape Town by members of the community who have been on the City’s housing list for years while Councillor Anthony Moses has been living in a Community Rental Unit since 2011. As a councillor, they say, his income should disqualify him from residency there.
Landless demand expropriation of land for housing
On Human Rights Day, communities from informal settlements in Cape Town marched for land for housing.
Langa Old Flats residents decry poor conditions of flats
South Africa will be celebrating Human Rights Day on Wednesday but Langa Old Flats residents feel that their rights and dignity are being undermined.
SACP lambasts fraudulent allocation of housing in Duncan Village
The South African Communist Party in East London took to the streets to demand accountable allocation of houses in Duncan Village and the need for the City to prioritize service delivery in the area.
Gugulethu backyaders tell de Lille that they are tired of empty promises
In a meeting that took place on Tuesday between the Mayor, Patricia de Lille and Gugulethu Backyarders who have occupied pieces of land around Gugulethu, they told her that they are tired of empty promises of housing delivery.
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