Mass evictions from social housing complex
About 30 families in Steenberg were evicted from their homes in Steenvilla complex on Wednesday. Steenvilla is the largest social housing complex in Cape Town with over 700 units.
Cape Town
Gender-based violence on the rise in the Western Cape
In a meeting with various organisations the Commission for Gender Equality revealed that incest, parents forcing children into marriage, female farm workers sleeping with male supervisors to secure work, and child trafficking for sex work is rife in the Western Cape.
Taxi passengers still fearful despite truce in Cape taxi war
The taxi industry by far transports the biggest number of passengers on any given day, compared to both rail and bus. However, with taxi owners and drivers fighting over routes, the industry is marred by violence that in the conflict between two rival taxi associations in Cape Town, 13 people have been killed.
“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.
Pools of sewage a daily torment in Cape communities
Overflowing sewage is a frequent problem for residents of Samora Machel township and elsewhere in Cape Town. Besides the terrible stench they have to contend with, residents report that their children suffer from skin rashes and respiratory ailments.
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.
Pro-Palestine march calls for expulsion of Israeli ambassador
A protest march to Parliament has called for the immediate expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador from South Africa.
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.
Unions weighing new offer to end bus strike
Trade unions in the bus industry are consulting with their members on a new wage offer from the employers.
The City and the province won’t expropriate land for housing
The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government has stated that it will not buy land from Ross Demolition to build houses for Siqalo residents as the land is “not fit for human habitation”.
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.
Siqalo and broader Mitchell’s Plain communities clash
The situation was calm at Siqalo informal settlement on Thursday morning following a protest for land, housing and provision of better services by the City of Cape Town. The protest, which saw the barricading of Jakes Gerwel Drive with burning tyres and communal waste containers, resulted in a counter-protest from residents of Colorado Park. The protest has been suspended following a meeting between community groups in Mitchell’s Plain.
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