Pensioners march against increased water tariffs
On Saturday a group of about 100 pensioners took to the streets of Cape Town against increased water tariffs and evictions.
Service delivery
Activists say water tariff hikes will affect the poor the most
The water tariffs that kicked in on the 1st of July are seen as an attack on the poor by activists.
No help from Zimbabwean town council for vendors
Street vendors in Rusape, Zimbabwe, feel that the city council doesn’t want to improve their working and trading space.
‘Enoch Mgijima Municipality is collapsing’
Residents of Queenstown want the troubled Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality to be placed under administration because of financial mismanagement and its failure to deliver services. At least 44 municipal assets worth millions – including fire brigade and garbage collection vehicles and road graders – were auctioned off to pay a construction company that built a community hall in Sterkstroom back in 2016.
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.
“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.
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.
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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