Cape Town: Joe Slovo Road Blockade 10 September 2007

(Pictures by Martin Legassick - Anti-Eviction Campaign)
(Also see the report at Labour Net and the Bush Radio Blogg.

JOE SLOVO SHACKDWELLERS TASK TEAM PRESS STATEMENT

8:30am

Monday 10th September 2007

Joe Slovo Shackdwellers Statement on N2 Highway Blockade

LANGA, CAPE TOWN - More than one thousand residents from Joe Slovo informal settlement on the N2 highway near the Cape Town airport, have blockaded the highway since 4:30am this morning.

Joe Slovo residents will be at Cape High Court in large numbers tomorrow and protesting there on Wednesday

Monday 24 September 2007
5pm

The 6000 residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, Cape Town will be individually handing in their legal notice of their intention to oppose the state's application to forcibly remove them from their land.

The residents will be doing this all day tomorrow at the Cape High Court, ahead of Wednesday's hearing. The Ministry of Housing has applied for a court order which would allow them to forcibly remove 100 families per week for the next 45 weeks, and this will be heard by the court on Wednesday. Each and every resident vowed at community meetings this week that they would oppose this application in the High Court. The law allows for each and every resident to state why they feel they should not be forcibly removed and they intend to do just that.

Tuesday 24 September 2007

12noon

6000 Joe Slovo residents are protesting in town today and tomorrow

The 6000 residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, Cape Town are now individually handing in their legal notice of their intention to oppose the state's application to forcibly remove them from their land. They are currently in the Paul Sauer Building in the city centre.

They are being supported by residents of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the shackdwellers movement from Durban.

Tomorrow there will be a mass protest at the Cape High Court where the Ministry of Housing has applied for a court order which would allow them to forcibly remove 100 families per week for the next 45 weeks.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=320524&area=/insight/insight__national/

Courtroom number one in the Cape Town High Court is proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

On Wednesday, an entire Bench in court was taken up by senior government and housing officials all anxious to secure eviction orders so they can start the relocation of about 5 000 homeless Joe Slovo residents -- “relocation” is the preferred term used by the political authorities these days for “forced removals”.

Outside court 1 500 residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa sat in the road patiently waiting to hear their fate. When local leaders announced the judge’s ruling of an eight-day stay of execution the ululations and cheers could be heard for blocks.

(Click on the link below to read the original version of the letter on the letterhead.)

26 September 2007
Dr Lindiwe Sisulu
Minister of Housing
Private Bag X654
Pretoria
0001
Tel: +27 12 421 1309
Fax: +27 12 341 8513
Email: mareldia@housing.gov.za

Dear Minister Sisulu

RE: Relocation of Joe Slovo informal settlement residents

The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) is an international human rights nongovernmental
organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with offices throughout the world.

COHRE has consultative status with the United Nations and Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. COHRE works to promote and protect the right to adequate housing for everyone, everywhere, including preventing or remedying forced evictions.

Placing poor out of sight is no solution

Click here to link to the full report via the DAG website.

Helen Macgregor, Informal Settlement Upgrading Co-ordinator, Development Action Group

Stories from families relocated to the Delft Temporary Relocation Area (TRA) in 2005 are disturbing, and provide insight into the concerns underpinning the protests of present Joe Slovo residents refusing to relocate. The protests are a desperate response to the lack of opportunity to influence the N2 Gateway Project. Statements by the Minister of Housing, Dr Lindiwe Sisulu on 12 September are disappointingly coercive in that removal from the housing waiting list would constitute a de facto threat to the constitutional (and human) rights of the protestors. The Minister’s response challenges the rights of the poor on two critical levels. Firstly, it challenges their right to demand access to adequate housing and challenge or question state policy and practice. Secondly, it challenges their right to adequate housing which is recognised globally as the right to a dwelling that not only provides adequate shelter but which is, amongst others, also properly located in order to provide access to economic opportunities and other amenities necessary to support the wellbeing of residents.

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
23 October 2007

Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release: Joe Slovo arrests, Hanover Park eviction, District Six high court eviction case tomorrow

JOE SLOVO INFORMAL SETTLEMENT - Joe Slovo Task Team leader, Mzwanele Zulu, and one other activist were arrested recently by the police. They were released shortly after with no charges being laid against them. It is clear that the police and the state are waging a campaign of harassment against Task Team leaders who are part of the mass community movement demanding free housing on the land of Joe Slovo, and an end to forced removals. It is unclear why Zulu and the other activist were even arrested in the first place. The Anti-Eviction Campaign demands that the harassment of Joe Slovo activists come to an end. The Campaign held another meeting at Joe Slovo on the weekend and resolved to increase the level of solidarity for the community. For comment call Mzwanele Zulu on 076 3852369