Shack Fire In Kennedy Kills Three; 3000 Homeless

Click here to read this statement in Italian.

4 July 2010
Abahlali baseKennedy Press Statement

Shack Fire In Kennedy Kills Three; 3000 Homeless

At 2am in Kennedy Road last night, on 3 July 2010, approximately 3 people were killed after eight hundred shacks were destroyed in a fire. It is thought that one of those killed in the blaze was a young child.

An estimated three thousand people were left homeless, all their belongings burned. Now, they have nowhere to go. Emergency vehicles came to the scene but could not control the flames.

If people were given land, houses and electricity, there would be no fires. The only reason that there are fires in the shacks is because they are un-electrified. The only reason there are fires in the shacks is because of the failure of the Municipality to provide services.

We have said this since 2005. Meanwhile, the Municipality has made it illegal to electrify informal settlements. Since January 2010, the Municipality has been disconnecting shacks from electricity on a daily basis in Kennedy Road. Abahlali has been very clear that this policy contradicts the Constitution of the Republic.

After Abahlali was attacked in September 2009, Nigel Gumede from the eThekwini Housing Department came to Kennedy Road. He promised that houses and electricity would be brought to the people of Kennedy by February 2010.

The Provincial Minister of Transport, Safety and Security Willies Mchunu also came to Kennedy Road. He said, after the attacks, that the settlement had been “liberated.” He also promised that development would start anytime soon.

Instead of bringing houses or electricity, Gumede and Mchunu brought the Amatins, also known by the people as government shacks, or transit camps. Instead of bringing development, for the few months of the World Cup, the government spent billions of Rands on stadiums, fan parks, airports, and tollgates.

The government can bring the World Cup, but cannot bring housing, electricity, rubbish collection, water, toilets, or land for the poor.

Abahlali had a march in the city on 22 March 2010, which was initially banned by the Municipality. At that march, we raised our concerns. Up until today, there has been no response from government.

Abahlali condemns the Municipality for making these promises, and for failing to deliver. Abahlali calls for support for all victims of the fire, and for a fair distribution of relief.

When fires have happened in Abahlali areas in the past, it is only the Councillor’s friends who first receive support. After a fire that left 2000 homes destroyed at Foreman Road, the ANC Committee demanded that the community show ANC membership cards before receiving blankets, food, or any relief.

Today, on 4 July 2010, Abahlali was asked to come to Kennedy Road after the fire. A delegation, including Abahlali President S’bu Zikode, went there. More than 700 people openly attended an Abahlali meeting in the settlement that was addresed bu S'bu Zikode. The Municipality sent no one, as they were all too busy working on the World Cup.

Among the immediate concerns by Kennedy residents are the following:

– A demand for the supply of building materials, so that the people can rebuild their homes, for themselves.

– A demand for the reinstatement of the development project that was negotiated by Abahlali baseMjondolo and planned for Kennedy Road. An Abahlali technical team for this project met on the 21st of this month with the Municipality, calling for immediate action.

– The people of Kennedy Road are tired of the lies and promises from government. They are sick and tired of Nigel Gumede, the Chairperson of the Housing Porfolio in the eThekwini Municipality. They are sick and tired of their suffering being exploited.

– The people reject the Amatins as adequate housing. They also reject the tenders and tenderpreneurs that bennefit from building the Amatins. It is the focus on the teneders to build Amatins instead of giving the people what they need – land, hopusing and electricity – that is giving rise to these shack fires.

Abahlali would like to remind the media that the Constitutional Court, in overturning the Slums Act, made a statement against the Amatins. These Amatins are unconstitutional, and undermine human dignity. Abahlali will not rest in peace until each and every shack-dweller is housed in decent housing.

We invite all the footballs fans and journalists who are in Durban for the World Cup to come to Kennedy Road and to see for themselves the human cost of misdirecting resources into stadiums and so on in a country where the poor are still suffering. We are dying while you are celebrating and we are dying because of the way in which you are celebrating. This tournament should have been organised in such a way that we could all celebrate together.

Abahlali would like to send condolences to the families who have died in this shack fire, and in past shack fires. There have been a total of five shack fires in Kennedy Road since January 2010. In all these shack fires, the Municipality has sent no one. Abahlali, lastly, would like to ask: Whose child must be burned before the authorities act?

Contacts:
Busisiwe 078 191 3021
Nozuko 082 259 5492
Bandile (AbM General Secretary) 031 304 6420