Mercury

eThekwini times

Obed, you pace yourself so wisely
December 9, 2005

By Greg Ardé

Dear Obed, greetings boet! I haven't written for so long because, like you,
I've been busy campaigning. These pre-election bursts of energy are
something else, hey?

Imagine the awesome service delivery eThekwini's residents would enjoy if we
had the same drive throughout the council term? But, that's a ridiculous
notion. It makes absolute sense to save your energy for elections, to pace
yourself. Anyway, Obed, well done on the land thing. I know that your
surprise announcement about the R10 billion Phoenix East housing project was

Letters from the Youth to the Mayor and the President/ Amazwi Abahlali
bakuKennedy Road

Sekwanele ukuphuma kwemiphefumulo engenacala. Ngenxa yokuthi umbani asinawo nezindlu
zethu zamaphepha. Asinawo ngisho amatoilet sizikhulula ezihlahleni. Kodwa sithi
imiphefumulo yethu iyosiphendulela ngelinye ilanga kulungile uma kuzwakala kangcono
kuwena ukufa kwabanbu sekwanele ukufa kwezihlobo zethu. Sekwanele ukuhlala
eminondolo. Sekwanele ukuzithulula ehlathini.
....
We want you to show us what you are doing because being burned is not a good thing. Is it good to you to hear that people are dying because of fire while you are sitting there eating expensive food?
....

December 21, 2005

zoleka thombo's case was postponed today. she is the kennedy road person who was arrested on a charge of possessing stolen property (a fence pole) after kennedy road took back the 'promised land'.

and the committee for academic feedom in africa has prepared a statement against the ukzn banning of ashwin. it will be out soon. no doubt this will real raise international awareness.

and there was another really good show on radio al ansaar this afternoon. on forced removals this time. mnikelo ndabankulu (foreman road) and siyacela ndenza (formerly of lusaka, now removed to mount moriah) were excellent.

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=283&fArticleId=3040896

UKZN and settlement jostle for same spot

Durban land project hits snag
December 20, 2005

By Zukile Majova

An ambitious eThekwini Municipality project to upgrade an informal settlement near the University of KwaZulu-Natal has hit a snag because the university had planned to build residences for its increasing student population on the same land.

Now a process is under way - between the municipality's Housing Department and UKZN's planning services - to decide whether there is enough land for the student residences to coexist with the low-cost housing planned for the vociferous residents of Banana City about 100m away from the university. The residents had been at the forefront of protests against the perceived slow pace of service delivery by the municipality.

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=285&fArticleId=3043436

OPINION

Nobody cares about us shack dwellers

Zama Ndlovu and Hlengiwe Jwara
December 22, 2005

By Zama Ndlovu and Hlengiwe Jwara

Losing one member causes so much pain in a family, but how about losing two at the same time? That is what almost happened to the Jwara family.

Last Sunday evening, two brothers were stabbed in the Kennedy Road informal settlement. Zothani Jwara, 22, died instantly. His brother, Scelo Jwara, 20, was seriously wounded. When we heard Scelo Jwara's cries, we immediately called an ambulance. We were told it would come soon. We waited for about an hour and called again, and the dispatcher told us that there were no ambulances. As soon as one arrived, she said, they would send it out to us. In the meantime, we had to wait.

Cape Argus (Cape Town)

66 cops injured in illegal service delivery protests

October 13, 2005

There were 881 illegal protests in South Africa in the past year in which 66
police service members - 21 of them in the Free State - were injured.

In a reply to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance, Safety
and Security Minister Charles Nqakula added that the majority of illegal
protests, nearly 223, occurred in Gauteng, followed by the Eastern Cape
(153) and KwaZulu-Natal (132). There were 51 such protests in the Western
Cape.

The statistics relate to the 2004/2005 financial year, during which period

Daily News (Durban)

Frustration boils over in protests
Community angered at snail pace service delivery

October 14, 2005

By Bheko Madlala

Fed up with the slow pace of service delivery at local government level,
disgruntled communities across the country are increasingly resorting to
using illegal methods to express their dissatisfaction with ineffective
municipalities.

This emerged in the national assembly in Cape Town this week when the
minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula, told MPs that there were
881 illegal protests in the South Africa during the past year, with 66

January 04, 2006
URGENT PRESS RELEASE

UKZN VICE-CHANCELLOR PROF. M.W. MAKGOBA SEEKS TO EVICT FOUR FAMILIES

During the Christmas Holidays a Notice of Motion was lodged in the High Court by Prof. Makgoba to ask the court to allow the eviction of 4 families from the Banana City Informal Settlement on the Westville Campus of UKZN. The court date is set for 6 January 2006. Makgoba obviously hoped to be able to get away with this while legal NGOs etc are shut down for Christmas. But top class legal support has been secured and Makgoba’s motion will be contested in the High Court, at 9:30 on Friday 6 January 2006.

From:
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=260652&area=/breaking_news/br
eaking_news__national/

The rise and rise of SA's shacks

Donwald Pressly | Cape Town, South Africa

Mail and Guardian Online, Johannesburg, 06 January 2006 12:36

The number of shack dwellings in South Africa rose from 1,45-million in 1996
to 2,14-million in 2003, according to Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu.

Between 1996 and 2001, 383 392 new shack dwellings were built. A further 304
502 were built between 2001 and 2003 -- a total of 687 894 in the seven
years. That was 417 new shacks a day on average between 2001 and 2003 and

http://www.southafrica.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/9445.php

Durban court denies eviction notice to shackdwellers
by Steph Lane Friday January 06, 2006 at 07:27 PM

This morning in the Durban High court, a judge adjourned a request from University of Kwa-Zulu Natal to evict four households from a shack settlement called Banana City, located within the grounds of the University's Westville Campus. She ruled that because the University had not filled out all of the proper documents, they were not in order a! nd would have to re-serve the eviction notices to the households, and appear again to the court at a later date.