Here are three comments on the government's "Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land" Amendment bill. Shortened to PIE, the bill seems to be a manifesto for landowners, and a kick in the teeth for shackdwellers. These comments are by Stuart Wilson, of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University here, Jean du Plessis of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, here, Koni Benson of the International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG) (here) and Marie Huchzermeyer of the University of the Witwatersrand (here).
Koni Benson
A PIE in the Face - Comments on the Government's New Eviction Legislation
Submitted by abahlali on Wed, 2007-02-14 18:39. CALS | Centre for Applied Legal Studies | Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions | COHRE | comment | government | ILRIG | Jean du Plessis | Koni Benson | law | legal | Marie Huchzermeyer | PIE | Stuart Wilson | WitsSolidarity with Zimbabwe: Another side to the xenophobia story
Submitted by Abahlali_3 on Mon, 2007-08-27 11:46. Koni Benson | Z-Nethttp://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=13524
The dominant story in the mainstream press these days is that the South African poor act out of desperation when migrants and refugees are violently attacked. That the 'problem' is competition for scarce resources and that SA must first get its house in order, and solve the poverty crisis, and then desperate South Africans will stop lashing out at desperate asylum seekers.
This story of displaced frustration and resentment does not fairly represent the range of opinions, and even more importantly, organized actions of the poor and working class in South Africa who invest precious resources in directly supporting refugees and migrants, especially in the case of Zimbabweans right now.
