South African strike turns violent
7.6.2007. 20:03:23

South African police used stun grenades and a water cannon to disperse striking hospital workers in the port city of Durban.

The violence came as a crippling public sector strike entered its seventh day.

The pay strike has highlighted the ideological battle facing the ruling African National Congress as it prepares to elect a new leader in December,with unions saying President Thabo Mbeki's business friendly policies have
left millions behind.

The SAPA news agency said police in Durban moved against about 200 workers who they charged were blocking the entrance to the King George V hospital.

http://gregarde.blogspot.com/2007/05/are-we-doing-enough-to-house-poor-in.html

Are we doing enough to house the poor in Durban?

This story appeared on May 4 in The Mercury

Unveiling the eThekwini Municipality's R17.4 billion budget, Mayor Obed Mlaba has taken issue with critics who complained that Durban was spending R500 million on a new soccer stadium instead of building more houses for the poor.

Mlaba defended the city's spending on major infrastructure like the stadium, saying: "When one simply gives away houses to the poor who have no means of sustaining themselves or building communities, you had better be sure that you have other income-generating programmes in place to pick up the slack."

South Africa

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3806952
April 30, 2007 Edition 1

BRONWYN GERRETSEN

The ground was a mass of black ash, and the stench of burned flesh and charred debris filled the air at the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban yesterday, just hours after a fire destroyed 100 shacks and killed two people.

Residents believe the fire was started by a candle in a shack at the bottom of a hill on Saturday night. The blaze spread rapidly, engulfing the homes of more than 200 people and destroying everything but the clothes on their backs.

The two who died in the blaze were identified as Ephraime Phungula and Ben Mhlakwana, a 31-year-old mother of two - the youngest of whom is a 6-month-old baby.

Available at

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=305766&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

Pretoria, South Africa

24 April 2007 06:56

The United Nations's chief housing watchdog called on Tuesday for a halt to forced evictions in South Africa, saying people were being left homeless in breach of the country's Constitution.

"I am calling for a moratorium on evictions across the country until policy is brought in line with constitutional provisions," Miloon Kothari, the special rapporteur on adequate housing, told reporters.

Despite the fact that the right to adequate housing is enshrined in the Constitution, increasing numbers of people are being removed from dilapidated buildings by the security forces.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=305591&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

24 April 2007 07:16

Too often land for the poor is demarcated in apartheid fashion far from employment opportunities, President Thabo Mbeki told the South African Local Government Association (Salga) conference in Midrand on Monday.

"Except for a few cases, there is still a settlement pattern for poor black people to be on the outskirts of town, far from employment," he said. "It is unacceptable for the allocation of land close to employment centres to be solely for the upper end of the income market."

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=305261&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

19 April 2007 06:16
Miloon Kothari, United Nations special rapporteur for adequate housing, was appalled at the living conditions of Johannesburg's poor. “These are emergency conditions … it's worse than I expected,” he said on Tuesday, walking through San Jose, a dilapidated, 16-storey building in Berea.

Kothari is on a two-week visit to assess the state of housing and land rights in the country. Guided by researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand’s Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Cals), he visited poor peripheral communities and derelict inner-city buildings like San Jose to gauge the government’s efforts to care for the housing needs of the poor.

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3794964

Published on the web by Mercury on April 23, 2007.

Slipping down pathways between rickety shacks, Miloon Kolhari tried not to fall into the mud and the filth of the Foreman Road squatter camp in Durban at the weekend.

The United Nations special rapporteur got a first-hand look at the living conditions of the 7 000 people who call the squatter camp home. He visited the city as part of his global study on housing, a tour that has seen him meet national, provincial and municipal representatives across the country.

Kolhari seemed visibly moved by the plight of the Foreman Road residents and the 7 000 shack dwellers in nearby Kennedy Road.

Available at
http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3797426

April 24, 2007 Edition 1

Amelia Naidoo

Life is generally very hard for women who till the land.

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka spoke on these shared hardships experienced by rural women in South Africa at the Fourth World Congress of Rural Women, which opened in Durban yesterday.

More than 2 000 delegates, including rural women themselves, the government and civil society, are attending the congress at the International Convention Centre, which is being held for the first time on African soil.

This article was originally published on page 2 of The Mercury on April 11, 2007

Shack dwellers ignore police warning

April 11 2007 at 12:56PM

By Proffesor Ndawonde & Matthew Savides

After lengthy discussions between Sydenham Police and members of shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, a proposed march from the Kennedy Road informal settlement to the police station on Tuesday night was halted as police declared the protest illegal.

However, 14 members of the movement, including its leader, S'bu Zikode, walked to the station to hand over a memorandum to Superintendent Glen Nayager, who they claim has been harassing the community.

Available at
http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3767547

April 05, 2007 Edition 1

MEMBERS of the Kennedy Road informal settlement who are being held at Westville Prison on charges of murder have apparently gone on a hunger strike in an attempt to draw attention to their case.

This is according to residents of the settlement, who have been visiting the five awaiting-trial prisoners. However, the Correctional Services Department has been unable to confirm the hunger strike.

The five inmates were arrested in connection with the death of Mzwakhe Sithole, an Ntuzuma man who died while in police custody.