Days of Darkness in Kennedy Road

As many of you know, Kennedy Road has been a second home for me over the last 3 years and I have many close friends and comrades who live there. The last few days have been extremely stressful, being so far away in Canada, as violent attacks have broken out across the settlement.

In the last few days I have received urgent calls from women and children I know in Kennedy Road after violent attacks erupted this weekend. At least 3 people are already confirmed dead and it looks like there may be as many as 8 others. People have been arrested. Men with swords and bush knives have been marauding around burning down shacks and fighting people.

Hundreds have fled or are in hiding all over Clare Estate without food or shelter.

Thulani, who is now 16 years old, was hiding in the bushes in the rain after having been violently driven out of his shack with the rest of their family. He whispered to me over the phone that the children were hiding with hundreds of Zulu people who had been driven out of their homes. They were very scared. Mamazana, who is 15 and was also hiding there, said that there were many other children in the bushes with them.

They were afraid their shacks will be burned and have left with little more than the clothes on their backs.

[picture of Lwazi outside their shack in August. The settlement is home to a huge number of children, many of whom run households themselves]

Reports from Abahlali baseMjondolo say their members have been specifically targeted, houses destroyed and their lives threatened. They reported on Saturday at a meeting in the settlement "a group of about 40 men heavily armed with guns, bush knives and even a sword attacked the KRDC near the Abahlali baseMjondolo office in the Kennedy Road settlement. The men who attacked were shouting: 'The AmaMpondo are taking over Kennedy. Kennedy is for the AmaZulu".

While things remain unclear exactly what has happened, it is obvious that ethnic and political violence are fueling what is happening and many people are scared, displaced and without shelter.

Sbu Zikode's house has been smashed and ransacked as have many other members of the movement and members of the movement are under specific target.

[picture of Zikode's smashed home]


Immediate action needs to be taken to provide shelter for those displaced and to ensure that the lives of community members under attack are defended.

Violence that targets ethnicity and political affiliation is an extremely serious. It seems the violence may be motivated by a variety of factors and there must be a credible investigation launched. Reports of the failure of the Sydenham police station to take action to defend the lives and property of shack residents is extremely worrying as well, as is the complicity of ANC councillors.

Immediately securing shelter is a priority, but people can also get the story out and put pressure on the government in South Africa and internationally.

A press release has just been issued, but those with contacts for temporary shelter, food, or other resources should get in touch.

I don't have much faith in the government at the moment, but at least 'name and shame' their complicity by signing this petition so they know the world is watching:

Abahlali is also posting updates and have set up a fund to collect donations here.

Durban action against Xenophobia is mobilizing with updates.

Inkani

Click To Play

Inkani traces the growing resistance of poor communities over the last seven years in Durban, including the violent evictions in Bayview, the Ten Rand march, the Marcel King shooting and the Abahlali base Mjondolo marches and victories.

Shannon Walsh & Heinrich Bohmke (2006)

Crossmoor shackdwellers march on city demanding housing, water, and toilets

About 500 people from the Chatsworth community of Crossmoor marched on city hall today in demand of housing, water and sanitation. The community is insisting that the city provides immediate access to water and toilets for the more than 300 families that have been living for nearly 12 months without either.


The memorandum outlining the plight of the shack dwellers was meant for the eyes of City Manager Mike Sutcliffe. Yet Sutcliffe was nowhere to be found.

Visven Reddy and Paris Singh, both Chatsworth councilors, came forward to accept the memorandum, but the community refused to hand it over to either of them. Both councilors, they insisted, had been contacted numerous times and knew the issues well, yet had done nothing to rectify the situation.



The lively crowd resolved to wait for someone who would take their demands seriously. Finally eThekwini's Housing Department Head, Couglan Pather, arrived to accept the memorandum.

After a heated discussion, Falakhe "Fundise" Mhlongo told Pather that the community will give the city seven days to respond to their demands. If after seven days there is still no water and no toilets, they will connect their own water and make the streets their toilets.

They cannot wait any longer, he insisted.



Part of the Crossmoor settlement has a case in court after the city tried to forcibly evict them, leaving many homeless for months. Another portion of residents came to the land in Crossmoor after being forced out of the nearby Bottlebrush settlement while it was being upgraded.

Udaka

Gcina Shange rocks it in a durban shack settlement. Our latest endeavour as From The Well productions. Udaka means 'mud' and the song talks about coming from the shacks....

Blocking the G8- Ten days in Germany

Just returned from the protests in Germany against the G8. We successfully blockaded a few of the major roads, caused some good mayhem, and were able to form links with autonomous movements all across Europe. An amazing experience. I will write a full reflection in the next few days with a few more pictures from the event. Seeing the millions of cracks, or 'the million bee stings' John Holloway was calling it, was inspiring, even if in some ways the politics of the North that found most expression here might not have real resonance with the South, I think some of our everyday practices are more alike than we think.

Crossmoor Residents Blockade Road, Demand Water and Toilets

April 28th, 2007

Billows of black smoke stood out against the white sky in Crossmoorjust after dawn on Saturday morning. A few hundred shack dwellers fromCrossmoor settlement (called Ekupholeni, or "a place to relax" byresidents) blockaded Crossmoor Drive with burning tires.

With the sun having set on Freedom Day only hours before, it wasdisheartening to see placards held by the protestors which read "Wewant toilets and water" and "This is a better life for all?"Their demands were a sad reflection of the actual state of affairs forso many South Africans more than a decade after so-called Freedom.

Ekupholeni settlement braces against the slope of a hill in Crossmoor,Chatsworth, and is home to nearly 200 people, a majority of which areheaded by women with children."This is not what we fought for. We need toilets, we need water. We can't continue to live like this." beseeched Falakhe "Fundise" Mhlongo, one of the community leaders.

Fundise knows what he is talking about. He is one of the hundreds inthe area who have been struggling to find any shelter at all. Many people have come to Ekupholeni after having been forced out of nearby Bottlebrush shack settlement and they literally have no where else togo. At the same time, the City's Protection Services have been destroying any structures that are erected in the area, forcing people to sleep in the bush and open air.

Only a few weeks ago a young woman was raped when her shack was broken down by municipal services and she was forced to sleep in the open bush. The perils of living under this kind of pressure can barely be imagined.

Compounding the stress of homelessness, or eminent homelessness, there is not water or toilets accessible on the site. At the moment, people make their way anyway they can, using water from a local tuck shop or sympathetic neighbours, and attempting to find some dignity in the surrounding bushes.

The police had a large presence at Saturday's blockade, but chose to attempt mediation with community leaders rather than forcibly breakingup the protest. A woman with a toilet seat around her neck may have hit a sympathetic note with the officers.

SAPS Superintendent Ram Chunder, explained that, "since there are children and women involved, and there seems to be real grievances,we'd like to see if we can help resolve this through mediation. We are trying to get a meeting with the local councilor and Mike Sutcliff to at least see if some water storage facilities could be put in."

A small delegation of community members went with the SAPS mediatorsto Metro Police station in the hopes of meeting with Minority Frontcouncilor Paris Singh and City Manager Mike Sutcliffe.

"We need water and toilets and we want them to act."

At Metro Police station neither City Manager Mike Sutcliff or ParisSingh appeared. Apparently they were both away on holiday. Arepresentative for Singh who did met with the delegation told thecommunity to expect a visit from the councilor in the coming days.

It doesn't look like residents of Ekupholeni should hold their bladders.

At least 2 are dead after terrible fire in Kennedy Road this weekend

While many people vacationed this long weekend, Kennedy Road was again the site of tragedy. The worst fire yet to hit the settlement left at least 2 people dead and hundreds homeless.

With so many people homeless and left with no belongings there will need to be a serious amount of fundraising and support done in the coming days.

Posted below is the article written about the fire in The Mercury. It's a terrible situation, a product of the way in which people are forced to live: with no electricity, burning candles and paraffin, in shacks made of scraps that burn so easily. Fires like this one are so preventable if only the city would take seriously the plight of the poor.

For comment or to offer support - building materials, food, blankets, medical assistance - please contact Thobile Hlongwa at 094 758 6875

Two die in Kennedy Road shack fire, by Bronwyn Gerretsen