The Abahlali baseMjondolo said today:
Christmas is often the time of evictions in Durban. The Municipality knows that many people are away at their rural homes and that it is difficult to get legal, media and political support at this time.
Today the municipality is demolishing homes at the Marikana land occupation in Cato Crest. About 40 houses have already been demolished now by the eThekwini Land Invasion Unit. We are still counting as they are still demolishing. Cato Crest sits with an order from the Durban High Court which protects the residents from the illegal demolishing of their homes. Yet the municipality does not respect the order and demolishes is open violation of the law and the court order. This is the 8th time this year that the municipality has acted in open contempt of the court by demolishing homes at this settlement.
Just when Mandela has passed on the ANC is turning this country against Mandela’s wishes. They are not even ashamed of the lives the poor people are living, how we are staying or the fact that the residents of Cato Crest will spend the Christmas on the street.
This year the MEC for Human Settlement Mr Ravi Pillay also promised to intervene on the issue of Cato Crest. Are these evictions that are illegally leaving people homeless his intervention?
Last year at around this time of the year many homes were burnt down at the Kennedy Road settlement. The eThekwini Mayor James Nxumalo promised to give them proper homes. One year later those promises have not been met.
The political leaders do not care a less for the people. Their only interest to suck votes from the people so that they can enrich themselves. It is like all the politicians are born from one mother.
