The EFF made the following call in the Cape Town metro: “The City of Cape Town needs to please try and understand and stop being aloof.” The response was made in relation to ongoing protests for basic services in informal settlements in Kraaifontein that have caused havoc since Monday.
Protest action has been relentless and is still ongoing. Over the course of this week, the city has been subjected to violence, destruction of property, road closure, and even a fatality. Police fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse hundreds of angry residents on Wednesday.
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SAPS spokesperson Andrè Traut said that Public Order Police members were deployed this morning to ensure the safety of the public, reported IOL.
“Sporadic incidents where groups of up to 200 protesters are disrupting the normal flow of traffic by setting alight tyres are being monitored and policed. The R300 has been affected this morning surrounding the areas of Delft, Belhar, Kleinvlei and Kuils River,” Traut said.
“The right of people to protest peacefully is recognised, however lawlessness will not be tolerated and we will not hesitate to take decisive action to neutralise the situation.”
Incidents of extreme destruction have continued to occur.
Cape Town scenes: Protests pic.twitter.com/eKuam9xbKX
— Mhayise – Ndlela |? (@NunguSompisi) March 25, 2021
Linda Phito, Community activist from Bloemkombos in Kraaifontein, said the following:
“The City of Cape Town, under the DA, is arrogant in terms of how to help those in need of service delivery.”
He said that his organisation has been writing to the City about these issues since last year, “but even today the City doesn’t want to come together to see the way forward”.
“We understand in our country, and also the City, that the lack of land is a persistent issue. In Kraaifontein, they are supposed to be building housing, but our people are taking the land since being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Phito continued.
The EFF’s Cape metro regional chairperson, Unathi Ntame, said the following after meeting with residents from Bloemkombos on Tuesday:
“The community is not satisfied with the lack of services being delivered. The City does not want to give them the services they need. They keep appealing cases in courts that have have to do with occupied lands. These are people who could not afford the lands, and they lost everything due to the pandemic, and then they are forced to occupy the vacant spaces so that they can live with their children,” Ntame said.
On the 21-March-2021, in a meeting held in Ward6, Wallacedene, Kraaifontein people told the us that they are now tired of being peaceful. @CityofCT must provide basic services to Cape Town informal settlements or face inevitable consequences. #EFFMustRise pic.twitter.com/D7bPhNE8an
— EFF_Cape_Metro (@EFF_Cape_Metro) March 23, 2021
“The City wants to throw them out, and the EFF does not agree with the approach by the city. Their attitude has been disgusting. We say to the City that they must provide basic services like water. How can they miss the basic services? These people need a toilet. We say the City is wrong and they should continue to protest but do so peacefully.”
Protests, however, have proven to be anything but peaceful.
2. While everyone has the constitutional right to protest, resorting to violence and destruction is simply unacceptable. It is dangerous and illegal to do so at the expense of the rights of others, especially their right to safety, to property and to move freely.
— Min. Albert Fritz (@AlbertFritz_) March 25, 2021
Picture: Twitter / @NunguSompisi