Anti-Eviction Campaign members angered by new MEC

By Sasha Forbes
08 September 2008


Two weeks ago the backyard association of Guguletu, Langa and Nyanga met at a sports complex where the members came to decision to occupy open space. Saturday the members went back to that space and after 45 minutes the metro police came and removed all their belongings. Members gathered together and decided to forward their anger to the new MEC of housing Whitey Jacobs and went to his house and dumped rubbish collected on his property in order to make the newly elected MEC aware of the issues.

Anti-Evictions Campaign Spokes person Mncedisi Twalo says that “we are unhappy about the manner in which the government has dealt with the housing crisis, like a typical example when people are coming as far as the Transvaal, Johannesburg and the Eastern-Cape come to Cape Town and occupy empty space, the government provides toilets, services the land and they don’t push those people out of a particular area.”

Mr Twalo says that when it comes to people who come from Cape Town the government uses the police service to force those people out.