Open Letter to Mayor Patricia de Lille

2 October 2012

Open Letter to Mayor Patricia de Lille regarding her failure to receive our memoranda and treat us with dignity

Dear Mayor Patricia de Lille,

Re: failure to receive our memoranda and treat us with dignity

As shackdwellers from Sweet Home, Samora Machel and Langa TRA, we would like to express our shock and extreme displeasure at the way you have treated us by refusing to accept our memoranda during our march on the 1st of October 2012.
Almost 500 of us decided to march on the Mayor, the Premier and the offices of the Housing Development Agency to show how we are being ignored by the government when they fail to engage with our legitimate grievances. Despite this, you as the Mayor continues to ignore us, disrespect us, and undermine us.

When we organised the march, city officials called on us to meet with them at the Civic Centre as required by legistlation. These officials agreed to help facilitate our march from Salt River Train Station to the Civic Centre, the Provincial Parliament and HDA. However, at the last minute, without even consulting with us, our march was re-routed forcing us to begin at Keisergraght and to not go to the Civic Centre. We assume this was a political move by the City to prevent us from coming to your office.

Officials did assure us, however, that the City would still meet us at the provincial parliament to receive our memorandum.

This unilateral re-routing of the march is a violation of the 1993 Gatherings Act and shows how our Constitutional right to march and gather when we want and where we want is being assaulted from - Marikana to Durban to Cape Town. We feel shamelessly undermined by the City of Cape Town which had no good reason to prevent our march from Salt River Station.

Expectations not fulfilled

The purpose of our march as poor shackdwellers not aligned to any political party was to meet the Premier and the Mayor who are responsible for ensuring that government talks to us and works with us. Yet, neither the Premier nor yourself in the capacity as the Executive Mayor of our City feel that we are important enough to accept our memoranda in person.

Furthermore, Mayor Patricia de Lille, you have shown us the most disrespect because you did not even bother to send over a representative from your office to accept the memoranda in your place. We have proof that you have been informed that we requested you to receive our memoranda on the 1st of October and you have even replied acknowledging receipt of our request (see the attached email correspondence).

Instead you kept us waiting outside the Provincial Housing Department and we eventually, reluctantly, agreed to request that MEC Madikizela forward our memoranda to your office.

This type of behaviour is shocking to us! Do you think so little of us poor shackdwellers that you don't even recognise us as human beings?
We don't know if you and your fellow government officials will even respond to us or address our demands which we have attached for you. You will probably just throw it in the dustbin with the memoranda from all the other protesting communities in the City of Cape Town. You're officials will probably continue to ignore our emails and phone calls when you fail to provide us with the services promised to us.

Just in case you do bother to read it, we have attached our memoranda. If you fail to respond and to meet with us within 14 days, we will be returning to your office.

Signed,

Lulama Magadla

On behalf of:
Sweet Home shack settlement
Samora Machel informal settlements forum
Abahlali baseMjondolo baseLanga TRA
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For more, please visit the website of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign at:
www.antieviction.org.za and follow us on www.twitter.com/antieviction

Visit Abahlali baseMjondolo at www.abahlali.org and www.khayelitshastruggles.com

The Poor People's Alliance: Abahlali baseMjondolo, together with with Landless People's Movement (Gauteng), the Rural Network (KwaZulu-Natal) and the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, is part of the Poor People's Alliance - a unfunded national network of democratic membership based poor people's movements.

1 October 2012
Langa Temoporary Relocation Area Memorandum

This memorandum has been written by the Langa T.R.A executive of A.B.M movement, as poor people living in government built T.R.A. (shacks) we have many grievances regarding our living conditions.

As leaders of Abahlali basemjodolo kwalanga T.R.A. (shacks), we are the delegates elected from our poor communities. We have followed all the required housing development agency channels tying to have these grievances resolved. From housing location to, to corruption and misallocation of T.R.A. and RDP house to eviction, demolishing some of the T.R.A structures. We have never have our issues adequately engaged with and very rarely have even received response from H.D.A officials.

Hence our movement has decided to march to the H.D.A offices to hand over a memorandum to stuff alder. Once again we demand that you personally come down to our poor communities and address us directly. Specially, you are requested to come to Langa T.R.A where there s a crses of corrupton and misallocation of T.R.A rightful residents are being evicted (such as in the documented case of Thandeka Ngcewana that have just being relocated in the third T.R.A on 11/09/2012). We want the database of residents from Joe slovo informal settlements to T.R.A, from T.R.A to Delft

We expect your visit within the coming month. As you and your predecessors have ignored our previous request for engagement, we expect you to respond within seven days.with your suggest date of attendance.
If you do not attend to our grievances personally we will decide collectively on what alternative action we should take to have our voices heard and our grievances address.

Yours in the struggle of the poor,

Cindy Ketani (Chairlady)
Tumi Ramahlele (deputy chairperson)

SWEET HOME FARM MEMORANDUM

Protest for service delivery held on 01st October 2012

Office of the Premier, Western Cape

Office of the Mayor, City of Cape Town

We are gathering here today to demand for service delivery, namely water, electricity, safety and security, health environment, tarred roads and adequate housing. We are here today because our human dignity is neglected and the government continues to turn a blind eye to our demand for the basic necessities of life. The liberation struggle occurred because the majority of the people were treated in a discriminatory manner and we, as citizens of this country cannot allow this continued.

We are also entitled to the basic rights contained in our constitution which includes the right to human dignity and equality. We therefore demand not to be treated as second-class citizen but as people who have the rights to participate in making decisions that may affect our lives. Our constitution requires the municipality to involve the communities in matters of local government. In this respect, we tried to engage the City of Cape Town without success.

This can be tested with the following:

1. Since 2011, the sweet home committee communicated our demands on two occasions in letters addressed to the Mayor of Cape Town, and the committee received a letter from the office of Ms. Alderman Patricia De Lille, stating that the issues addressed would be considered.

2. The City of Cape Town municipality’s failure to engage with the community, subsequent to our demands, led to the sporadic protest. On the 30th of August 2012, the City of Cape Town, instead of listening to our cries, sent in the police to shoot at us. However, we are not deterred because we strongly believe that our demands are just simple and legitimate.

3. On the 06th of March 2012, the Mayor De Lille allows us to come to her office where she heard our grievances and promised service delivery in the whole Sweet Home Farm settlement. We are still waiting for her to deliver today.

4. Our Councilor, Mr. Thembinkosi Pupa undermines the Sweet Home Farm Committee as if Sweet Home Farm settlement does not belong to his constituency. This increases the community’s frustration. Being sidelined frustrates our engagement with the office of the Mayor and other relevant authorities.

The impact of the lack of service delivery:

The lack of service delivery in our communities has severe implications such as shacks may catch on fire due to using candles and then people die from these fires. The most vulnerable people are our children and elderly. The lack of water, safety and health environment contributes to their health and well-being.

We are here to demand the followings:

1. To provide services in Sweet Home Farm settlement;

2. To treat us with dignity, respect and concern;

3. To engage with our Sweet Home Farm committee and to allow the Sweet Home Farm committee to be involved in the matters that Sweet Home Farm forms part of this constituency and he should meaningful engage with us.

4. To remind Councilor Mr. Thembinkosi Pupa that Sweet Home Farm forms part of his constituency and he should meaningful engage with us;

5. To demand answers from Ms. Patricia De Lille as to the reason why she has not yet respond to our demand as we presented to her on the 06th of August 2012;

6. To engage with the Sweet Home Farm committee in the provision of services;

7. To demand land and housing for us all;

NB: We would like to be given feedback and response within the seven to fourteen days of the working days of the office.

Thank you,

For Sweet Home Farm Committee:

Chairperson, James Siya

Secretary, Nosipho Ndyalavana

The Memorandum is handed to:

Mayor of City of Cape Town, Ms. Alderman Patricia De Lille

Premier of the Western Cape, Ms. Hellen Zille

Mayor__Request_to_recieve_memoranda.pdf

Mayor__request_to_receive_memoranda__reply.pdf

ENDS

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