5 year houses, 5 year seats
puddling on here. the strike is still going. which means no email/web access at the university. luckily i have david's computer here at home to use for a few spare minutes at a time.
the pressure is building, on campus, but also around town with the election looming. on sunday evening, there was a televised debate in nearby cato manor community hall (a HUGE shack settlement just over the next ridge of hills from the university and where i stay). s'bu zikode of abahlali was supposed to be on the panel, but when the program started, it was only 4 candidates, representing political parties, one being the ANC's mayor Obed Mlaba. I could see red t-shirts in the audience, but it wasn't the mass numbers i was expecting. Mlaba made some comment about how houses were being developed for residents of the mjondolos, but a lot of them were in places that would require relocation.
About half way through the show, with a thunderous storm going on outside and the signal coming in and out, S'bu appeared, and grabbed the mic, angry. Unfortunately for me, my zulu is not up to par yet, so i wasn't sure what he was saying. there was a cut to commercial break, and just as the program came back with the commentator still talking to S'bu from the floor, the signal went out.
The next day I heard that the police had actually barred the 60 member Abhlali contigent from entering the hall, even though S'bu had an invitation from SABC, and he was supposed to be on the panel. The police said there was no room left, even though it was evident as ANC t-shirted people were let in, that there were still plenty of empty chairs. S'bu and many others were beaten with knobkerries by the police, before some of them were let in to the debate. There was no mention of this on TV, or in the papers about what happened.
i will not blame Abahlali if they continue to escalate their struggle. obviously they are making an impact, if they are receiving this kind of horrible response.
***
with so much going on, i can't seem to write enough. it's hard to believe i'm really starting to miss things like my laptop and wifi, a cell phone that works, and i really wish i had a digital camera. it's been relatively easy to borrow other people's stuff, but downloading photos, for instance, requires logistics that are hard to come by when friends here are all wrapped up in the struggle at the university.
which means that stuff like filming the new houses being built at joe slovo will have to wait, and writing up a piece about these 70-year-old sisters who have been living at Banana City settlement [well they say the settlement's original name is actually Pineapple settlement, because they used to grow lots of pineapples there] since the 1950s.
every time i talk to a new person, a new issue seems to spring up. esther (a friend of mrs gule, see here) from joe slovo called me last week to say that the new RDP houses are leaking. Sure enough, we looked at 5 in a row, and they all had the same problem-- faulty and CHEAP construction meant that the concrete used to build the walls was cracking, and the wall between the shower and the main room of the house had holes, so water spilled onto the floor, leaving unhealthy fumes, and mold, i'm sure, as well.
these are houses built between last summer and december, and people have been living in them only for a matter of months. these are the houses that shack dwellers are being resettled in. these houses with leaks in the walls, not to mention the leaks in the roofs with no waterproofing or any type of ceiling under the roof tiles. it's all in the open.
someone from the ANC told a grandma we visited that her house would be good only for 5 years. 5 YEARS. then what? with the backload in constructing these buildings, one would think that there would be more energy put into building a lasting home for people. what happens in 5 years?
5 years means another election, coincidentally.
Or maybe it's not so much of a coincidence.
the pressure is building, on campus, but also around town with the election looming. on sunday evening, there was a televised debate in nearby cato manor community hall (a HUGE shack settlement just over the next ridge of hills from the university and where i stay). s'bu zikode of abahlali was supposed to be on the panel, but when the program started, it was only 4 candidates, representing political parties, one being the ANC's mayor Obed Mlaba. I could see red t-shirts in the audience, but it wasn't the mass numbers i was expecting. Mlaba made some comment about how houses were being developed for residents of the mjondolos, but a lot of them were in places that would require relocation.
About half way through the show, with a thunderous storm going on outside and the signal coming in and out, S'bu appeared, and grabbed the mic, angry. Unfortunately for me, my zulu is not up to par yet, so i wasn't sure what he was saying. there was a cut to commercial break, and just as the program came back with the commentator still talking to S'bu from the floor, the signal went out.
The next day I heard that the police had actually barred the 60 member Abhlali contigent from entering the hall, even though S'bu had an invitation from SABC, and he was supposed to be on the panel. The police said there was no room left, even though it was evident as ANC t-shirted people were let in, that there were still plenty of empty chairs. S'bu and many others were beaten with knobkerries by the police, before some of them were let in to the debate. There was no mention of this on TV, or in the papers about what happened.
i will not blame Abahlali if they continue to escalate their struggle. obviously they are making an impact, if they are receiving this kind of horrible response.
***
with so much going on, i can't seem to write enough. it's hard to believe i'm really starting to miss things like my laptop and wifi, a cell phone that works, and i really wish i had a digital camera. it's been relatively easy to borrow other people's stuff, but downloading photos, for instance, requires logistics that are hard to come by when friends here are all wrapped up in the struggle at the university.
which means that stuff like filming the new houses being built at joe slovo will have to wait, and writing up a piece about these 70-year-old sisters who have been living at Banana City settlement [well they say the settlement's original name is actually Pineapple settlement, because they used to grow lots of pineapples there] since the 1950s.
every time i talk to a new person, a new issue seems to spring up. esther (a friend of mrs gule, see here) from joe slovo called me last week to say that the new RDP houses are leaking. Sure enough, we looked at 5 in a row, and they all had the same problem-- faulty and CHEAP construction meant that the concrete used to build the walls was cracking, and the wall between the shower and the main room of the house had holes, so water spilled onto the floor, leaving unhealthy fumes, and mold, i'm sure, as well.
these are houses built between last summer and december, and people have been living in them only for a matter of months. these are the houses that shack dwellers are being resettled in. these houses with leaks in the walls, not to mention the leaks in the roofs with no waterproofing or any type of ceiling under the roof tiles. it's all in the open.
someone from the ANC told a grandma we visited that her house would be good only for 5 years. 5 YEARS. then what? with the backload in constructing these buildings, one would think that there would be more energy put into building a lasting home for people. what happens in 5 years?
5 years means another election, coincidentally.
Or maybe it's not so much of a coincidence.
posted by stephatriseup at 5:17 AM
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