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Action alerts

Reconsider Symphony Way's eviction to Blikkiesdorp

2009-10-07, Issue 451

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/59312

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On 7 October 2009 at 10:00 am, the Symphony Way pavement dwellers will appear in the Western Cape High Court.

The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) has sent a letter to Mayor Dan Plato calling on the city to reconsider the eviction of the Symphony Way community to Blikkiesdorp.

We all face evictions from the city of Cape Town – for a second time. The first time was when we were evicted from the N2 Gateway houses without being given any suitable alternative place to stay. This is why we have been occupying Symphony way for 1 year and 8 months.

The city wants to put us in Blikkiesdorp, but we refuse to move there. In Blikkiesdorp our children will not be safe. There are too many crimes happening and children in that relocation camp are being raped all the time. Different kinds of gangs and drug-houses operate in Blikkiesdorp.

We agree with COHRE that the structures are inadequate in size for large families. Because they are constructed with thin tin and zinc sheets, the structures fail to provide adequate protection against the extreme weather conditions of the Cape Flats. As reported on national TV, you can cut open the shacks with a scissor, so it's risky to leave your blikkie to go to work or go shopping for food. Last week, a national newspaper even compared Blikkiesdorp to the concentration camps holding aliens featured in the new hit movie 'District 9'.

We refuse to be treated like aliens in our own country! This is why we say Asiyi eBlikkiesdorp! We will not go to tin-cans!

We will get together for our march at Keizergracht Square at 8:00 am and start marching to the High Court at 9:00 am. The march will be as follows: from Keizergracht down Darling Street, left onto Adderley Street, right into Wale Street and then left into Keerom Street where the court is situated.

For more information, contact Kareemah on (+27) 078-492-0943, Aunty Badru on (+27) 072-822-8109 and Evelyn on (+27) 072-748-6864.

To download the letter to Plato, click here. To download COHRE's report on the N2 Gateway, click here.

* 'Voices from Symphony Way' is a forthcoming publication from Pambazuka Press.

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