On Wednesday morning, Human Rights Day in South Africa, a special task force raided three houses they suspected belong to abalone poachers in Hangberg. The officers fired live ammunition and the community retaliated by throwing stones. For the community this was all reminiscent of the clashes that broke out in September 2010. I, unfortunately, did not have much time on hands and produced a slapdash piece on what the communtiy had to say about the events that unfolded on Wednesday. But at least the voice of the community is out there.

Hangberg: Reopening of Old Wounds

Passop marching for papers

Up to about 1,000 people marched to Parliament on Friday 30 March as part of the Global March To Jerusalem in Cape Town South Africa. A memorandum was handed over to a representative of the international relations department.

The Global March To Jeruslem is the first ever of its kind. Organisers hope it will become an annual event. The date also co-incides with Land Day when, in 1976, six Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli forces while participating in a peaceful general strike to protest against Israeli confiscations of privately owned Palestinian land. 

Global March 2 Jerusalem - Cape Town

A delegation of Egyptian, British and South African youth are in Gaza to deliver aid to the people there. I spoke to Muhammad Kallah who is leading the South African delegation. He said the first-timers in Gaza were shocked to see the conditions of Palestinians.

Miles For Smiles

While many were on holiday for the long Easter weekend, close to 100 people – many of them youth – marched for more than 13km from Guglethu to Khayelitsha to protest living conditions in townships. This is the second year in a row that the march, under the theme Welcome to Hell: South African Townships, was hosted by community leaders. It aims to create awareness about the hellish conditions people in townships are living in. This particular march was held on Saturday, and just after I spoke to one of the organisers, Pastor Xola Skosana of Khayelitsha.

Welcome to Hell (SA townships)

Friday 13 April 2013 was exactly a year since Andries Tatane was shot and killed by police during a service delivery protest in Ficksburg in the Free State. A group of people marched through the Civic Centre in Cape Town to call for an end to police brutality. They also demanded to speak with Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille. This is a report I did on it. At the end it is Indignous Nciya reciting some of his poetry.

In memory of Andries Tatane...

All who know me would know that Hangberg is my favourite community in Cape Town. Tuesday, 15 May, was International Day of Families. The Western Cape department of social development hosted the day where various organisations exhibited what they have to offer the community that would assist in the strengthening and unification of families. The organisations present included Hout Bay Cares, Child Welfare, Child Line, SA Social Security Agenc etc.

International Day of Families

A woman once complained that the water in her area had a strong chemical smell. She was convinced it was pesticides from the farms that was contaminating the tap water. Shortly thereafter water in other areas was earthy. There were even messages circulating that that the water should not be consumed because it was poisonous. I then decided to visit the Blackheath Water Treatment Plant to see for myself how water is purified. It was a very interesting experience because I had no idea what processes were involved in order to get the water to be drinkable. I spoke to the City of Cape Town and an independent researcher about the quality of water in Cape Town.

Water purification

Today refugee advocacy group People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty (Passop) held a picket outside the Maitland Refugee Reception Centre. They were protesting against the ill-treatment of asylum seekers, the poor services at the centre and the impending closure of the facility. Meanwhile, the Maitland Sector Forum as well as the Maitland Ratepayers and Residents Association held their own picket on the opposite side of the road.

Faatimah2