South Africa: Alexandra residents on the march for houses and jobs for all

On Wed 13th May 2009 at 830am Alexandra residents will march on the Johannesburg High Court, raising their demand for adequate housing and jobs for all. The march starts at Vogas house (corner Pritchard and Mooi streets). Frustrated by years of empty promises by the government for housing and jobs, many residents occupied the RDP houses in River Park, Alexandra.

The Alexandra Renewal Project, a product of the ANC’s so-called broad based black economic empowerment, has not only failed to provide adequate housing for all in need in Alexandra, they have also been involved in corruption, selling houses to their friends which should have been given for free to backyarders and shackdwellers. The Alexandra Renewal Project is seeking a High court action to evict the residents from the RDP houses in River Park. The Alexandra Residents are on the march to oppose this. While several several community and worker organizations support the march, it is being spearheaded by Vukuzenzele and supported by the Landless People’s Movement.

The residents say that the world capitalist crisis is reflected in South Africa, in part by the government not building enough houses for the people, creating an artificial scarcity in housing so that people’s desperation ensures that the banks and construction monopolies can make super-profits. Thus the fight of the workers in North and South America against retrenchments and against homelessness, in the entire world against high food prices and low wages, against unemployment is part of the same fight locally for housing and jobs for all.

Their fight is part of the same fight of workers locally for a living wage or for an end to retrenchment. The government’s commitment to monopoly capital is reflected by their appointment of billionaire capitalist, Tokyo Sexwale to the housing ministry. Mr Sexwale is the head of Mvelaphanda holdings which has substantial shares in construction giant Group 5. He is but one of several paper empowerment billionaires who are owned hand and foot by Anglo American and JP Morgan Chase. To add insult to injury the government has renamed the housing ministry to be that of ‘human settlement’- this shows that the government has now openly given up on housing the masses and will do their masters’ bidding to resettle the poor in shacks away from the city centres (social control).

The Alexandra residents are calling for Cosatu, Nactu and Fedusa to call urgent extended joint shopsteward council meetings to unite the housing struggles with the fight for a living wage, for lower food prices, for shorter working hours and an end to unemployment.


Forward to houses and jobs for all!

Disband the Alexandra Renewal Project!

Down with ‘broad-based’ self-enrichment!

Expropriate the banks and construction companies and place them under working class control!


For further comment:
Freda Dlamini ph 0743520141
Thabo Modisane ph 0781297797

[46 Arrested on MayDay

Frustrated by years of non-delivery and corruption in allocation of the few houses in Alexandra, the shackdwellers and the homeless who live in some of the vacant factories in Marlboro (a section in Alexandra), occupied some flats built by the ANC self-enrichment group, Alexandra Renewal Project. True to form, the police cracked down on the masses, arresting 46 people, today, 1 May 2009. The occupation of the houses symbolises the essence of the birth of Mayday, namely a day of struggle for the demands of the working class on a world scale; this time the right to housing. To date, despite numerous requests by the homeless for the list of who will be able to move into the flats, the Alexandra Renewal Project refuses to release the names. Instead, their instruction was to put the police on the homeless. This summarises the essence of the ANC-SACP -Cosatu popular front: they are talking about worker interests from the platforms of the many Mayday rallies, while in practice are defending the interests of the banks (international capital) by enforcing mass homelessness.

The arrested were being held in the Bramley police station, near to Alexandra but due to the cells being full, they are being transferred to John Vorster square. [John Vorster was one of the most brutal apartheid prime ministers, reknown for his heartless crackdown on the ANC and other then 'liberation' forces]

--
Shaheed Mahomed, Secretary, Workers International Vanguard League
1st Floor, Community House, 41 Salt River rd., Salt River, South Africa 7925
ph 0822020617, fax 0880214476777
workersinternational@gmail.com web www.workersinternational.org.za

South Africa: 12 Arrests at Alexandra

Tonight, police arrested 12 residents of the River Park RDP houses for allegedly breaching an interdict. The interdict, issued on 22 April 2008, is clearly out of date and refers to people unknown to the current residents. The police are using this outdated interdict to intimidate the residents to vacate the houses. The 12 residents are currently being held at the Sandringham police station and may later be moved to the Norwood cells.

The ANC has refused to outline to the residents and the people of Alexandra when housing will be provided to all of them. This is the core of the issue. At the drop of a hat, billions can be made available to build 2010 stadiums for a 2 week circus, but when it comes to the basic demands of the working class, the ANC has only excuses.

The recently released findings from StatsSA show that while the birth rate is constant at 1,3 million per annum, the number of people dying every year has gone up from 400 000 to 600 000. The number of children dying before the age of 5 has virtually doubled over the past 5 years from 35 000 to 60 000 per year. From 1999 to 2005 the number of deaths from poverty sicknesses/diseases has increased from 1 in 5 to 1 in 4 (flu, pneumonia, TB, Aids and stomach infection). While the ANC government may have built 1 million RDP dwellings over the past 5 years, the number shacks have increased by 600 000 in the same period. The 3 million housing backlog is getting bigger and the ANC government has no plans to end homelessness.

Their claim to abolish slums is a cruel lie. The ANC expects the working class to die in silence, while they allow the big capitalists to continue to take home record profits (R700 billion last year). For this plunder of the working class the ANC elite and Cosatu and SACP leaders share in the 'broad-based empowerment' schemes. They have been bought off for a few peanuts while workers are retrenched en masse, workers remain homeless and starving due to high food prices.

Well, the working class refuses to die in silence. The community of Alexandra has announced that they will not be voting in the coming elections. They demand the immediate release of the 12 residents. The central demand remains: DECENT HOUSES FOR ALL!

For comment on the latest developments ph Freda Dlamini ph 0743520141

or ph Thabo Modisane ph 0781297797

Shaheed Mahomed, Secretary, Workers International Vanguard League
1st Floor, Community House, 41 Salt River rd, Salt River, South Africa, 7925

Further Update: Alexandra occupation

Friday April 3
Police poised to shoot on 3,ooo residents occupying houses

The Alexandra Renewal project has issued a fresh eviction order (after using an outdated order to intimidate the people) authorising police to shoot on the current occupants of the RDP houses in River Park, Alexandra. This is how the ANC government is dealing with the enforced mass homelessness of the millions of impoverished working class. The roll out the red carpet to the Fifa capitalists, spend billions in a short space of time on stadiums, while not a care is given for the millions in shacks and backyards.

There is currently a tense standoff between police, with arms at the ready, and 3000 unarmed residents of the RDP houses in River Park. The media are invited to come and bear witness to this.

for comment on the scene call Thabo Modisane ph 0781297797

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Contrary to earlier newsreports that the people who had occupied the River Park RDP houses had been evicted by the police, the community numbering thousands are still there. At 6pm today they are having a mass meeting to prepare for resistance against pending police assault. It has been reported that a number of government trucks are on the way, under the protection of a heavy police presence, to attempt to evict the community. The community are determined to resist. Many have lost their young children through preventable disease, through cholera, through electrocution through city council negligence, many have been repeatedly evicted from vacant factories. The community is saying enough is enough.

Their central demand remains DECENT HOUSING FOR ALL! The community has also applied for a march on the High court on the 7th April to protest against this undemocratic, pro-capitalist institution.

Meanwhile the housng department still clings to the notion that people can only be allocated houses if they are on a list provided by the local ANC councillor. The ANC are the managers for the capitalists to keep the working class in desperation and homeless- the only beneficiaries are the imperialist banks, who thrive on profiteering from the pain of the majority.

Down with the bailout of the banks! Bail out the working class by expropriating the banks and the construction companies- place them under workers' control!

the battle for River Park looms..........

for comment on the scene ph Thabo Modisane ph 0781297797