Residents of Qunu informal settlement say they are tired of being moved around Port Elizabeth. Photo: Joseph Chirume
13 July 2016
Residents of an informal camp named after Nelson Mandela’s rural home protested today demanding security, electricity and toilets.
Qunu informal settlement is located on the boundaries of Booysens Park and the old Uitenhage road in Port Elizabeth.
About 200 residents blocked the main road with boulders, logs and burning tyres.
In a petition to the municipality they demanded electricity, water, toilets and assurances that this time they would not be forcibly removed.
Less than 20 metres away, the Booysens Park branch of ANC was singing revolutionary songs waiting for mayor Danny Jordaan who was booked to hold a campaign rally in the area.
This fuelled the anger of the protesters who demanded that Jordaan address them too. But the mayor sent ANC provincial legislature member Christian Martin and the portfolio chairman for infrastructure and electricity, Andile Mfunda.The protesters handed them their petition.
Community leader Simpiwe Mjebeza, 40, said people were living like animals in Qunu informal settlement.
“The council classified us as squatters, hence they don’t want to provide us with services. We have decided to burn tyres because we don’t have toilets and water. We use the bush. We need an answer from our municipal leaders. This is the time to show them our anger because you will see none [of them] here after the votes in August. “
Another community leader who participated in the drafting and handing over of the petition is 38-year-old Thombekhaya Mbatyoti.
She lives with her husband who is a security guard.They have four children who go to school.
She said: “We don’t even sleep well in Qunu because there are lots of shrubs and grass.There are also snakes in that area and we always fear for our children.”
Buziwe Ngene, 51, said she had lived in five informal settlements in the past seven years. She said she hoped because of the elections the municipality would give her a house in exchange for her vote.
“It pains me very much to talk about Qunu village. The place was founded in 2014 by landless people who had been evicted from different areas of Port Elizabeth. The municipality at once destroyed our shacks. We slept in the open for eight days. No-one came to comfort us. Some young children died from pneumonia after being exposed to rain and heavy wind. Our building materials disappeared and until today the municipality has never told us where they put them. I have seven years of moving around Port Elizabeth as a squatter.”
Ngene said she lived with her three children in a leaking shack. She is unemployed.
Accepting the petition on behalf of the mayor, Mfunda said: “We are here because we respect you. I even did not know that there is a place called Qunu here. Your problems are genuine.”
Mfunda promised to visit the settlement tomorrow.