The ANC in Western Cape has launched a scathing attack on provincial Premier Helen Zille following the violence that erupted in the Hangberg settlement in Hout Bay last week.
It said it would call on President Jacob Zuma to launch a commission of inquiry into the matter after residents appealed to the ruling party.
Yesterday, ANC senior member and Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana met Hangberg residents in his capacity as convenor of an ANC provincial task team.
Last week, Cape Town officials demolished 29 shacks illegally built on a firebreak. But they were met by angry locals who tried to prevent the demolition.
Sixteen metro police officers were injured when residents pelted them with stones, hurled petrol bombs and shot at them.
Police peppered residents with rubber bullets, injuring dozens, including many bystanders. Four people were blinded in an eye.
One of the victims, Lizzie Jacobs, pulled off her cap to show Mdladlana the bullet wound to her head.
Mdladlana said he was outraged by the incident.
"This is not the first time I hear such stories. This could have been handled better [by provincial government]. This is such a posh place ..." he said.
"Yes, that is why they want to move us from here," interjected a resident.
"You have people, not knowing what is happening and then daar kom die bloed ..." Mdladlana said.
He warned residents that his taking up the issue could result in the situation turning ugly.
"Ek hoop nie julle is bangbrokke nie. You know what Helen Zille is going to say - 'This is political'.
"I will make an appeal to the president that there should be a commission of inquiry into this situation," he said. "I would rather be unpopular than have people killed or lose another eye."
Cape Town has applied for interdicts and eviction orders "as a last resort".
Zille said last night: "The commission is a political ruse. Mdadlana is clearly acting as the political head of the ANC in Western Cape. This has nothing to do with dealing with the issue.
"Just like the Erasmus Commission, he has a political agenda. If anybody has done anything wrong, he can lay a charge and the matter can be heard in an open court - not by a politically biased commission."
Twenty-nine shacks are now unoccupied but 54 are occupied and to evict these families the city requires a court order.
"Meetings with the community in Hangberg, requests to vacate the land and to demolish illegal structures voluntarily, have been unsuccessful," said the city's spokesman, Kylie Hatton.
The shacks have been erected on a firebreak which, she said, was made to prevent mountain fires from spreading to homes.
According to Hatton, the occupation of the land is delaying the city's formal housing projects because the area has become too densely populated.
"The way to resolve this problem is to speak about it - guns won't resolve the problem," said Mdladlana.
"We have to come and sit down with people.
"That is how we achieved our freedom. Not through skop, skiet and donner."
- Times Live
It said it would call on President Jacob Zuma to launch a commission of inquiry into the matter after residents appealed to the ruling party.
Yesterday, ANC senior member and Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana met Hangberg residents in his capacity as convenor of an ANC provincial task team.
Last week, Cape Town officials demolished 29 shacks illegally built on a firebreak. But they were met by angry locals who tried to prevent the demolition.
Sixteen metro police officers were injured when residents pelted them with stones, hurled petrol bombs and shot at them.
Police peppered residents with rubber bullets, injuring dozens, including many bystanders. Four people were blinded in an eye.
One of the victims, Lizzie Jacobs, pulled off her cap to show Mdladlana the bullet wound to her head.
Mdladlana said he was outraged by the incident.
"This is not the first time I hear such stories. This could have been handled better [by provincial government]. This is such a posh place ..." he said.
"Yes, that is why they want to move us from here," interjected a resident.
"You have people, not knowing what is happening and then daar kom die bloed ..." Mdladlana said.
He warned residents that his taking up the issue could result in the situation turning ugly.
"Ek hoop nie julle is bangbrokke nie. You know what Helen Zille is going to say - 'This is political'.
"I will make an appeal to the president that there should be a commission of inquiry into this situation," he said. "I would rather be unpopular than have people killed or lose another eye."
Cape Town has applied for interdicts and eviction orders "as a last resort".
Zille said last night: "The commission is a political ruse. Mdadlana is clearly acting as the political head of the ANC in Western Cape. This has nothing to do with dealing with the issue.
"Just like the Erasmus Commission, he has a political agenda. If anybody has done anything wrong, he can lay a charge and the matter can be heard in an open court - not by a politically biased commission."
Twenty-nine shacks are now unoccupied but 54 are occupied and to evict these families the city requires a court order.
"Meetings with the community in Hangberg, requests to vacate the land and to demolish illegal structures voluntarily, have been unsuccessful," said the city's spokesman, Kylie Hatton.
The shacks have been erected on a firebreak which, she said, was made to prevent mountain fires from spreading to homes.
According to Hatton, the occupation of the land is delaying the city's formal housing projects because the area has become too densely populated.
"The way to resolve this problem is to speak about it - guns won't resolve the problem," said Mdladlana.
"We have to come and sit down with people.
"That is how we achieved our freedom. Not through skop, skiet and donner."
- Times Live
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