Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato was confronted by stick-wielding shack dwellers, who threatened him over the city's failure to install electricity in their homes, when he visited Overcome Heights in Steenberg on Sunday.
Plato visited the area to discuss their demands for electricity. But the encounter was characterised by shouting and swearing.
The mayor appeared shaken as the hostile crowd of about 100 people brandished sticks and hurled threats and insults.
With a finger pointed at Plato, one fuming resident said: "Look at you, you are wearing a nice suit and you are driving an expensive car and you have bodyguards. You don't care about us."
Another told him: "You are a big liar."
With the squatters also shouting at ward councillor Demetri Qually (DA), Plato's entourage of bodyguards and Metro officers were on the alert.
"We are sick and tired of Qually," said one resident.
The police had to restrain a drunk man who shouted each time Plato spoke.
The crowd said that the City of Cape Town's failure to install electricity in people's shacks in Overcome Reserve Road smacked of racism.
The squatters, most of them black, told Plato racism was the reason that only the shacks of coloured people had electricity.
Despite promises from the city, they had been without electricity since they settled in the area three years ago.
Their coloured neighbours had electricity, they said.
Overcome Housing Forum chairperson Fawzia Cassiem said the city's failure to install electricity in the other shacks was causing conflict.
She said she had called the mayor after being accused of racism and being struck with a brick.
"We are not racist. We are prepared to help (the other shack dwellers).
Scores of people settled on the R300 road reserve about three years ago. About 2 500 shacks have been built on it, and two thirds have electricity.
Plato told the crowd he had received a letter from the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) informing him of its intention to use the reserve road to extend the R300.
Plato said the city could not continue installing electricity in the shacks if Sanral wanted to begin working on the stretch of road in the next year or so.
"If Sanral says it will start work in three years, then we will start working, we will install electricity because we are determined," Plato promised the crowd.
Electrifying the shacks while Sanral was working on the road would be "wasteful and fruitless expenditure", he said.
The group told Plato he was making empty promises.
He told them he needed to meet Sanral to discuss the matter and would report back to them in 10 days.
Plato rejected the racism claims.
He said illegal squatting and "people streaming into Cape Town hoping for a better life" were creating challenges for the city.
There were 223 informal settlements in the Western Cape and the city did not have the means to provide all with services, Plato said.
The shack dwellers said they bought power from their neighbours for R150 a week. This was achieved by drawing electricity from the neighbour's box.
But sometimes more than four residents drew on the same box, causing an overload.
One man said he was spending R500 a month on electricity, leaving him with little money to feed his three children and grandmother.
- Cape Times
Plato visited the area to discuss their demands for electricity. But the encounter was characterised by shouting and swearing.
The mayor appeared shaken as the hostile crowd of about 100 people brandished sticks and hurled threats and insults.
| 'You are a big liar' |
Another told him: "You are a big liar."
With the squatters also shouting at ward councillor Demetri Qually (DA), Plato's entourage of bodyguards and Metro officers were on the alert.
"We are sick and tired of Qually," said one resident.
The police had to restrain a drunk man who shouted each time Plato spoke.
| 'We are not racist' |
The squatters, most of them black, told Plato racism was the reason that only the shacks of coloured people had electricity.
Despite promises from the city, they had been without electricity since they settled in the area three years ago.
Their coloured neighbours had electricity, they said.
Overcome Housing Forum chairperson Fawzia Cassiem said the city's failure to install electricity in the other shacks was causing conflict.
She said she had called the mayor after being accused of racism and being struck with a brick.
"We are not racist. We are prepared to help (the other shack dwellers).
Scores of people settled on the R300 road reserve about three years ago. About 2 500 shacks have been built on it, and two thirds have electricity.
Plato told the crowd he had received a letter from the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) informing him of its intention to use the reserve road to extend the R300.
Plato said the city could not continue installing electricity in the shacks if Sanral wanted to begin working on the stretch of road in the next year or so.
"If Sanral says it will start work in three years, then we will start working, we will install electricity because we are determined," Plato promised the crowd.
Electrifying the shacks while Sanral was working on the road would be "wasteful and fruitless expenditure", he said.
The group told Plato he was making empty promises.
He told them he needed to meet Sanral to discuss the matter and would report back to them in 10 days.
Plato rejected the racism claims.
He said illegal squatting and "people streaming into Cape Town hoping for a better life" were creating challenges for the city.
There were 223 informal settlements in the Western Cape and the city did not have the means to provide all with services, Plato said.
The shack dwellers said they bought power from their neighbours for R150 a week. This was achieved by drawing electricity from the neighbour's box.
But sometimes more than four residents drew on the same box, causing an overload.
One man said he was spending R500 a month on electricity, leaving him with little money to feed his three children and grandmother.
- Cape Times
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