Occupation de terre : émeute à Tafelsig (Le Cap) – 16-17 mai 2011

Several wounded as police clash with CT land invaders

eyewitnessnews.co.za

Chantall Presence & Nathan Adams | Yesterday

Several Swartklip residents including children were wounded on Monday after police fired rubber bullets at them while City of Cape Town workers broke down illegally erected structures.

Dozens of families illegally occupied the council-owned land near Tafelsig in Mitchell’s Plain. Some claim they have been on the council’s housing waiting list for decades.

They refused to budge despite a visit by Mayor Dan Plato.

One woman said she would not go back to living in someone’s backyard.

“We don’t have a place to go back [to]. There’s no way to go back. Must we go back to a merchant’s yard where there are a lot of gangsters standing there?”

The families have no access to water, electricity or proper sanitation, but the city’s Pieter Cronje said they do not intend providing these at this point.

“We do not want to encourage permanency or occupancy by providing basic services at this stage,” he said.

South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members were put on standby as metro police officials and police officers continued to clash with residents.

Several children and adults were hit with rubber bullets as officers retaliated when they were pelted with stones. Read more…