Stables protestors walk out after council refuses to listen
Stables supporters walked out of today's council meeting after the speaker refused to hear a motion addressing the recent eviction notices the city has served on tenants.
SUPPORTERS of the Newmarket Stables and Stables Lifestyle Market, who attended the council meeting in Tongaat today, walked out of the meeting after the council refused to listen to their pleas surrounding the eviction of tenants.
Supporters arrived at the Tongaat Hall wearing shirts calling for support for the stables and, according to ward councillor, Martin Meyer, the speaker, Logie Naidoo, tried to get residents to remove their shirts.
“When we called him out on that, he backtracked and refused to hear an urgent motion to halt the evictions, saying that it was not urgent and that not enough had been done to engage with the city. First of all this is not true, and secondly, at the council meeting of October 2014 the Speaker was told by the council to engage with the tenants, something he has not. The responsibility is his! The people then walked out. It shows that the city still refuses to listen to the people nor engage with them. A sad day but the fight is not over,” he said.
Meyer had questions he planned to put Naidoo at the council meeting, however Naidoo made a last minute decision not to allow the motion on the evictions to be tabled based on a minor technical point.
“The Democratic Alliance is disappointed by the city of eThekwini’s failure to engage with affected parties from the Newmarket precinct and Naidoo’s refusal to allow an urgent motion calling for the retraction of eviction notices on the Stables Lifestyle Market and Newmarket Stables. This eviction will lead to the loss of hundreds of jobs at the end of August,” he said.
Meyer described council’s stance as indicative of it being unwilling to engage with residents on important matters, and acting without compassion.
“The ANC Secretary-General this week said it is unpatriotic to shed jobs at this time, yet the ANC-run municipality seems quite willing to destroy the livelihood of hundreds of families in one fell swoop,” he said.
He said the DA tabled the motion to allow the city to find a lasting political solution to the situation, and to avoid another expensive court case that will be financed by the ratepayers of the city.
“Let us hope that the leadership of the city will grab the opportunity to speak at the public meeting which will be held on 11 August, to show that they are committed to building a caring and livable city,” said Meyer.
