Hout Bay protest: City of CT and Imizamo Yethu leadership reach agreement

The City of Cape Town executive mayor, Patricia de Lille, maintains there is “no justification for the violence” demonstrated during the three-day protest action in Hout Bay, however, the City and the Imizamo Yethu community leaders have agreed on the way forward.

The protest action is believed to have been sparked by angry Imizamo Yethu residents who reportedly complained that the City’s rebuilding process was taking too long after a fire swept through the settlement earlier this year, destroying 650 houses. Yesterday, the African News Agency reported Imizamo Yethu residents claimed they were promised formal housing by De Lille following a devastating fire in March which left thousands of residents displaced, and said they were tired of waiting.

This despite De Lille saying yesterday the community leadership had open access to the City and “ample opportunities to raise their issues”.

“Meetings regarding development in Imizamo Yethu are held on a weekly basis with a dedicated project team,” said De Lille.

“I receive daily reports on the re-blocking project and I forward this to community leaders to ensure that they keep an eye on the development’s progress.”

In a statement issued today, De Lille said she met with the community leadership yesterday and asked for their input in a proposed plan. It was agreed the City would accelerate the re-blocking across three areas, namely Madiba Square, the Shooting Range site and Donste Yakhe.

“We will work in all three areas at the same time,” said De Lille.

“We are assigning a new programme management team to facilitate and oversee all line departments in the area.

“The community leaders agreed with the way forward and we discussed and will keep engaging on the finer details of how the proposed steps will unfold. The community leaders also identified which leaders would help us with the various aspects of the accelerated re-blocking.”

De Lille reiterated the City remains committed to engaging with the leaders of the community in a bid to ensure they rebuild the area.

Addressing the violence demonstrated by the protesters, De Lille said: “Some of the damage incurred yesterday includes the destruction of the site office and equipment of the civil contractor, in addition to the petrol bombing of a sewerage pipe.

“The people of Imizamo Yethu cannot afford these kinds of setbacks. We have said from the outset that we have to work together to ensure the people receive the services they need.”

Some vehicles were overturned and at least four people were reported to have been arrested.

In a report by iafrica.com a leader of the Imizamo Yethu community, Lungisa Bezile, was quoted as saying they were happy for now that the City would fast track the process.

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