ABUSED AND USED
It happened the day after Christmas. More than 2000 households were forcibly removed from the Bapsfontein informal settlement on 26 December 2010. Many of their belongings were damaged or lost. Some bear scars of beatings from the "Red Ants" who evacuated them.
They were settled in an area almost 30 kilometres away next to the N12 highway in the Benoni area. The Ekurhuleni Metro Council justified it under the Disaster Management Act. This provides for evacuation in case of a disaster that threatens to cause death, injury or disease.
The Bapsfontein area is prone to sinkholes and a study had recommended that they be moved to a safer area. But the Constitutional Court ruled in December last year that they had been illegally removed. The court found that the circumstances did not warrant sudden evacuation.
Demolition of their homes and relocation without a court order violated the Constitution. So why did the council move the residents so brutally in the festive season?
It was reminiscent of forced removals under apartheid that were done when media would be unlikely to be present. I recently visited the N12 informal settlement as part of my "Don't forget the forgotten" campaign.
I saw a community that has made the best of a very unpleasant situation. They were told they would be "temporarily relocated" for only three months, then moved to a permanent location. Despite this uncertainty, they have created a vibrant community. Gardens have been planted, and fruits and vegetables are grown. There are churches, hair salons, grocery shops and food stalls.
Many of the shanty houses have homely touches and added features. There are crèches with caring supervisors trying to enrich the lives of deprived children. I admire their spirit and inventiveness.
The worst thing is that raw sewage flows into their area from the newly built RDP houses in nearby Chief Albert Luthuli Park. Appeals to fix this have been in vain. This highlights the callousness with which they have been treated all along.
The area is zoned for light industrial, so council violated its own laws in settling them there. It appears that they were moved to this unsuitable site because it is in a DA-held ward, and could have tipped the seat in favour of the ANC.
This nearly happened in last year's local government election when the DA won the seat by a mere 59 votes. It shows great arrogance to always count on the votes of people no matter how badly they are treated. But the mood is changing.
People I spoke to at the N12 settlement feel abused and ready for a political alternative. They have a dynamic DA ward councillor, Ms Refiloe Nt'sekhe. She spends a lot of time listening to their problems and trying to rectify them.
According to the court order, the council has to identify land for them by no later than 1 December 2012. If not for this court victory they would probably languish at the N12 for many years, valued only for their votes at election time. I suspect that when these voters' mood switches, it will be swift and devastating.
Jack Bloom is DA caucus leader in the Gauteng legislature. This article first appeared in The Citizen.
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