WAARHEID! Official Newspaper of the Party

Vol 11 March 2021 Free Copy To fix violence we must fix communities

BY If we are to fix we need to stem the tide of This is what the Council thinks of Bontas… violence. Violence that is committed in our homes and on the streets. Gender-based violence. Gang-related violence. Violence committed by security force members meant to uphold the peace.

On the last weekend in February, six people were shot dead in Mitchell’s Plain. In March, Human Rights month, Hanover Park families kept their children indoors as gangsters ran amok. Victims of this violence included a 14-year-old boy. Another 14-year-old narrowly escaped with his life.

In Johannesburg, police fired rubber bullets at protesting students, killing a passer-by.

If we are going to stem the tide of violence in our society we need to shift our thinking away from the idea that the only tool to fix it are more and better-trained police.

If we are going to stem the violence we must develop our self- respect and respect for others. We need to stop talking about social interventions and actually fund and implement them.

We need to stop funding gimmicks such as the shotstopper technology introduced by the City of at great expense that enabled the city to listen in to gunfire but had no impact on stopping violence.

We need to use our resources better, including our community resources. We need more social workers, more drug A historic school in Bonteheuwel tucked behind a garbage dump. The school is fenced, but the dump is open to rehabilitation programmes, more recreational facilities for neighbourhood children. See Page 2 for a special feature on the historic Cape Town township. young people, more academic support for children struggling at school, and much more support for community-based organisations and interventions. aren’t daily shattered by a random bullet, or the violence of But we can immediately begin gathering the necessary mere survival on the poverty side of the tracks in one of the ingredients to meet the challenge sustainably. We can We need all spheres of government, but particularly local most unequal countries in the world. immediately begin revising budget planning by setting the government, to finally abandon the level of There is no place for violence in a society built on a community development goals and targets we must meet. maintaining our townships and ghettoes and recognise the foundation of justice for all: Social justice, economic justice, We can immediately begin to re-imagine a new approach to necessity to develop better serviced communities. Integrated, environmental and spatial justice. peace and security. sustainable communities. It’s urgent. In the short-term we are going to have to continue Communities which feel it’s worth their while investing in a Those are the four pillars on which GOOD’s policy stands. our disproportionate and unfair dependence on the police to nation we’d all like to live in. We know that fixing our communities and our country prevent our descending into chaos. This is unfair on both us cannot be achieved overnight. and the police. Communities in which our children’s dreams of better lives

Good police don’t kill with rubber bullets COVID-19 UPDATE Ducking the third wave BY SAM SHABANE South Africans escaped another hard Covid lockdown for the Easter weekend, with President appealing to citizens to accept The killing of a passer-by in a hail of rubber bullets fired by that has lost faith in the integrity of its government. responsibility for avoiding further trauma by maintaining face-mask, police in the general direction of protesting students at Wits It reflects the violence that has become the every-day reality social distancing and hygiene protocols. University on 10 March reflects a broken society in which the in our dear suffering land. Large parts of Europe are presently back under lockdown, and the lives of ordinary people, particularly Black people, are not pandemic is wreaking unprecedented havoc in South America. South regarded as precious. We must not allow ourselves to become hardened to this Africa has recorded the highest incidence of the virus in Africa, although injustice. not all continental statistics are considered reliable. Mthokozisi Ntumba, 35, was not a participant in the protest Addressing the nation at the end of March, a year after South Africa’s action. Good South Africans will welcome the arrest of four policemen first lockdown, Ramaphosa sought to balance the needs of the economy accused of taking Ntumba’s life. and public health. Liquor stores would temporarily close for the weekend; religious gatherings, restaurants and bars would remain open; and the Had he been a participant it wouldn’t make his killers any midnight to 4am curfew would remain. more or less guilty of the crime of murder. Our security forces cannot shoot, beat and kill with impunity. New infections would be closely monitored, with regulations to be The lives of our people are not so cheap. Just as the soldiers responsible for the death of Collins Khosa reviewed in mid-April, he said. in Alexandra for allegedly violating Covid lockdown provisions Scientists have predicted that a third wave in South Africa is imminent – Ntumba’s killing reflects an ill-disciplined and trigger-happy 11 months ago are held accountable for their foul deeds, so but the pandemic is unpredictable and nobody knows for sure. police force that is hopelessly unqualified to manage the Ntumba’s killers must learn that there are consequences for As at 31 March, South Africa had recorded more than 1.5m cases and 52 extreme pressures inequality and poverty exert on a society crime in South Africa. 788 Covid-related deaths. The country’s vaccination programme has got off to a very slow start.

Wishing you a Happy Easter

Page 1 The condition of Bonteheuwel is a disgrace

Since the advent of democracy 27 years ago, the has not developed a single social housing opportunity in these better located areas to which anyone from Bonteheuwel could potentially return.

Without anywhere else to go, unless they can afford the expense of buying or renting in the suburbs, Bonteheuwel is forced to absorb its own population growth, becoming increasingly overcrowded.

It was initially built for 35 000 people. The roads were built for 35 000 people, few of whom drove their own cars. The drains and sewers were built for 35 000. But more than 85 000 people live there today.

Marlene Bousserhane is a grandmother who lives in a backyard Wendy House in Jasmine Street. Her name has been on the city’s housing waiting list for 23 years.

She is among the residents who have formally opposed the proposed development of the Jasmine Street sportsfield, which is among the last pieces of public open space in the area.

Developing this land won’t solve Bontas’ backyarders problem. It will only further densify the already overcrowded community and over-stretched infrastructure.

Those fortunate enough to be able to move out of the backyards will be quickly replaced, while the community will forfeit a sports facility – a refuge dearly needed to promote health and safety for local youth, as opposed to the attractions of gangsterism.

“Although I live in a Wendy House and have been waiting for a house for so many years, I don’t want a house on the sportsfield. Where must my grandchildren play? Why can’t they build houses in other areas? Why don’t they build houses on sportsfields in or Newlands?”

Bousserhane showed WAARHEID! the condition of the streets. They are rutted and potholed, and had never been resurfaced since first being laid, she said. In CRUMBLING: Marlene Bousserhane and Michelle Breda say Bonteheuwel’s road network is winter, the roads become rivers and water gushed over crumbling, and turns into a river network in winter. the pavements and into peoples’ homes.

Then she showed us Arcadia Primary School, her old school. It borders a rubbish dump. The Council won’t clean the filth because the land belongs to a provincial A group of born-and-bred Bonteheuwel aunties took gardens) to thousands of struggling members of the government department. WAARHEID! on a tour of their filthy and neglected community under lockdown. township that local councillor Angus Mackenzie (DA) “We recently cleared the site, on which we’d like to plant wants reclassified “a suburb”. Over the next few months WAARHEID! will visit various vegetables, and an apple farmer brought in his tractor communities to monitor municipalities’ progress (or lack to plough the ground. But a few weeks later, it’s back to Sights pointed out along the way included the of progress) in the development of better township living square one. booming backyard shack economy, crumbling road environments. and stormwater networks, thriving drug houses, “Show me which residents in which suburb live on and a disgusting informal dumpsite right next to a Bonteheuwel was established 60 years ago as Cape streets that become rivers and regularly flood their primary school. The aunties work as volunteers for Town’s first “Coloured township”, to accommodate homes. Show me which school in which suburb borders the Bonteheuwel Development Forum, which provided families forcibly removed from better areas of the city an open garbage dump. “This is the dumpsite Angus critical food support (daily meals and vegetable that were reserved for whites. wants to call a suburb,” Bousserhane said.

Ou koek vannie councillor

The only support residents living in a Bonteheuwel senior citizen’s complex got from their local councillor during last year’s lockdown was “ou koek” received a few days after his birthday.

“My ma bly in daai kompleks,” sê Michelle Breda. “Die kompleks val onder Angus Mackenzie. Daai mense het baie swaargekry onder lockdown. Hulle betaal hulle eie rent, ligte en water, en koop hulle eie kos. Kan julle glo vir die hele ses maande van Covid het hy niks vir hulle gesê nie?

“Toe verjaar Angus. Agter drie dae bring hy vir hulle koek. My ma het vir my die koek gebring. Ou koek!”

Breda, in her 50s, has lived in Bonteheuwel all her life. She is passionate about uplifting the area, and has tried working with local politicians representing various parties – from the Labour Party to the DA. She turned her back on the DA last year. WHERE WILL THE CHILDREN PLAY? Marlene Bousserhane and Michelle Breda on the Juniper Street sportsfield. Residents have objected to developing housing on the land, which is among precious few recreational areas left in the Bonteheuwel.

Page 2 GOOD places BIG back on agenda BY MP

South Africa can no longer afford to delay implementing a their job as simply criticising everything government does It is GOOD’s hope and, we believe, that of all good South Basic Income Grant (BIG) that will monthly place a small sum without bothering about potential solutions. Africans, that the BIG grant will be a little more generous than of money in the pockets of those who are starving but don’t this hastily introduced grant. qualify for existing social grants such as child, pensioner and Minister Zulu agreed that the suffering in our country disability grants. occasioned by extreme poverty and unemployment were such We cannot afford not to fund BIG. Extreme poverty is like that the debate had moved on from, if we should implement a Covid. It is upon us, whether we like it or not. Just as we could When I delivered this message, as a motion on GOOD’s behalf BIG, to how and when. not ignore Covid, although our economy was already on its to parliament in March, we scored a rare full house: Our knees when it arrived, we cannot afford to ignore extreme proposal united all parties across their usual divides. Calling for a people-centred social compact involving the poverty. When the Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu spoke, private and public people, the said she believed that a BIG she thanked GOOD for taking the bull by the horns. was possible. We must reprioritise budgets to prioritise the dignity of people trapped in poverty, joblessness and hopelessness. This is exactly what GOOD has in mind when it talks about The short-term R350 poverty alleviation grants introduced as a becoming a constructive opposition force in South African lifeline for struggling families under Covid lockdown last year, It is about compassion, but it is also about humanity, fairness politics, as distinct to destructive opposition parties that see are due to end in April. and justice. Struggling in Soshanguve

BY DEWAN DE SWARDT

Elizebeth Nonyane of Soshanguve is a widowed mother of six children. She has no job, no income, and is forced to live off Since that day she became a dependent for a roof over her Jobs are scarce, and Nonyane is yet to find one despite years the social grants of others. families head on her mother, who receives a state pension – of effort. She and her family are among millions of South eking out a survival on grants the State pays to (barely) sustain Africans trapped by the circumstances of her poverty – many She fears for the day her children grow up and her mother her children. of whom fall passes away, because the grants will dry up and she’ll have outside the social security safety net. no way of feeding herself, at all. The RDP home the family was about to receive was lost because the property was in her husband’s name, and title did It is people such as her that would qualify for a Basic Income Nonyane’s life changed dramatically when her husband, the not pass to his family. Their pleas to the City of Tshwane for Grant. It would be the first step towards her reclaiming her family breadwinner, suddenly fell ill and passed away in 2014. support fell on deaf ears. dignity.

Elizabeth Nonyane and her mother, Nelly outside their home in Shoshanguve. EPWP jobs for votes tendency must be stopped

South Africa can no longer afford to delay implementing a politics, as distinct to destructive opposition parties that see are due to end in April. Basic Income Grant (BIG) that will monthly place a small sum their job as simply criticising everything government does of money in the pockets of those who are starving but don’t without bothering about potential solutions. It is GOOD’s hope and, we believe, that of all good South qualify for existing social grants such as child, pensioner and Africans, that the BIG grant will be a little more generous than disability grants. Minister Zulu agreed that the suffering in our country the hastily introduced TERS. occasioned by extreme poverty and unemployment were such We cannot afford not to fund BIG. Extreme poverty is like When I delivered this message, as a motion on GOOD’s behalf that the debate had moved on from, if we should implement a Covid. It is upon us, whether we like it or not. Just as we could to parliament in March, we scored a rare full house: Our BIG, to how and when. not ignore Covid, although our economy was already on its proposal united all parties across their usual divides. knees when it arrived, we cannot afford to ignore extreme Calling for a people-centred social compact involving the poverty. When the Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu spoke, private and public people, the said she believed that a BIG We must reprioritise budgets to prioritise the dignity of people she thanked GOOD for taking the bull by the horns. was possible. trapped in poverty, joblessness and hopelessness.

This is exactly what GOOD has in mind when it talks about The short-term R350 so-called TERS grants introduced as a It is about compassion, but it is also about humanity, fairness becoming a constructive opposition force in South African lifeline for struggling families under Covid lockdown last year, and justice.

Page 3 Playing cops and robbers with Cape gangsters doesn’t work

BY BRETT HERRON, MPL

Since the 1960s, when forced removals to barren townships rapidly eroded social cohesion and people’s sense of community, instead of addressing the underlying issues leading to anti-social behaviour – such as the culture of gangsterism – the State has responded with bullets, truncheons, courts and prisons.

This has led to a vicious cycle criminalising young people of colour. Many end up in prison for non-violent crimes, where future hardened criminals are honed. They are released back into the community, only to commit worse offences, and face re-arrest and imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the conditions in which people live in the townships deteriorate due to overcrowding, poor maintenance, and overstretched infrastructure.

In the and City of Cape Town our communities daily suffer the linked impacts of under-development and crime.

But the provincial and city governments are blind to the link.

They prefer playing cops and robbers. The City spent R32m technology called ShotSpotter in 2016, to pick up the location of gunfire, described as “game-changing”. But how could it change the game when it takes the cops half-an-hour to reach the scene?

The project was quietly abandoned in 2019, the City was forced to concede in reply to a question I asked in the provincial legislature (though it remains part of the current city policing plan). social and political realities underpinning the anti-apartheid families living in backyards and informal settlements, and struggle. millions of people unemployed. Not to be outdone in the spending stakes, the Province is planning to spend R1.3 billion employing 1000 learner law The province hopes its Kistcops will reduce the murder rate In the game of cops and robbers, the cops always win. enforcement officers – called LEAPs. by 50%. The idea is reminiscent of the “Kitscops” of the 1980s, which But in real life, on the ground in the Western Cape, the biggest were instant cops created by PW Botha to respond to the While they play, there are children who can’t get into schools, losers are the people living in vulnerable communities. The Coach Column Replacing EP piece in SA rugby jigsaw puzzle

BY PETER DE VILLIERS, THE COACH

It is a great honour and challenge to have been given the a more daunting challenge. On the scoreboard, our results in opportunity to begin to fix rugby in a region of the country that the first weeks back with the heavyweights haven’t met our In the short-term I have suggested that the rugby authorities once sat proudly at the sport’s top table. expectations. consider deploying to us some hardebaarde players who But our boys’ courage was immense. Many were club players may not presently be used by other regions. They will help It is a region, headquartered in Gqeberha, previously known as stepping onto a bigger stage for the first time. The lessons accelerate our development to the next level. Port Elizabeth, which contains all the necessary elements to be learned were fundamental to their progress. The value of a rugby powerhouse, as it was in the past – and a powerhouse beginning to build systems, structure and belief in the region Our challenge is to be competitive, not just with the salaries, of SA rugby transformation. will bear fruit. but a professional environment that offers real opportunities to grow our future stars into world class athletes. By ingredients I refer to tradition, feeder schools, major The support of sponsors is the key to ripening this fruit in university and sparkling 2010 World Cup stadium. The only abundance. The Eastern Cape is known as the Home of Legends. It has missing ingredient over the past few years has been the produced legendary warriors, political leaders and rugby commitment of critical role-players including administrators Just as it is difficult for South Africa’s richest unions to hang players – from Danie Gerber to Siya Kolisi. and business. But there are clear signs that this is changing. onto players lured away by the power of the Pound, Franc or Yen, so it has been difficult to persuade our local boys It is time for the province to nurture its riches again. It is in this We had to start somewhere and travelling to Loftus for our to stay when the Sharks or the Bulls come dangling their noble endeavour that I am honoured to play a small part. first match back among the heavyweights couldn’t have been chequebooks.

WAARHEID!

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• WEBSITE: www.forgood.org.za FACEBOOK: @WAARHEIDnews We wish you all a safe, happy Easter weekend with family.

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