S.Durban Residents V Truckers
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* January: Mangosuthu Tech and DUT tuition fees; S.Durban residents v truckers; hostel residents demand upgrading * February: Mangosuthu Tech and DUT; Verulam traders v municipality on rental policy; SDCEA against World Bank loan to Eskom; inner-city flatdwellers; bus commuters; * March: UKZN security/transport; DUT food prices; Abahlali base Mjondolo demand return; driving school owners; ANC v COPE at Clermont * April: UKZN accommodation & exclusions; Samwu national strike; SACP anti- corruption * May: Satawu * June: Stallion Security v World Cup pay; Durban communities v FIFA; * July: anti-xenophobia protest; fisherfolk arrests; * August: public sector strike; sweatshops; Umlazi service delivery * September: UKZN accommodation JANUARY The Mercury Students protest at Mangosuthu Tech 12 January 2010, 13:52 About 100 students were protesting against an increase in tuition fees outside the Mangosuthu University of Technology at Umlazi in Durban on Tuesday, the student representative council said. Students were protesting outside the university demanding that management decrease its 8.5 increment for 2010. “If management does not meet with our demands we will go on a full strike,” SRC president Dumo Ntwinkala said. “Fees continue to increase over the years with the promise of renovations and accommodation, but nothing is being done. We want management to hear and accept our grievances,” he said. Police spokesman Superintendent Jay Naicker said police were called. “Everything is under control. Police are at the university as we speak to monitor the situation.” The university was not immediately available for comment. - Sapa *** Students in fee ultimatum 12 January 2010, 23:40 By Mercury Reporter The Mangosuthu University of Technology in Umlazi has been given two weeks by its student representative council to re-open discussions on this year’s increase in tuition fees by January 22, or face a strike. About 100 students handed a memorandum of demand to the university’s management on Tuesday. Their primary demand was that management reduce the 8.5-percent increase in fees. “We hope to be afforded a proper opportunity to express reasons why we absolutely oppose this increment. The issue is that it was not discussed with students,” the memorandum said. University spokesperson Bheki Hlophe said: “We are going to formulate a response to all issues that were raised.” # This breaking news flash was provided exclusively to www.iol.co.za by the news desk at our sister publication, The Mercury. *** Durban eyes truck routes 12 January 2010, 14:15 By Arthi Sanpath Special heavy-duty truck traffic lanes, and even some roads through Durban, could be closed off to normal traffic in an effort to reduce the congestion from the harbour. This possibility is being considered by the eThekwini Municipality in the wake of fatal accidents and congestion caused by freight trucks. Motorists may find their routes through the city determined by the council, changing the face of the bustling harbour area and surrounding communities. Community organisations from Merebank, Clairwood, Isipingo and Bluff have repeatedly called for the removal of trucks from their areas. The possibility of a dedicated route for freight vehicles formed part of the city’s investigation into building a container terminal in the Cato Ridge area, said Soobs Moonsammy, head of development planning and management at the municipality. “The freight route will pertain to heavy duty vehicles, trucks carrying freight into and out of the port and other hubs in the eThekwini region,” Moonsammy said. She said the city needed to accommodate freight and infrastructure and land uses associated with these systems to the port and out of the port, the back of port area, the new airport and new industrial land offerings in the north and existing industrial hubs dealing with freight. Key corridors in the study were the west, which includes Cato Ridge and Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg), and the northern areas which extend from Durban to Richards Bay and included Maputo. “We also need to have the freight routes in and around the port that are more efficient, effective and mitigates against current domestic conflicts for road capacity roads and land uses,” she said. However, whether this meant a dedicated route or lanes, was still under review, but she said it could at certain places be both. The route would also have to include areas or hubs for truck stops, areas for transfer to and from rail, and check points. The city is still investigating a dry port container terminal at Cato Ridge. Moonsammy said they would be in a better position to comment once the study had been completed. The intention would be to have harbour-bound goods and containers transported via rail to and from Cato Ridge. Rishi Singh, chairman of the Clairwood Ratepayers’ Association, said they had heard of different plans, but nothing concrete was on the table. “Since then, we have met with city management, but we will meet again next month and have more information given to us,” he said. Wentworth and Brighton Beach councillor, Aubrey Snyman, said although freight routes were an option for the city, the ideal solution would be to use rail transport. “There has always been heavy traffic in these areas and we have called for height restrictions as well for trucks, among other measures, to stop truck-related accidents,” Snyman said. Snyman said the trucks destroyed roads, verges, pavements and drains. Desmond D’Sa, spokesman for the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, said they were not in favour of any prescribed routes for trucks. “We want the trucks out of the suburbs,” he said. D’Sa said the organisation and residents were pushing for the creation of the Cato Ridge container terminal. A memorandum calling for this was handed to city authorities in August last year. Residents asked that town planning be applied and enforced for a clear demarcation between residential, commercial and industrial zones; trucking operations in the residential area be given notice to relocate or face eviction; for landowners who rent out their properties to trucking companies to be prosecuted; prosecutions for town planning violations and traffic offences involving trucks and trucking be expedited and converted into convictions; for Metro Police to be more pro-active; and that the height restriction resolution for Bluff Road be finalised. Council officials declined to reveal further details of the plans, as “pre-feasibility assessments” were still being undertaken, and had yet to be presented to the city’s executive management. Several accidents have left people dead in the area - including six-year-old David Williams who lost his life last year when the scooter he was on with his mother collided with a 16-wheeler truck near the Rossburgh Station in South Coast Road. In August last year, residents from the south Durban communities of Merebank, Clairwood, Isipingo and Bluff embarked on a mass march through the streets of Clairwood, calling for action against trucks being driven recklessly through residential areas, ignoring traffic rules. Between 400 and 500 people, carrying a coffin to symbolise the deadly impact trucking has on the area, marched to the Metro Police reporting station in Flower Road to hand over a memorandum. [email protected] *** *** The Sowetan Students protest DUT fee increase 21 January 2010 Khulekani Mazibuko NO NONSENSE: Riot police keep a watchful eye on students at the Durban University of Technology’s Steve Biko Campus yesterday. PHOTO: Thuli Dlamini REGISTRATION was disrupted at the Durban University of Technology yesterday when students protested on the Steve Biko Campus in central Durban. More than 200 students gathered outside the campus to protest the increase in registration fees and the alleged exclusion of students because of unpaid tuition and residential fees. University management called in private security reinforcements to prevent students from entering the university premises or damaging property. A meeting between students and management was held late yesterday with no outcome. The talks were set to continue today. Students submitted a list of grievances to management, citing outstanding fees, accommodation and transport problems. The students, mostly those already at the university from previous years, complained that the increase would disadvantage them. Other students said they were hamstrung by the delay in payments from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NFSAS). SRC spokesperson Sifiso Mdakane said students would continue with the protest until their demands are met. “We met management and will meet them today as well,” Mdakane said. “The outcome of our protest action will depend on management’s response to our grievances.” He said the accommodation fee increase was between 13 and 20percent. “We cannot allow a situation where students are denied the right to an education because they are poor or have financial difficulties,” Mdakane said . SA Students Congress spokesperson Sandile Motha said they were going to oppose the increases. “We believe the institution has gone against the agreement they struck with the SRC last year that tuition fees would only be increased after three years. “Now the registration fee has increased from R2500 to R2700,” he said. Motha said they were working jointly with the SRC to assist the students. University spokesperson Bhekani Dlamini confirmed that a meeting had taken place but said no outcome was reached. Dlamini said no damages were reported and the protest was peaceful. *** Protesting DUT students hurt in clash 22 January 2010, 11:48 Registration at the Durban University of Technology has come to a halt after clashes in which security guards fired paintball pellets at protesting students. Several people, including members of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and the local branch of the ANC Youth League, were injured by the pellets. The students and guards clashed sporadically on the Steve Biko campus for about three hours yesterday morning, with paintball pellets being fired at times.