Tension at Bo-Kaap meeting
DA delegation runs into criticism
TENSIONS rose in Bo-Kaap on Tuesday evening as angry residents accused the provincial government of not caring about their plight. After a meeting between the residents and the DA in the Schotschekloof Civic Centre could not take place because the centre was locked, the DA’s Western Cape leader, Bonginkosi Madikizela, met residents outside in the cold.
“Our grievances are something we have told our ward councillor about on various occasions. We have given him a memorandum, and he has still not addressed any of our concerns,” resident Seehaam Samaai told Madikizela.
Madikizela was accompanied by the provincial minister of cultural affairs and sport, Anroux Marais, and councillor Brandon Golding. Residents would not allow Marais to address them, saying they were not familiar with her. She had asked residents to send their demands to her. The situation became so heated that Madikizela had to be whisked away, leaving residents fuming.
Another resident said: “You are 20 years late in coming to Bo-Kaap. The tears of the old people and pensioners are lying on the doorstep of the DA,” Ebrahime Christians, who accused Madikizela of giving untruthful answers to the residents, said.
Bo-Kaap has been at the centre of a wide range of issues, including a lack of housing. In May, protesting residents objected to the gentrification of the area and increases in municipal tariffs.
Bo-Kaap Civic Association chairperson Osman Shabodien said: “We are very disappointed with the meeting. I believe that they (DA) should not use this as a political meeting; they must sit down with the residents and engage with them.”
Golding said he would be handing over residents’ demands to the provincial government.
Madikizela said: “This meeting was organised as a political #LetsTalk meeting, but there is a strong suggestion from residents that we have to arrange a public meeting because we are the government, and they have every right to call us to account.” He would engage with the relevant leadership and stakeholders to try set a date for the meeting.