Cape housing activists protest non-inclusiveness
About 200 zombies, dressed in National Party regalia, carried the coffin of PW Botha through the streets of Cape Town on Monday.
The satirical march by housing activists was co-organised by Reclaim the City and world-famous guerilla activists, The Yes Men.
“Like the National Party, mayor Dan Plato and the mayoral committee refuse to grant security of tenure to hundreds of thousands of poor black people who have found a home in informal settlements on public and private land,” Reclaim the City said in a statement explaining the purpose of the protest.
“Despite paying lip service to inclusion, no new affordable public housing has been built in well-located former white suburbs for the black and coloured majority.”
The march proceeded from Greenmarket Square to the Civic Centre. There, PW Botha, played by Reclaim the City leader Bevil Lucas, emerged from the coffin. Besides mayor Plato (a former National Party member), the protesters also aimed their chants at mayoral committee member JP Smith.
Tensions between Plato and Reclaim the City have escalated recently following the eviction of 80-year-old Kenneth Blaine from a City-owned property.
Plato, without mentioning Reclaim the City by name, accused the group of “propaganda and misinformation” following the eviction.
The mayor wrote on Facebook: “I am calling on activist groups, civil society groups, and lobby groups to please not misrepresent information to the media and to the people they claim to serve. You will only erode the trust in your organisations if you do this.”
Shooby Hajie said: “I think we did a good demonstration here today. I think the City of Cape Town got the message why we are here.”
Andy Bichlbaum (also known as Jacques Servin) of The Yes Men, who led many of the chants for the protesters, said: “Today we see another party with similar politics to the National Party.”
He said the march was about about changing public opinion and rallying affected people to take action.
The Yes Men is known for some daring political pranks (known as “cultural jamming”). For example, one of the group’s members pretended to be a representative of Dow Chemical on BBC taking responsibility for the Bhopal catastrophe. The company’s stock dropped dramatically as people were taken in by the hoax.
Republished from Groundup. org.za