Shack dwellers fight demolition of homes

RESIDENTS of a Durban informal settlement, whose homes were demolished yesterday, petrol-bombed a municipal vehicle and threw stones at others.

The protest erupted when the city’s Land Invasion Unit began demolishing the illegal dwellings in Kennedy Road informal settlement near Springfield as part of the mandate to discourage people from illegally occupying land that has been identified for development.

Residents blocked the road, vandalised a municipal vehicle and passing motorists were affected by the protest.

Metro Police and operation spokesman, Sukuma Sakhe, said officers were immediately sent to the area to restore order. Police were also on site to calm the situation and assist with traffic.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said residents at Kennedy Road informal settlement petrola municipal vehicle to prevent any evacuation.

“About 50 people were protesting. They were complaining about the removal of their shacks in the area. They set alight a municipal vehicle. There were no injuries and no arrests have been made as yet,” Zwane said.

Glen Narainsamy, a worker from eThekwini Water and Sanitation, witnessed the incident, and said: “This was the third or fourth time this has happened. We had a truck and a car that were hit with rocks and they petrol-bombed the vehicle,” he said.

Narainsamy also mentioned that residents were specifically targeting municipal cars to stop the destruction of their informal settlement.

eThekwini mayor, James Nxumalo condemned the violent protest and said that he acknowledges the people’s right to protest, but warned residents against vandalising infrastructure.

“Residents should protest in a peaceful and legal manner without damaging property, injuring law-abiding citizens or blockading roads, or preventing others from going to school and work,” he said.

Nxumalo also added that no amount of anger justified destroying and vandalising state property. He said: “The situation is under control. Safety measures, such as CCTV cameras, are in place to monitor the movements of vehicles and to ensure that further traffic disruption is minimised.

“Law enforcement personnel will take action where there are transgressions.”