Poo protester Lili targets Mowbray Golf Course for housing for poor

POO PROTEST ringleaders have vowed to continue their fight to have premier Helen Zille and mayor Patricia de Lille allocate them land for houses, after hearing yesterday that warrants of arrest for six people were cancelled, while cases against a further 17 were withdrawn in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.

The 23 poo protesters were among 184 people arrested in June at Esplanade train station in Woodstock on charges of public violence, and for convening an illegal gathering.

The group had been on their way to the provincial legislature to dump human waste outside Zille’s office.

Magistrate Alfreda Lewis cancelled the warrants of arrest of six of the 23, and the remainder had their cases withdrawn.

Former ANC councillor Andile Lili, with six others – Thembela Mbajwa, Yanga Njingwana, Mzwethembe Gulwa, Xolisa Ngwekazi, Yandani Kulanti and Phamela Nyakaza, continue to face charges of public violence and contravening section 2 of subsection 3 of the city’s waste management act.

Later, Lili faced a secondary charge and was joined by fellow ringleaders Loyiso Nkohla and Bongani Ngcombolo. The three also face a charge of public violence and contravening the city’s waste management act.

Both matters were postponed to November 27 to determine a trial date.

Meanwhile, a group of more than 100 protesters sang and danced outside the court, where Lili said that the protest action would continue until their demands were met.

“We are demanding for the poor to have access to housing developments and land for crèches and churches. We want Zille and De Lille to tell us month end which land is available,” he said.

He hit back at the premier, who had reportedly said their demands were not “specific” enough, claiming they were “very clear”. He added that every person should be screened to determine if they qualified as a housing beneficiary.

Lili suggested that Mowbray Golf Course should be offered for housing once its lease expired at the end of the year.

“The golf course is more than 5 000 hectares so they will be able to build many houses and see lots of people live there,” Lili said.

janis.kinnear@inl.co.za TWO CHILDREN were reported to have died yesterday when a blaze tore through shacks in an informal settlement near Steenberg, leaving 40 people homeless.

By the time Fire and Rescue Services reached the scene at about 11am, panicked residents had mostly put out the flames in the Overcome Heights informal settlement.

“I heard there are babies under there,” said one man, pointing to the still smouldering pile of rubble and metal.

Cape Town fire and rescue services spokesman Theodore Layne said around 40 people had been left homeless. He confirmed the two deaths.

Emergency services spokesman Robert Daniels said behind the one where the fire started. He returned home about 6.30am yesterday after working nightshift, and was later woken by his son, who warned him of the fire.

“We ran and joined the people trying to put out the fire,” he said.

Matiya said he couldn’t tell how many homes were burnt down, or how many people were left homeless.

He just knew it was “too many”.

Standing next to the rubble, Stan Greyson pointed out where his home had stood. He was at work in Steenberg and only found out about the fire when he came home. He said he had heard about the children who had died.

“They were small babies,” he said.

PICTURE: LEON LESTRADE DEVASTATED: Phindiwe Mzantsi, left, cries as a friend tries to comfort her after she arrived from work to find her home destroyed.