Mr President, please intervene
DEAR Mr President, Cyril Ramaphosa
As a youth I write this letter calling for action in honour of Ashley Kriel, Coline Williams and many unknown youth of the Cape Flats who fought for the political freedom we have today. I cannot be silent while we remain landless and economically oppressed. I am heeding the call you made on Youth Day of being the agent of change, Mr President.
I write to you on behalf of a community in despair as the City of Cape Town is failing to address our needs and we need your intervention. Mr President, we are tired of political rhetoric and correctness. Ons is gatvol (We’ve had enough). We want the security and comfort the Freedom Charter refers to. I live in the community of Hout Bay, which is a microcosm of South Africa, where segregation is evident; poverty and inequality are for all to see. I have edited this letter almost a 100 times but then realised I didn’t need to be politically correct.
Mr President, in Hout Bay our biggest challenge as poor, working-class people is accessing land for decent housing. As the black majority we are on less than 5% of the land in this beautiful bay. We urgently need your intervention. The City of Cape Town keeps shifting the blame for its failure to our national government. We don’t want to hear this politicking; we want results. I will not bore you with the history but will share it once we meet as it is critical to our progression towards an integrated Hout Bay in which all residents can live peacefully and prosperously. Here is what my community needs you to do:
Arrange a meeting with the ministers of Environmental Affairs, Public Works, Land Reform and Human Settlements, the Cape Town mayor, the Western Cape premier and yourself. The purpose will be to address the land issue.
The development of a clear-cut plan so that all spheres of the government can know their respective roles in developing our community. The community will then know how we will benefit from this new dawn and the role we will play.
Dit is tyd vir aksie (It is time for action). Mr President, you have until June 30 to respond and set up a meeting. If you fail to do so, I will go on a hunger strike until you heed my call and help me make Hout Bay an integrated community in which security and comfort aren’t for the rich and whites alone.
I am prepared to die for access to land. My life is in your hands as is the future of my community.