EFF accused of disregarding the poor
THE EFF’s call for land invasions came under scrutiny at the SA Human Rights Commission yesterday, where the party has been accused of inciting poor people to engage in illegal land grabs only for them to suffer alone when their homes are demolished.
The EFF appeared before the commission’s inquiry aimed at probing complaints of land grabs, overcrowding and lack of basic services like water and sanitation in Alexandra, Joburg, which triggered violent protests in April.
At the heart of the commission’s probe are the current socio-economic conditions in Alexandra, their impact on fundamental rights and whether they were a result of maladministration, abuse of power, corruption or improper conduct.
Last week, scores of families were left homeless in the township after the Red Ants, the Johannesburg Metro Police and the SA Police Service evicted them and demolished their structures.
Several members of the inquiry’s panel pressed EFF provincial chairperson Mandisa Mashego to answer to allegations that the red berets were inciting poor people while they knew that politicians would not be the ones who would be humiliated through evictions.
Mashego said the party would continue calling for land invasions, as the government continued to fail the poor.
“There is a lot of land across the province that has been lying naked for decades and people are aware of it. Every time they ask the Department of Human Settlements why they are not building houses, they are told there is no land,” Mashego said.
The inquiry’s chairperson, Buang Jones, quizzed Mashego if the EFF would still back land invasions if the party were to win control of some of the Gauteng metros where it advocated for occupations.
Mashego said the party – which is reportedly pushing to install its candidate illegal as mayor for the DA-led Tshwane metro – would continue encouraging land occupations, even if it was in charge of the some municipalities.
“The only thing that would make us sort of relax our programme is if Section 25 of the Constitution is changed…,” Mashego said.
According to SAHRC’s senior legal officer Alexandra Fitzgerald, some of the homeowners in Alexandra complained to the commission during its inspection that the DA-led metro was unable to enforce its by-laws relating to land grabs as it did not want to lose the support of the EFF, which helped it dislodge the ANC in 2016.
“They say the EFF is pro-land occupations and the DA tolerates or turns a blind eye to illegal occupations in Alexandra,” Fitzgerald said.
Also on the SAHRC inquiry radar is the Alexandra Renewal Project which was set up in 2001 at the cost of R1.7 billion, and which is also the subject of investigation by the City of Johannesburg’s forensic unit due to alleged corruption relating to it.