Thousands of EFF supporters paint Kraaifontein red in service delivery march
Cape Town - The EFF has threatened to make use of private toilets and the streets of Durbanville to relieve themselves if the City of Cape Town does not install a minimum of 200 toilets in each informal settlement within five days.
The group of about 4 000 marchers, escorted by police marched up Brighton Road heading to the local day hospital and then on to the local municipal offices. At each point delivering memorandums against gangsterism, gender-based violence and poor service delivery.
A memorandum handed over by EFF regional chairperson Unathi Ntame to City of Cape Town councillor Grant Twigg demanded that the City provid a minimum of 200 toilets and 50 water tanks per informal settlement. Ntame also said the collapsing drainage system in the area was causing “the people to live with faeces in front of their homes because the drains were blocked”.
Twigg said: “In accepting the memorandum the protesters were informed that the five-day deadline for the City to respond would not be possible.”
The vibrant crowd which gathered from Bottelary Road sang and chanted struggle songs were met by a heavy police contingent holding shields and blocking the gate of the police station.
Jacqueline Louw, 58, who lives in Scottsdene, said she lost a son in a gang-related fight but no arrests were ever made.
“I reported the murder, he was stabbed in the head with a knife but because the matter was gang-related and the police were not making any progress, my family just decided to leave it to the Lord,” she said.
At the day hospital where facility manager Leana Steyn accepted the memorandum, the group demanded that the discriminatory process of identifying HIV-positive patients with green cards be done away with and shipping containers used to counsel HIV positive patients be removed. The group also demanded that a transformation program be implemented to ensure people of colour are placed in managerial positions and more nurses and porters needed to be hired.
Zolani Xinwa said he waited over five hours to see a doctor, only to be sent back home and told to return the next day.
“I came here with a very bad headache, I couldn’t even open my eyes without crying, it was that bad. I sat in the clinic for hours before I was told to go home and come back the next day,” he said.
All memorandums were received and responses expected by Thursday next week.
Weekend Argus