Marikana land occupation (Cape Town)

On 27 April 2013, the national public holiday of Freedom Day in South Africa which some grassroots social movements have termed UnFreedom Day, members of Abahlali baseMjondolo occupied a piece of land in Philippi, Cape Town. They named the occupation Marikana after the Marikana miners' strike. The occupation was repeatedly destroyed by the city's anti-land invasion unit.[1][2][3][4] According to the Daily Maverick the occupiers were evicted on six separate occasions.[5] Two months after the eviction 90 people were still sleeping on the site under a tent.[6]

Cindy Ketani was quoted in Red Pepper as saying that "When they come to destroy these shacks, they show us no court orders or papers. They just pull these people out like dogs".[7]

Unlawful Evictions

Abahlali baseMjondolo alleged that the evictions were violent, that their members' property was broken and stolen and that they were also unlawful as the City did not have a court order.[8][9][10][11] This view was later endorsed by legal experts and an article in the Daily Maverick suggested that the City of Cape Town was making reference to a fictitious law to justify the evictions and, also, lying about the fact that the shacks had all been unoccupied before they were demolished.[12] Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos later wrote that these evictions were "Brutal, inhumane, and totally unlawful".[13]

Ownership of the Land

The land that was occupied is part of a larger parcel of 200h of land bought by NTWA Dumela Investments in 2007.[14]

Online News Reports

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See also

Notes and references
  1. 'Marikana' UnFreedom Day land occupation ends in violent Workers’ Day eviction, Jared Sacks, The Daily Maverick, 2013
  2. Residents vow to return to Philippi, Xolani Koyana, Cape Times, 4 May 2013
  3. Marikana shacks were ‘unoccupied’ claims City, Nombulelo Damba, West Cape News, 2013 ]
  4. 'Shock and awe tactics' used on shack dwellers, Jared Sacks, Mail & Guardian, 10 May 2013
  5. Welcome to Marikana, Cape Town, by Jared Sacks, The Daily Maverick, 22 May 2012
  6. The other Marikana Archived 2013-10-03 at the Wayback Machine, Mary-Anne Gontsana, Ground-Up, 19 June 201
  7. South Africa’s poor resist home attacks, Caroline Elliot, Red Pepper, May 2013
  8. Police shooting at Marikana Land Occupation, Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement, 30 April 2013
  9. Sleeping in the rain: even snakes treat us with more respect than the City of Cape Town, Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement, 30 April 2013
  10. Cops in shack clash Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, Mandla Manyaka, The New Age, 30 April 2013
  11. Shack dwellers ready to die for 'Marikana' land in Cape Town, ENCA, 2011
  12. City of Cape Town makes up law to justify eviction of the poor, Jared Sacks, The Daily Maverick, 6 May 2013
  13. Cape Town evictions: Brutal, inhumane, and totally unlawful, Pierre de Vos, The Daily Maverick, 9 May 2013
  14. Lobby group vows to step up action in Cape Town ‘toilet wars’, BY BEKEZELA PHAKATHI], Business Day, 13 September 2013
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