Joint press statement of Gauteng SACP, COSATU, SANCO and the Greater Lenasia Concerned Residents Association latest house demolitions

20 November 2012

SACP, COSATU AND SANCO in Gauteng Province and the Greater Lenasia Concerned Residents Association met with the residents till late last night to assess the damage and impact of the last round of demolitions of houses in Ennerdale, the area South of Greater Lenasia.

This is a new area where houses were demolished following the first round of demolition in Lenasia Section 13. The reason given by the demolishers was that the houses in Ennerdale are not covered by the SA Human Rights court interdict application against demolition of houses in Lenasia Section 13 to defend vulnerable groups, especially women, children and people with disability.

We strongly condemn the last round of demolitions as it takes place in the week that the court will be hearing the urgent application for an interdict brought on behalf of the Greater Lenasia residents against the Gauteng Provincial Government, Department of Housing.

The interdict application is brought by the SAHCR, the only body entrusted with the protection of violation of human rights in our country.

We firmly believe that the current spate of house demolitions was a ploy by a coalition of corrupt forces to undermine and attack the integrity of the SAHRC, and to project it as representing lawlessness, anarchy and criminal elements who are looting government property.

We are confident that this cheap ploy against the good intentions and integrity of the SAHRC will dismally fail. We believe that opportunists who may be putting structures on the ground at this moment are part of the same agenda to put the SAHRC in a bad light and to shift focus away from the court process that will take place this coming Friday, 23rd/11/12.

We have established that houses that were demolished in Ennerdale were not `opportunistic structures` to undermine the court process, but houses that people were already living in, completed or were still under construction long before the SAHRC brought the urgent court application.

We are fully behind and firmly support the principled intervention of the SAHRC to defend and protect vulnerable groups especially children who had absolutely nothing to do with transactions and exchange of money by corrupt government officials, property dealers and other such elements.

We further believe that this is a desperate attempt by certain forces and elements to project the image of the ANC in Gauteng Province as uncaring, inhuman and insensitive to the working class and the poor.

We wish to reaffirm our principled and historic commitment to defend the government of the ANC led by President Jacob Zuma, and to fight any tendency that may seek to deliver government to the rule of the DA in our province.

We call on the Gauteng Housing Department to immediately refrain from further demolitions and engage constructive in political discussion to find a better approach to resolving this problem. We call on government to give the court process a fair chance and refrain from any tendency and action that may be perceived as undermining the SAHR and the courts.

We support the new interdict application to cover the entire Great Lenasia area, and call on the residents to defend this case by preventing `opportunistic occupations` that only strengthen the brutal hand of demolishers, weaken the process of the SAHRC, and the attempt to find a proper political solution to the problem.

We applaud and comment the people of Greater Lenasia for showing maximum confidence in democratic processes and structures set up by the post 1994 political situation. We are deeply pleased that even under highly emotional, severe and tempting conditions, they remained calm and rejected the advice of the ultra-left and opportunist forces to engage in violence.

We call on all parties to await the outcomes of the court processes and show confidence in Chapter 9 institutions such as the SAHRC. We are looking forward to a full investigation of all the facts, data and information relating to the property question and the class forces involved in Greater Lenasia and any other part of the province.

We welcome the decision of the residents to reactivate the appeal against the judgement that brought us to where we are currently. We support the residents to demonstrate their commitment to the rule of law and to tell their story in a proper forum. We also believe that government must find measures to protect state property proactively to avoid the recurrence of these most backward methods that bear resemblance to the old Apartheid tactics.

We will use the opportunity provided by the Cosatu protest march against the E-tolls on the 30th/11/2012 to march against the unprincipled demolition of houses and the need for government to take decisive action against all elements and people allegedly involved in looting state property and land meant for the working class and the poor people of this country.

Issued by:

SACP Gauteng Provincial Secretary: Jacob Mamabolo (082 884 1868)
COSATU Provincial Secretary: Dumisani Dakile (082 727 1422),
SANCO Provincial Secretary: Lucas Qakaza (082 852 4214) and
Greater Lenasia Concerned Residents Association Chairperson: Lazarus Baloyi: 082 626 1283