NATIONAL NEWS - On Tuesday about 150 to 200 Vrygrond residents marched from Keizersgracht Street to the Cape Town Civic Centre to hand over a memorandum to Mayor Patricia de Lille. Their key demand is for a piece of land known as Xakabantu to be developed for housing.
Vrygrond is a township near Muizenberg in the city’s south peninsula. Residents have protested many times over the past couple of months. Sometimes the protests have turned violent. For example a ward councillor’s car was burnt, and shops in a nearby shopping centre were looted.
Xakabantu lies between Vrygrond and the Muizenberg landfill site.
There have been attempts to occupy Xakabantu since April, but the City has demolished them, saying the land has been identified as a nature reserve.
In previous meetings between the City and the community leaders, De Lille proposed two pockets of land within the community which she said could be used for development. But the proposal was rejected by the community who said the identified pieces of land were too small for housing and could be used to provide other services that the community is lacking.
In a memorandum at Tuesday’s protest the residents asked that Xakabantu be used for houses, a clinic, a high school and a police station.
The protest grew tense when it became clear that De Lille was not going to meet the protesters.
“People of Vrygrond are not important to the City of Cape Town. Our problems are not important,” shouted resident Isaac Goliath.
Community leader Michael Khumalo said the issues they wanted addressed were the “same we addressed with [the mayor] in 2016 and again in 2017.”
“All we want is answers. She confirmed that she was going to be here. Now we are told she is not,” said Khumalo.
The mayor’s bodyguard had at first told the protesters that she was not there. Then later the mayor appeared and addressed the media. The protesters then refused to hand over the memorandum to a representative from the Mayor’s office.
Eventually, after back and forth conversations between officials and community leaders, the mayor came to address the residents. But, angered that she had addressed the media before them, the protesters jeered, shouted and swore at De Lille. The mayor was also dismissive towards the protesters, and at one point she and a protester shouted at each other, each accusing the other of lying.
De Lille then left without receiving the memo.
