South Africa

Understanding Zandspruit's rage - from 2011 to 2016

20 April 2016 - 13:50 By Times LIVE
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Zandspruit has been the centre of protests for years - we look back at some of the highlights over the years to provide some context to the current protest.

The people of Zandspruit are currently marching over poor service delivery in their area - and Abigail Javier is there to catch video of the event:

 

But service delivery has been a problem in Zandsrpruit for years, we look at some of the highlights from 2011 to the present.

2011

March 2011:

Protests turned violent in Zanspruit and dozens were arrested.

Gauteng MEC for local government Humphrey Mmemezi condemned the violent protest at the informal settlement near Honeydew, saying that communities must be aware that acts of violence created good opportunities for criminals to steal and rob people.

“There were scenes of looting in the shops and this has harmed the local economy considerably. The replacement of stolen goods and the repairs to damaged property will be a costly exercise, something that could have been avoided.” He added that barricading of roads caused much inconvenience to road users, including the people of Zandspruit themselves who could not travel to work.

According to the Mail and Guardian the community had to get water from communal taps which were so low you couldn't get a bucket under them.

They further had to deal with streams of waste water, basically raw sewerage, running through their streets.

The filthy conditions were making people sick, and the people were sick of living in them.

And according to the Times LIVE the local clinic was not much of a help.

"The clinic is one of the hardest problems we face," said  David Majozi, who had lived in the settlement for 27 years told Times reporters. "It is understaffed. It is too small.

"When it is open, the queue stretches forever. Even if you are very sick, they tell you 'Go home; come back tomorrow'."

Both of Majozi's eyes were infected, and and a bulbous tumour protruded below his left eye.

Residents threatened to vote for the opposition if something wasn't done soon.

June 2011:

US first lady Michelle Obama visited the settlement with her daughters Sasha and Malia.


Video posted to YouTube by The Telegraph

July 2011:

Two months after the local government elections - and the community voting for the ANC again - burning tyres and barricaded roads returned.

Residents petrol bombed a classroom, closing the school - though the fire didn't spread further according to Sapa.

2012

June 2012

A man was shot and wounded during a protest in Zandspruit according to Times LIVE.

According to police the shooting happened when two groups of protesters clashed. The man was rushed to Helen Joseph Hospital and the alleged shooter arrested, as the police investigated a case of attempted murder.

 

Meanwhile Johannesburg metro police said protesters continued burning tyres in Beyers Naude Drive, resulting in the road being partially closed between Juice and Peter roads.

Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said there was a heavy police presence and motorists were advised to avoid the area and use Malibongwe Drive and Hendrik Potgieter road as alternatives."

Protesters blocked Beyers Naude Drive with stones and rocks and threw stones at cars.

July 2012

A report by the The City of Joburg’s infrastructure services reveals that the worst river and dam water quality in the city was in Soweto according to IOL.

"A close second is the Jukskei River flowing through Tembisa, Chartwell and Zandspruit," IOL reported.

"According to the report, the Klip River and Jukskei River catchments are exposed to harmful pollutants, including toxic bacteria, oxygen-demanding wastes, inorganic chemicals and water-soluble radioactive isotopes.

"The main source of bacterial pollution is overcrowding and a lack of sanitation in informal settlement areas," according to the IOL report.

2013

January 2013

News24 reports that there is a service delivery protest in South Africa every two days.

"The University of the Western Cape’s Service Delivery Protest Barometer - which uses a slightly broader definition, but like Municipal IQ sources its data from media reports and other public records - arrived at about 720 protests from the beginning of 2009 to the end of August 2012," News24 reported.

2014

February 2014

According to eNCA Zandspruit residents barricaded Beyers Naude Drive near Honeydew - after the Johannesburg Metro Police and SAPS removed makeshift homes.

"The residents in the area had been warned to remove their shacks, which were too close to the road," Provincial police spokesman Doniah Mothutsane said.

July 2014

Times LIVE reported that Gauteng human settlements MEC Jacob Mamabolo accused the EFF of paying people to claim to be affected by Red Ant evictions in Zandspruit.

The EFF rejected the claims, saying that they were in fact called by the residents of Zandspruit.

October 2014

Remember that taxi rank which annoyed Zandspruit residents in 2011? The Times reported that the Gauteng government has wasted R57-million building transport infrastructure that had never been used, years after its completion.

And the first facility on that list was the Zandspruit inter-modal facility in Honeydew. It was built at a cost of R27-million in 2009 and handed over to Johannesburg in August of 2013.

Noxolo Maninjwa, the deputy director-general of transport, could not explain to the committee what was going on.

"As I have said, we will investigate the matter to establish where the problem is," he told committee chairman Jacob Khawe.

Gauteng reportedly decided to throw in the towel on these taxi ranks.

2015

November 2015

Honeydew, which includes Zandspruit, was declared Gauteng's most dangerous region according to a report.

According to The Times, the report found that violent crime was experiencing a dramatic rise in the area, with 245 people were murdered in the area, 9.4% more than the previous year.

The cluster had the highest number of house robberies in the province for the period, 980, an increase of 15%.

Robberies at non-residential premises went up by 28%, and attempted murders by 14%.

2016

March 2016

Rubber bullets flew and motorists were advised to avoid Beyers Naude drive as protesters barricaded the road and burned tyres.

Shops were looted amidst the protests according to a TMG Digital report, as residents demanded access to electricity.

The residents said they were being forced to resort to illegal connections to get onto the power grid, because the municipality wasn't providing legal connections.

“The problem with electricity is that people who fall under Region C‚ who are supposed to be our leaders‚ do not live here with us‚” said a resident.

“Our leaders know what is leading the people in this area to resort to illegal connections. People need electricity. Why are they not being given electricity?” he asked.

April 2016

Earlier this month water shortages hit parts of Johannesburg - including Zandspruit.

Finally we come to the current protest, with the police preparing for a big turnout as residents protest arrests over the March protests.

“We are expecting 3000-4000,” Police spokesperson Major Mack Mngomezulu said.

Multimedia Reporter at Times Media Group Javier is at the protests, live tweeting.

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