'You have been heard'‚ Hermanus protesters told

Western Cape human settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela on Tuesday told angry residents demanding homes in Hermanus that their grievances had been heard.

He was addressing hundreds of residents from Zwelihle in Hermanus where protesters and police have clashed in a dispute over land and housing that has left a library‚ satellite police station and other properties damaged‚ forced schools to close and seen foreign residents flee for their lives.

“We have heard your grievances‚ please work with us now so that we can address these issues‚” he told the crowd‚ gathered on a sports field. He paid specific attention to the plight of backyarders who live on other people’s properties. “We need to identify the backyarders. Those are the people who are affected. We as government made the mistake that people living in the informal settlements are the only ones that need our help. The backyarders also need our help. We need to get the money from national government to make sure this process runs as speedily as possible.

“Government needs to prioritise this. You need to create a committee to make sure this process runs smoothly‚” he said.

Madikizela said a process would be initiated to help backyarders.

At the same time the provincial ANC issued a statement condemning the destruction of infrastructure during the protests by “certain elements” which‚ the party said‚ had taken advantage of the protests to set alight a library‚ police station and private vehicles.

“The ANC however would like to state it categorically that we support the community call for prime land to build integrated and quality houses‚” said a statement issued by provincial party secretary Faiez Jacobs.

He suggested that the DA feared integration. “We have watched over the period of the DA's control of the municipality in coastal towns like Hermanus‚ Caledon‚ Grabouw‚ a troubling phenomenon that has made these towns meaner and more divided. The DA municipalities have been relentlessly selling off municipal land to make room for silos of luxury safe-deposit boxes across these towns further entrenching the historic division between where the rich and where the poor live.”