04 AFS 1 – 04-07-05 Diepsloot

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,83062,00.html

Diepsloot protest against 'inefficient councillors'

July 05, 2004, 14:07

Thousands of Diepsloot residents, north of Johannesburg , have gone on the rampage in protest against what they call inefficient community councilors. Police say the protesters gathered earlier this morning to voice their concerns about lack of houses and basic amenities.

Malcom Midgley, Emergency Services spokesperson, says protesters scattered into smaller groups and went on the rampage.

He says council offices have been set on fire.

No injuries have been reported.

Burning barricades removed

11/05/2004 11:30  - (SA)  

Pretoria - Burning barricades have been removed and an angry crowd has been dispersed on the R511 at Diepsloot outside Pretoria.

An angry crowd gathered at Diepsloot after 12 people were evacuated from RDP houses they illegally occupied.

The homes form part of the Tshwane metropolitan council's housing programme.

Inspector Percy Morokane for Pretoria area commissioner said the 12, eight men and two women, moved into new RDP houses in Diepsloot informal settlement two weeks ago.

They were instructed to evacuate the homes, as others had been waitlisted for them.

Police, acting on a court order obtained by the metropolitan council, evacuated them early on Tuesday morning. The 12 people were arrested for contempt of court and impeding the police in execution of their work.

A crowd, angry about the arrests, set alight tyres on the busy R511. Stone throwers damaged a police car.

Nobody was injured and after negotiations between police and leaders in the crowd, the people dispersed.

The twelve were held at the Erasmia police station.

Rioters turn on journos

06/07/2004 22:26  - (SA)  

Dikgari Ramathata

Johannesburg - Diepsloot rioters on Tuesday turned on reporters covering the story by pelting their car with stones.

The rear window of Talk Radio 702's vehicle was completely shattered and the rest of the car badly damaged.

Daily Sun photographer, Liza Jay, a 702 reporter who was driving the car, Regan Thaw, and four other reporters escaped unhurt.

Protests against rumoured forced relocation to Brits began on Monday when buildings were set alight.

Nineteen people have been arrested since then and residents demanding their release on Tuesday started stoning cars and burning tyres. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd.

The reporters were standing near the car when a group of youths, apparently hiding from the police in one of the RDP houses, started throwing stones.

"Hell broke loose as we ran for cover and quickly got into the car.

Retaliated by throwing stones

"We lay flat on top of one another in the car while Thaw drove the car at high speed from the scene and stones rained on us," said SunGirl Liza Jay.

The protest on Tuesday saw more than 5 000 residents gathering along the highway which runs past Diepsloot.

Tempers flared when police used a water cannon, teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the mob, who retaliated by throwing stones.

A police spotter plane flew overhead.

Edited by Elmarie Jack

Diepsloot erupts into violence

06/07/2004 21:22  - (SA)  

Johannesburg - Protests at Diepsloot spun out of control by on Tuesday evening as residents threw stones at vehicles on the R511 between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

A substantial number of vehicles were damaged and some cars made hasty u-turns as stones hit their car windows.

Two armoured personnel carriers were on the scene and water cannons were used to disperse people.

The R511, an artery that had been closed for most of the day, would remain closed until further notice, Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said on Tuesday evening.

Residents protesting against rumours that they were about to be moved to Brits also burnt tyres, threw stones at police and burnt bushes.

One resident said the violence would not stop until the release of 19 people who were arrested on charges of arson and public violence.

"The people are angry. This is God's way of showing their anger. We cannot stay in shacks when officials live nicely," he said.

"( Gauteng premier Mbhazima) Shilowa is the only person who can sort this out. He works very hard, but the people who work for him are corrupt."

The rioters were demanding the release of the 19 people arrested during two days of protests.

The violence followed a brief lull after an address by Pule Buthelezi, the general secretary of the ANC in the Johannesburg region.

Police were maintaining a presence at some distance from the protesters.

Buthelezi had told residents the ANC, SA National Civic Organisation, councillors and community leaders would meet to try to resolve their problems.

"Whoever says that people are going to move from Diepsloot is lying," Buthelezi said, adding that the leaders would return to the area on Wednesday to inform residents of the outcome of their discussions.

"There are people who do not want to see peace among ourselves," he said.

Rumour sparked protests

The protests began on Monday after a rumour started circulating that Diepsloot residents were to be relocated.

Gauteng housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane said in a statement on Tuesday: "I wish to assure people affected by this fictitious rumour that the Gauteng provincial government and the City of Johannesburg have at no stage contemplated to move Diepsloot residents to Brits."

She dismissed the rumours as "incorrect and misleading".

The City of Johannesburg also issued a statement on Tuesday saying there were "no immediate or future plans" to relocate residents.

Residents of Diepsloot - partly an informal settlement, partly proper housing - claimed a local councillor Sarafina Mulaudzi had told them they would be moved to Brits on July 14.

The community was moved to Diepsloot, north west of Johannesburg , in 2000 from Alexandra, Johannesburg , after the Jukskei River flooded.

Edited by Elmarie Jack

July 7, 2004

By Solly Maphumulo, Mapa Ishmael Modiba, Sholain Govender, Anna Cox and Sapa

Police kicked out more than 20 journalists, photographers and cameramen covering the third day of the Diepsloot riots this morning.

They were removed from the area under threat of arrest.

Earlier today Captain Morne van Wyk of police communications in Pretoria arrived at the scene and warned the media to leave the area as the police were using Section 13.11 of the Police Act to declare the area a crime scene. In terms of this, they are given the power to restrict access to a cordoned-off area.

The angry group initially refused to budge, claiming that they had a right to be present in a public area.

"Guys I'm warning you, you are running the risk of being arrested," spokesperson Inspector Percy Morokane told the gathering, which included The Star, AFP, SABC, Pretoria News, Sunday Times, Sowetan, KayaFM and Talk Radio 702.

Five Nyalas, water canons and several more police cars entered the area and began spraying down the roads. The media withdrew on legal advice.

Diepsloot became a no-go area this morning with roads barricaded and residents unable to leave for work as unrest broke out again.

Police made more arrests and fired rubber bullets to disperse residents who used burning tyres, dustbins, rocks, portable toilets and
anything else they could lay their hands on to block roads.

Today's trouble began after residents approached police for talks. While the parties were negotiating, a volley of stones and bottles was thrown from the back of the crowd, and police opened fire to
disperse them.

Nine-year-old Rusana Rashimungru was hit in the face by a
rubber bullet. She was crying and screaming: "It's paining, it's paining" as blood poured out of the side of her mouth.

A confused and scared Maria Chockwe emerged from her house with her baby on her back. She needed to get out so that she could
collect her social grant and take her baby to a clinic.

"Please ask the police to escort me because I am scared," she pleaded. "My baby is not safe. I am not safe."
Metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the R511 and other roads in the area would remain closed until the situation was normalised.
"We have increased the police deployment,'' he said.

This morning's chaos followed running battles last night between police and residents demanding the release of several people who had been arrested.

Police sealed off the area in a bid to prevent cars being pelted with stones, and warned motorists entering the area to be cautious.

At least 22 people have been
arrested so far.
The rioting in the township of about 100 000 people began on
Monday as word spread that informal settlement residents allegedly were going to be removed to Brits, in North West province.

During their rampage, protesters burnt two municipal offices, barricaded streets and clashed with police.

Yesterday, the relocation "rumour" was roundly condemned by the authorities. Sizakele Nkosi, Johannesburg member of the mayoral committee (MMC) and head of public safety, assured people that they would not be relocated.

But City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said the problem had come about because some Alexandra residents - relocated to Diepsloot from the banks of the Jukskei in 2001 - did not qualify for housing subsidies.

About 85 relocated families illegally occupied houses earmarked for Diepsloot residents who had been on a waiting list. They were evicted on May 3, but moved back the same day.

Modingoane said the city was in the process of ensuring that the rightful owners of those houses returned to their properties.

Late yesterday about 1 000 residents, who claimed Diepsloot councillor Sarafina Mulaudzi had told them at the weekend that they would be moved to Brits, met to
discuss the issue. They had earlier demanded that Mulaudzi provide an explanation, but the councillor was nowhere to be found.

"I don't want to move," said seamstress Thandi Nkosi. "I was moved from Alexandra just four years ago and now they want to move me again."
ANC


Johannesburg secretary Pule Buthelezi told the meeting that the ANC, the SA National Civic Organisation, councillors and community leaders would meet to try to resolve their problems.

"Whoever says that people are going to move from Diepsloot is lying," Buthelezi said.

He promised that the leaders would return to the area today to inform residents of the outcome of their discussions.

Housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane this morning said she had been instructed by the premier to deal with the situation. She had been informed by an intelligence investigation report that provocators were behind the riots.

She said she had dispatched officials to the scene and was expecting a report this morning.

JOHANNESBURG, July 7 (Reuters) - South African police fired rubber bullets at rioters in a slum settlement near Johannesburg on Wednesday, the third day of violence prompted by a false rumour of forced evictions, police and local media said.

Thousands of residents have rioted since Monday in the informal settlement of Diepsloot in rare scenes reminiscent of South Africa 's apartheid past when members of the black majority clashed sporadically with the white government's security forces until free elections a decade ago.

Police spokesman Inspector Percy Morokane said officers had fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters on Wednesday.

"There was this running battle between police and protesters. They were burning tyres," Morokane said. He said the area was calmer by Wednesday evening but police were maintaining a heavy presence.

Rioting began on Monday when rumours circulated that a group of residents, originally relocated to Diepsloot in 2000 due to flooding in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra , were to be moved even further away to the town of Brits .

Local government officials have said there is no plan to relocate the group to Brits, a small town northwest of Diepsloot and a long journey away for workers travelling to jobs in Johannesburg .

Morokane said all 22 people detained since Monday, when two council buildings were torched, had now been released and 20 had been summoned to appear in court on Thursday on charges of arson or public violence.

A nine-year-old girl was slightly injured when she was hit in the face by a rubber bullet, national news agency SAPA reported. Morokane could give no details on her condition.

Since Nelson Mandela swept the African National Congress to power in the first free elections in 1994, South Africa has made strides towards redressing decades of racial inequality and grinding poverty.

But millions of people still live in townships created under apartheid or informal settlements that have sprung up around major cities since restrictions on movement were lifted.

July 07 2004 at 05:42PM

The people arrested in connection with arson and public violence in Diepsloot have been released on a warning to appear in court on Thursday.

Police spokesperson Inspector Percy Morokane said on Wednesday that the 20 people were expected to appear in the Pretoria magistrate's court. He said a woman who was arrested on Wednesday was later released as it came to light that she was on her way to work.

Diepsloot - partly an informal settlement, partly housing estate - has seen violent protests since Monday. Pretoria police spokesperson Superintendent Morne van Wyk said the area, north of Johannesburg , was calm on Wednesday afternoon.

Residents went on a rampage stoning cars, the police and journalists. They were protesting against their rumoured removal from Diepsloot to Brits, north of Pretoria , on July 14.

'The protesters are playing to the media'

They were removed from Alexandra to Diepsloot in 2000 after the Jukskei river flooded.

Earlier on Wednesday, police patrolling the township threatened to arrest reporters and photographers after it was declared a crime scene under Section 13 of the Police Act. The section gives police the authority to close off an area and control movement into and out of the affected zone.

Van Wyk said the law was invoked to protect journalists and hopefully to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control.

"The protesters are playing to the media and as a result the presence of the media is fuelling the violence and creating an unstable environment," he said.

"People who don't adhere to this will be arrested."

'At some point something has to happen'

The R511 was closed for the day after a substantial number of motorists travelling on the road had their cars badly damaged by a crowd who threw stones at them.

Some drivers made hasty u-turns as stones hit their windows and some local residents were prevented from going to work.

On Wednesday, a nine-year-old girl was taken to a Johannesburg hospital for treatment after being shot in the face by police firing rubber bullets to disperse a crowd.

She was slightly injured, Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Malcolm Midgely said.

Government officials reiterated that there were no plans to relocate residents to Brits.

"As for ourselves, we never had plans to relocate people," Gauteng housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane told Sapa.

"All along, nobody came to us to complain (before violence broke out in the area)," she said, adding that it was after rumours of the relocation started, that the violence erupted on Monday.

Gabu Tugwana, spokesperson for the Johannesburg city council, said: "The city council has never, now or in future, planned to relocate the people.

"There is no truth in that people are going to be moved. There is no need to panic," he said.

Tugwana said Sarafina Mulaudzi, the councillor who allegedly spread the rumour, denied having said something to that effect to the community.

The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) urged Mokonyane to "take urgent action to address the situation in Diepsloot".

"If the government does not address the matter urgently, we will take further action," Sanco Gauteng general secretary Tunka Matila said.

Sanco leaders would travel to Diepsloot to speak to community members on Thursday, he said.

"We have been saying to government all along that they must make sure that they issue correct information to the people.

"The MEC (Mokonyane) should issue notices to the people clarifying the situation," Matila said.

The Democratic Alliance said the situation in Diepsloot was bound to happen as the local government had in the past failed to timeously notify the people about possible relocation.

"The record of the way in which the ANC led council and its officials have treated some Diepsloot residents is a shameful one.

"At some point something has to happen," DA caucus chairman Vasco da Gama said.

The DA called on city council officials and community leaders to meet and solve the problem.

The office of Local Government and Provincial Affairs Minister Sydney Mufamadi said it was briefed about the matter on Wednesday.

Mokonyane said her department was currently investigating the housing problem in Diepsloot.

Officials from the Johannesburg city council and the housing department "are already interacting with reliable local leaders in order to ascertain the origin of the false rumour that has resulted in people damaging property and causing mayhem in the area", she said. - Sapa

·                        This article was originally published on July 07, 2004

Rubber bullets used to quell riot
From correspondents in Diepsloot , South Africa
July 8, 2004

SOUTH African police overnight fired rubber bullets and used a water cannon on township residents north of Johannesburg to try to quell three days of riots over planned evictions.

The clash at Diepsloot, about 25km north of Johannesburg , underscored lingering problems with housing in South Africa , where 10 years after the end of apartheid, some 7.35 million people still live in shacks and squatter homes.

About 50 police backed by armoured personnel carriers were locked in a standoff with some 500 residents who said they did not want to move from their township.

Residents said they were angry after being told by community leaders they would be moved to the town of Brits , some 60 kilometres west of Pretoria , which would put them miles from their jobs.

Police said they had arrested 23 people since Monday, when rioting began with residents setting fire to cars and buildings and throwing stones at police.

There are Diepsloot move plans

8 July 2004

By Boyd Webb

There are plans to relocate some residents of the troubled Diepsloot community in Johannesburg but not to North West province, the city council says.

"People have never been moved from one city to another nor will they ever be," councillor Salphina Malauzi said.

Her notice of a meeting on the matter last week appeared to have triggered the past week's riots at Diepsloot.

The violent protests against perceived plans to relocate people to Brits in North West resulted in the arrest of 19 people for public violence and arson.

Moving Diepsloot residents to Brits had never been contemplated,  said Malauzi.

But she said that the housing committee, headed by Strike Ralekgoma, was looking for possible relocation sites around Diepsloot for residents of Extension 1.

"They are still busy with the process and at the moment nobody will be moved anywhere," she said, unable to provide any time frame  for possible relocation programmes.

Tensions leading to this week's outbreak of violence had been simmering since Malauzi distributed leaflets calling residents to a  public meeting on June 27 to discuss "moving people from Diepsloot Extension 1".

Residents claimed that despite assurances from the city council that nobody would be relocated to Brits, rumours to the contrary abounded.

"I was moved here from Alexandra and now they want to move me again. We can't move to Brits because the farmers will be unhappy and the fighting will continue," said Lawrence Mudau.

Rumours were further fuelled when Metropolitan police spokesman, Wayne Minnaar, on radio, inadvertently gave credibility to the rumours of a possible move to Brits.

He on Thursday publicly apologised. "The story I communicated so emphatically about the imminent movement of some residents to Brits is clearly without foundation," he said in a statement.

Community leader, Joe Legodi, said all the community wanted was for someone from the city council to write it down on paper that they wound not be moved to Brits.

The community expressed fears that they would return from work to find their possessions gone.

He also said that the residents wanted to meet with Johannesburg 's Executive Mayor, Amos Masondo, but Malauzi said he was too busy and that members from the housing department would meet with residents on Thursday evening.

Masondo, speaking through his spokeswoman, Zandile Nkuta, called  for a return to peace in Diepsloot.

"He reiterated that there was no substance to allegations that the residents would be moved to Brits and was very keen to get to the source of the rumour," she said.

Nkuta, said the mayor was most concerned about the impact the riot had had on the elderly as they would now not be receiving their pensions on time.

"He won't be visiting Diepsloot as he has full faith in his mayoral committee responsible for housing," she said.

Nineteen residents, including 13-year-old Tumi Ramateletsi, appeared briefly in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Thursday on charges of public violence and arson following their arrests on Monday and Wednesday.

Warrants of arrest were issued for three, who failed to appear in court following their release from detention on Wednesday afternoon.

The remainder were ordered to appear in court again on August 27  to when the case had been postponed for further investigation.

Following their dismissal, the group joined supporters outside the court and toyi-toyied the "unfairness of their arrests".

Legodi, said the 19 were not the perpetrators.

"They only stand accused of running too slowly so the police managed to catch them," he said.

They returned to a hero's welcome in Diepsloot. The chant, " Pretoria are fools", was heard as they arrived in minibus taxis.

Tensions threatened again to erupt as a police riot vehicle approached them but calmed once it retreated.

"We will wait and see what they have to say tonight," said resident, Puleng Mkonyemi.

Large numbers of Metro Police were stationed at the entrance to Diepsloot but police spokesman, Percy Morokane described Diepsloot on Thursday as "very quiet".

Uneasy peace returns to riot-torn township

July 8, 2004

By Staff Reporters and Sapa

After three days of rioting and violence, peace seems to have returned to Diepsloot.

No incidents of violence were reported this morning in the township north of Johannesburg . However, police still maintained a strong presence.

Police spokesman Inspector Percy Morokane said although the situation was calm, and "everyone was going to work as if nothing had happened in the past days", police "were not going to be fooled".

Unlike yesterday morning's chaos, taxis and other commuter services resumed their normal operation. The barricades in the streets had also been removed while the traffic on the R511 road increased.

The road, which runs between Pretoria and Johannesburg , was closed yesterday after a number of cars were badly damaged by a stone-throwing crowd. More than 20 people, who were arrested during the riots, will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court today.

They face charges of arson and public violence.

The trouble in the township began on Monday, when shack-dwelling residents claimed they had been told by local councillor Sarafina Mulaudzi that they were to be forcibly removed to Brits, in the North West province. 

But the City of Johannesburg said it suspected that the rioting was connected to the illegal occupation of houses allocated to Diepsloot residents.

Yesterday City of Johannesburg spokesperson Gabu Tugwana said Mulaudzi had denied having spread the relocation rumour. Mulaudzi herself could not be reached for comment.

Despite assurances by the city, the provincial government and the Johannesburg ANC that there were no plans to move anyone from Diepsloot, the violence continued.

Meanwhile, the media's banning from Diepsloot yesterday has been decried as apartheid-style censorship. Criticism from media groups came after journalists were banned from Diepsloot for three hours yesterday because police claimed they were fuelling the violence.

More than 20 reporters, photographers and cameramen attempting to cover riots were kicked out by police who used Section 13 of the Police Act to declare the area a crime scene.

Police on guard in Diepsloot

08/07/2004 08:38  - (SA)  

Johannesburg - Police will maintain a strong presence in the Diepsloot informal settlement north west of Pretoria on Thursday following the ongoing violent protests in the area, police spokesperson Inspector Percy Morokane said.

He said although the situation was calm, and "everyone was going to work as if nothing has happened in the past days", police were not going to be "fooled".

Diepsloot - partly an informal settlement, partly housing estate - has seen violent protests since Monday.

Residents went on a rampage stoning cars, the police and journalists following rumours that they would be moved to Brits in the North West province on July 14.

They were removed from Alexandra to Diepsloot in 2000 after the Jukskei River flooded.

On Wednesday, police patrolling the township threatened to arrest reporters and photographers after it was declared a crime scene under Section 13 of the Police Act. The section gives police the authority to close off an area and control movement into and out of the affected zone.

Superintendent Morne van Wyk said the law was invoked to protect journalists and hopefully to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control.

"The protesters are playing to the media and as a result the presence of the media is fuelling the violence and creating an unstable environment," he said.

The R511 road between Pretoria and Johannesburg was closed on Wednesday after a substantial number of motorists travelling on the road had their cars badly damaged by a crowd who threw stones at them.

More than twenty people, who were arrested in Diepsloot during the riots, would appear in the Pretoria magistrate's court on Thursday. They would face charges of arson and public violence.

Edited by Tisha Steyn

July 8, 2004

By Solly Maphumulo, Gill Gifford, Lee Rondganger and Sapa

The media have been banned from Diepsloot because reporters were "fuelling the violence" there, police say. But media groups decried the ban as nothing less than apartheid-style censorship.

More than 20 reporters and photographers trying to report the riots at Diepsloot, which entered a third day yesterday, were kicked out of the area by police, quoting a provision of the Police Act governing crime scenes.

In terms of this provision, they are given the power to restrict access to a cordoned-off area.

Police Captain Morné Van Wyk claimed it was for the journalists' own safety - as well as an attempt to curb the violence. "The protesters are playing to the media and as a result the presence of the media is fuelling the violence and creating an unstable environment."

By midday all journalists had been removed, under threat of arrest. "I'm warning you, you are running the risk of being arrested," Inspector Percy Morokane told the gathering, which included the Pretoria News, Agence France Presse, SABC, e.tv, Sunday Times, Sowetan, KayaFM and 702 Talk Radio.

The media eventually withdrew on legal advice.

But three hours later the police withdrew the crime-scene order - although they did not bother informing the media.

Legal adviser Peter Grealy, of Webber Wentzel Bowens, described the legislation used by the police to remove journalists from Diepsloot as "so broadly phrased that they are entitled to prevent any person from entering" the area designated as the scene in which they plan to conduct an investigation.

"It is strange that they cordoned off an entire residential area. It's almost invasive," Grealy said.

A Media Institute of South Africa spokesman, Raymond Louw, said he believed the police had abused Section 13 to censor reporting on what was happening in Diepsloot.

He said that when covering riots, journalists were expected to keep out of the way of the police while recording what was happening between the police and protesters.

"This seems to be taking us back to the apartheid days where police stopped journalists from reporting on the situation where there is violent public dissent," Louw said.

One newspaper editor, Moegsien Williams, said: "We find it disturbing that the police of the new South Africa are resorting to tactics of the apartheid police in trying to restrict media access to areas where there are problems between police and the public. We reject the police argument that media presence encourages violence."

Henry Jeffery, chairman of the SA National Editors Forum, said the organisation believed police had overreacted.

"We do not think the police took the correct action by excluding journalists from Diepsloot. It is unbelievable that the police declared a whole town a crime scene," he said.

National police commissioner Jackie Selebi was out of the country, but Inspector Dennis Adriao, chief communications officer for Gauteng , said provincial commissioner Perumal Naidoo had the authority to invoke the section - and had used it.

Twenty-two people arrested in connection with arson and public violence in Diepsloot had been warned to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court today.

Unrepentant protesters in court

08/07/2004 11:07  - (SA)  

Pretoria - Nineteen Diepsloot residents appeared in the Pretoria magistrate's court on Thursday on charges of public violence and arson.

Accompanied by community leader Joe Legodi, the group threatened even more protests if they were convicted of anything.

"These were not the people who burnt the offices in Diepsloot. Police only arrested those who could not run as fast as the rest," he said.

Police arrested 16 residents on Monday and another three on Wednesday following outbreaks of violence in Diepsloot between Johannesburg and Pretoria .

The youngest in the group is 13-years-old and the oldest is 58.

Diepsloot - partly an informal settlement, partly housing estate - saw violent protests from Monday to Wednesday.

Residents went on a rampage stoning cars, the police and journalists following rumours that they would be relocated to Brits in the North West province on July 14.

Edited by Tisha Steyn

  July 08 2004 at 06:09PM

Diepsloot Upheaval Raises Property Jitters

Business Day (Johannesburg)

July 9, 2004

Posted to the web July 9, 2004

Nick Wilson , Property Reporter

Johannesburg

Pundits warn that more incidents could follow unless urban management caters for the lower end of the market

PROVIDED it was an isolated incident, the violence that erupted in the Diepsloot informal settlement this week would not depreciate the value of residential property of nearby suburbs Dainfern, Douglasdale, Cedar Lakes and Fourways, property pundit s said yesterday.

But they warned that an urban management policy that included the lower end of the market should be put in place.

About 22 people were arrested during the protests earlier this week, following rumours of planned forced removals.

The Gauteng government reiterated yesterday that residents would not be moved elsewhere, saying it had no plans to relocate people to Brits.

Since the outbreak of violent protests on Monday, protesters have burnt down two council offices, blockaded the R511 road and hurled stones at cars.

A nine-year-old girl was taken to hospital after being shot in the face by police firing rubber bullets to disperse protesters .

Ronald Ennik , chief operating officer of Pam Golding Properties, said yesterday that the residential property market in the areas surrounding Diepsloot was strong enough to weather any negative influences .

"But I believe there needs to be an in-depth look into what happened here because there doesn't seem to be real justification for the turmoil," he said .

Ennik said if the Diepsloot protests were a "once-off situation", the residential property market in nearby suburbs would "easily survive ".

But he warned that repeated flare-ups of violence in the area could eventually result in the value of property depreciating .

Herschel Jawitz , CEO of Jawitz Properties, also believed that the Diepsloot incident would not immediately a ffect property prices in the area, but said it might create uncertainty in the market.

"I think the bigger issue is land ownership for disadvantaged communities, and this needs to be addressed in a sustainable way," Jawitz said.

Adrian Saville, chief investment officer at Cannon Asset Managers, said that because the violence had been contained, it was unlikely to have any "longlasting negative effect (on residential property prices)".

Property economist Francois Viruly, of Viruly Consulting, said the future success of the South African residential property market could not be separated from the housing and the property sector at the lower end of the market.

He also stressed the importance of putting in place an urban management policy that was inclusive of the lower end of the market.

"While we speak of land restitution on big farmlands, we could find ourselves with land restitution issues in the urban environment," he said.

"The future of the market, whether the high or low end, relies on our success in addressing poverty and more specifically the housing needs of all the sectors of the population."

Viruly did not believe property prices would be affected in the area surrounding Diepsloot, but warned that if land issues were not handled responsibly, "land invasion can become an issue".

Meanwhile, Gauteng housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane yesterday lashed out at the illegal occupation of reconstruction and development programme houses in Diepsloot.

FXI Condemns Police Barring of Media From Conflict Zone

International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House ( Toronto )

PRESS RELEASE

July 9, 2004

Posted to the web July 9, 2004

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has signalled its outrage at police action in Diepsloot on 7 July 2004, when, for a period of three hours, media were barred from covering the ongoing conflict between the residents of the area and state authorities. Police threatened to arrest any journalist who entered the area.

Diepsloot is an informal settlement, located a few kilometres outside of Johannesburg in Gauteng Province . Since 5 July 2004, Diepsloot has been rocked by violent confrontations between its residents and the police, amid allegations that the residents will be relocated to Brits, a rural area in the country's North West Province .

In barring the media, police allegedly invoked the provisions of section 13(11) of the South African Police Services Act (No. 68 of 1995), which empowers members of the police force to declare an area a crime scene and cordon it off for purposes of carrying out investigations. This particular section stipulates that:

- 13(11)(a) A member may, for the purposes of investigating any offence or alleged offence, cordon off the scene of such offence or alleged offence and any adjacent area which is reasonable in the circumstances to cordon off in order to conduct an effective investigation at the scene of the offence or alleged offence.

- (b) A member may, where it is reasonable in the circumstances in order to conduct such investigation, prevent any person from entering or leaving an area so cordoned off.

FXI argued that it is essential to understand that section 13(11) as a whole permits the cordoning off of crime scenes for purposes of "investigation" only and not merely as an operational requirement. As it were, when media was barred entry, the police were not engaged in investigating a crime or crimes in Diepsloot but, on the contrary, were trying to contain the violent protests that have been witnessed there since the beginning of the week. The organisation stated that public order policing is an operational rather than an investigative activity.

FXI said it found it particularly disturbing that police are once again resorting to some of the insidious tactics much favoured during the apartheid era and especially during the successive spate of state emergencies, when police declared whole townships and villages "unrest areas" and sealed them off from the media. Gross atrocities and the pervasive violation of fundamental rights (such as killings, torture, beatings and demolition of houses) then occurred behind this darkened window, inside the exclusionary zones. FXI said it shuddered to think that South Africa 's modern day democratic police force is once again betraying trappings of its shameful past.

"The excuse given by the police that media was barred from Diepsloot for its own safety, and that the presence of media was fuelling further violence is a shoddy and laughable attempt at whitewashing a clearly unconstitutional and illogical directive," the organisation said in a press statement.

Furthermore, FXI said it found it disconcerting that police decided to embark on a selective and opportunistic interpretation of section 13(11) in regards to Diepsloot, whereas the same police force and certain of its other organs, such as the specialised crime investigating unit (popularly known as "the Scorpions"), usually have no qualms in inviting media to cover their "Hollywood style" sting operations and crime blitzes. FXI wondered whether media is invited to the latter category of scenes in order to merely help boost the image of the police force.

The organisation noted that the media's obligation to gather and report news as it breaks needed no elaboration. In actual fact, FXI argued, South Africa's Constitutional Court has observed that media has a: "'constitutional mandate' to inform and educate the public, and that the ability of citizens to be effective and responsible members of our society depends to a large extent on the way media executes this constitutional responsibility. By barring media from covering the on-going conflict between the residents of Diepsloot and the state, police unjustifiably denied media its right to receive and impart information as guaranteed by the Constitution, besides pouring scorn on the hallowed reasoning of the Constitutional Court ."

FXI called for a substantive statement to be issued by the National Police Commissioner, distancing his office from the police action in Diepsloot and clarifying the particular circumstances under which section 13(11) of the Police Services Act is to be invoked. The organisation also stated that the National Police Commissioner must bear in mind that the cordoning off of crime areas must be "reasonable" as stipulated in this section of the act. For that reason, media, as a guardian of society's interests, must as far a possible be given reasonable access to crime and operational areas.

July 10 2004 at 03:45PM

  Jeremy Gordin
  July 11 2004 at 10:57AM