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Protest spokesperson arrested
12/09/2007 13:12 - (SA)
Cape Town - An activist who acted as spokesperson for the Cape Town shack dwellers who battled police on Monday has been arrested, his organisation said.
The Joe Slovo Task Team said one of its members, Mzwanele Zulu, went to Langa police station on Tuesday evening to inform police that the community wanted to have a meeting inside the settlement to discuss the way forward.
The police agreed not to harass the meeting in any way.
"However, just minutes later as Mzwanele was walking home, police swooped on him and arrested him," the Task Team said.
It was "quite clear" that Zulu had been arrested merely for being an activist and a media spokesperson.
"The community has heard that there was an instruction from the provincial commissioner to arrest Mzwanele.
"This is ludicrous because on Monday, the police insisted on speaking to a negotiator from [the] Task Team and Mzwanele was that negotiator. So it is clear that the arrest is unlawful."
Case of public violence
Police spokesperson Capt Elliot Sinyangana said two people were arrested on Tuesday night as part of ongoing investigations into the case of public violence opened in the wake of Monday's unrest.
He did not have their names, and did not know yet when they would appear in court.
He said the two arrests brought the total arrests related to the unrest to nine.
The Task Team in its statement also accused the housing ministry of lying about the proposed removal of 6 000 Joe Slovo residents to Delft to make way for development of the N2 Gateway project on the Joe Slovo site.
The removal was one of the major grievances behind Monday's protest.
"The Minister of Housing [Lindiwe Sisulu] keeps saying that this move will be temporary. This is a bald-faced lie.
"Joe Slovo residents are going to be left in Delft for the rest of their lives. There are no plans to accommodate them in the new housing that is getting built in Joe Slovo.
"Only 1 000 people maximum can be accommodated in the new Joe Slovo houses, which leaves 5 000 unaccounted for."
In addition, the government had refused to build reconstruction and development programme houses for the residents, instead building homes which would be sold to those who could afford to pay R150 000 to R250 000 for a house.
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