Introduction

There is a social struggle over the meaning of ‘adequate housing’. The struggle is to determine where this housing should be located. And the struggle is also about who should pay for it.

The Stellenbosch United Action Group, comprising individuals who claim to represent the interests of the back yard tenants and broader community of Idas Valley. They have been struggling for several years to get the municipality to engage with the community and communicate their plans for building affordable housing. Their struggle pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Their struggle appears to have had no effect. Accordingly, the Group approached the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to tell their story and that of their community. The HRC responded by attending a meeting with the Group. Here they heard their complaints and grievances, and claims of violation of their right to adequate housing.

Stellenbosch Transparency attended this meeting. After the meeting we interviewed several activists and asked them to explain the purpose and aims of their struggle.

Interview – Struggle for Homes – Stellenbosch United Action Group

Purpose and aims

Paul Hendler

So I’m Paul Hendler from Stellenbosch Transparency and it’s now 9th of October 2020 and we are at the meeting at the church in Idas Valley and this meeting was called by the Stellenbosch United Action Group. That’s right, hey? And I wanted to just discuss three sorts of questions with you just to clarify what this Stellenbosch United Action Group is about. So the first thing I’d like to ask is, and I think you should all feel free just to jump in with whatever answers you want to. The first thing I wanted to ask you is what is the purpose and the aims of the Stellenbosch United Action Group?

Vinton Morgan

We want to help our communities. For the past 14 years under the DA (Democratic Alliance) administration our people never get houses, they get more high tariffs and we want to change that in our communities because unemployment is a big problem in Stellenbosch overall. So this is the start, this is where we are going to start, with housing, unemployment, job opportunities, small businesses and we want to help the community. Not like the councillors, they report to their parties. We are going to report to the community.

Scope of the Group

Paul Hendler

Okay. So when you say in the greater area of Stellenbosch, it’s not just Idas Valley or Cloetesville or Kayamnandi?

Vinton Morgan

All over, all over Stellenbosch.

Graham Dhelminie

The whole of the Municipal boundaries, the Stellenbosch Municipal boundaries.

Paul Hendler

Which goes all the way across into Jonkershoek. There was a gentleman here from Jonkershoek right? And it also goes all the way to Klapmuts. All the Farms also. Raithby on the other side I think is part of it also.

Graham Dhelminie

Within the Stellenbosch boundaries.

Paul Hendler

Okay gentlemen, if there any other comments besides this gentleman please jump in. Otherwise I’ll move on to the next question.

Municipal relationship

Luthando Mxesibe

One of the most important things is open communication between the offices of the municipality and the community. We have been experiencing, and we are experiencing, a lot of challenges when it comes to communication. The recent experience, whereas there were challenges even before the covid-19, lockdown. There are recent challenges that now the municipality offices are playing a game of not showing willingness to attend to people due to covid-19 regulations. That is the game now, that now they’re playing, now with the people. And secondly is the attitude of politicizing the basic services which will go to the communities.

They want to dish them according to who votes for the ruling party to that particular municipality. This is what now we see in our community. Those that didn’t vote for the government that is in place. They’re making the point that they will frustrate them and and they will make sure that they don’t benefit. And secondly, as I’ve said, that you want to depoliticize the municipality as much as we can. In other words, of the community, not through the political parties but through their own community based organization, they want to take over all the issues of Stellenbosch. All of them, they must be community based.

Paul Hendler

Ok, does that mean you are thinking of fighting the local government elections next year?

Luthando Mxesibe

Not necessarily. We are only saying that butter and bread issues which are day-to-day operational issues must be handled by the communities themselves, not through any political party. But through their civic organizations.

Paul Hendler

I have heard somebody who I know, an activist from Cloetesville, Niklaas Willemse, talk about an initiative to contest the local government elections next year because the current parties are inadequate.

Graham Dhelminie

They’re not actually part of our movement. They’re not part of this particular movement.

Paul Hendler

Okay. All right.

Unity with other structures

Luthando Mxesibe

Well, maybe we can say that they are not representing this movement. They are part of it from their own perspective. But they are not the face of this movement.

Paul Hendler

In other words, there is a broader movement that includes them but you are a particular organizational structure, and they are not part of this structure. Okay, and do you have engagements and relationships and talking between that structure and this structure?

Vinton Morgan

We all engage and we all come together when we have meetings with the municipality.

Paul Hendler

Okay.

Graham Dhelminie

So there is communication.

Paul Hendler

There is communication right. It’s not seen as a as a conflicting initiative at all.

Graham Dhelminie

We are not islands, you understand what I mean? We might disagree on certain issues but by the end of it all we are all fighting for the same purpose, same ideals, aims and objectives. You understand what I’m saying?

Paul Hendler

Which is what you were just explaining to me around housing, jobs, employment, education. And I mean we could talk for the whole afternoon. Getting into crime, drugs, etc. Okay.

Graham Dhelminie

They are all interlinked. If there is no jobs, there’ll be crime. There’ll be drugs. You understand what I mean. All these ugly things. Because our foundation isn’t right. It’s basic, if a guy’s got a job, he can support his family and it’ll take this mind off all the crime and drugs, and whatever the case may be.

Why approach the HRC?

Paul Hendler

Ok, the next question was, why did this group call a meeting with the Human Rights Commission? I know why at one level, okay, you got complaints and problems, but you called it with the Human Rights Commission specifically. You could have done other things about it also.

Collective meetings with municipality

Graham Dhelminie

Can I answer that? You see, if you deal with the Stellenbosch municipality you run into blocks. And as one of the leaders said inside, the DA municipality in this case is locking all the doors for communication, for negotiation whatever, which leaves us with just a few doors open. And just to mention an example, you can’t go knock on the DA’s door if you are a group. They don’t want to meet or sit down or negotiate with a group. You need to approach them individually, as an individual. And you know if you approach this problem as an individual, they take your the fire out of you, the power is out of you. Whatever the case may be. You understand what I’m saying?

So these are the type of things that I mentioned, the doors that are being systematically closed in our faces, especially people of color. We must start realizing that people of color, we are on our own, and especially in this place. I call it the Orania. Take for instance low cost houses, the low cost houses that is being built in Idas Valley that will be the last low cost houses that will be built in Idas Valley. The rest of the low cost houses, that will be built…
Idas Valley, Stellenbosch: activists engaged in housing struggle

The Stellenbosch United Action Group and Supporters

Paul Hendler

This Hillside project you talking about?

Graham Dhelminie

That’s Hillside project at the top.

Paul Hendler

Sorry, yah carry on.

Graham Dhelminie

The rest of the houses that will still come in future will be built in Klapmuts. That is the new black spread, whatever the case might be. But they are leaving the doors open for your whites that runs from other provinces. They buy up the farms and then rezone it from agriculture to residential and then they build estates.

Paul Hendler

Gated estates.

Graham Dhelminie

Gated estates you understand what I mean? So that’s why again, I would appeal to our people, there’s an election coming up, 2021. Another chance to change your own life and the life of your children.

The bigger purpose

Paul Hendler

How is the meeting with the Human Rights Commission fitting into this bigger purpose? I mean..

Graham Dhelminie

Exactly, because of these doors that are closing in our faces. You understand? And your human rights according to us, that is the last bastion. That’s the last war that you don’t need. These are the last people that can speak for us. Because we as ordinary citizens of Stellenbosch, in particular, approach these people, the municipality, they shut us down.

Paul Hendler

Are you confident that the Human Rights Commission, following this and probably a few more meetings with yourselves, is going to take your case sort of forward, and that the municipality will respond in ways that are satisfactory?

Graham Dhelminie

Well, look, the Human Rights is a chapter 9 institution. They will have to listen. They will have to sit down with these people. As far as the issues are concerned, it was made through the Human Rights this morning that not all our issues that we put on the table, that we slapped in front of them, are human rights issues. Some of those issues need to be tackled by your local police. Or your public protectors office, which is also a chapter 9 institution. So actually we were dealing with the issues that fell into the their, how can I say, domain. You understand. But we are definitely looking forward because this is now the first time that we met up with the Human Rights Commission, and we’ve learned a lot.

We’ve learned quite a lot, how to deal with these people. They are prepared. There is this preparedness from them to lend a hand and to seriously help us. But then the issues need to be the right issues for them, and they will take it up. So there again from that angle we’ve learned a lot this morning. We won’t make those mistakes again. There’s a lot of issues, and now we need to categorize the issues.

Immediate goal

Paul Hendler

So just a last question. What are the concrete steps coming out of this meeting between you and the Human Rights Commission?

Meeting municipality

Vinton Morgan

In the first place, they must set up the meeting with us and the municipality. That’s the first thing. We want commitment and there must be agreement. We must meet for further negotiations with the municipality. And we want the Human Rights Commission to be present in that first meeting.

Paul Hendler

Okay, so that’s the immediate objective.

Vinton Morgan

We don’t want to go the other way the violence way.

Paul Hendler

Oh I see.

Vinton Morgan

So this is the final warning. They must come to the table. Otherwise, we are going the other way.

Graham Dhelminie

And we know, we are a aware that if the Human Rights knock on their door, they are going to open and only this time we’re going in with the Human Rights.

Land and contracts

Paul Hendler

Okay, if you have this meeting, do you have any idea of what your next objective would be, or am I jumping the gun here by putting that question?

Vinton Morgan

For instance, we as the Stellenbosch United Action Group, the first thing we want to hear from them, they must show us where’s the ground and we want the contract of the Hillside Village project.

Paul Hendler

Okay? Okay, ground for more housing besides Hillside Village?

Vinton Morgan

Yes.

Paul Hendler

Okay, and then by the contract you mean there must be people here, artisans and workers here…

Vinton Morgan

No, the contract is between the municipality and ASLA (development/construction company building houses in Hillside Village). We want that contract.

Graham Dhelminie

What was said was, why is there so many discrepancies in that particular contract between ASLA and whatsisname. There was supposed to have been built about over a hundred low cost houses, so why are their only 89 houses?

Paul Hendler

We’ve done quite a bit of research on that project and I know that, I know those…

Graham Dhelminie

Why, because what did the brief say when the contractors were on site? There was a brief, they call it a site meeting, where the whole project is briefed to you and then when they identified ASLA is going to be the agent for this whole whatsisname, all of a sudden the brief changed. You told us about a hundred and twenty houses. Now that ASLA has got the project, is the winning bidder for the project, now all of a sudden the houses have been reduced. That is corruption. It’s illegal. You can’t do that. You are benefiting ASLA now.

Paul Hendler

(Reduced from) 195 to 98, yes. Just to come back to your point. You want a contract between the municipality and yourselves to run a project, then that joint group….

Vinton Morgan

No, no, no

Paul Hendler

No, sorry

Vinton Morgan

We want to see the contract they have. The agreement between them and ASLA the contractor on the site. We want that contract.

Graham Dhelminie

That contract must be open on the table. So that we can scrutinize that whole whatsisname. What has been been happening?

Paul Hendler

And with any other housing development project you are going to want to have the same demand?

Vinton Morgan

Like we said in the beginning we are already in Klapmuts, Franschhoek, all our wards. We want answers. Where’s the ground, where are you gonna build for our people homes? They are not going to dump our people in Klapmuts. We have areas and there is ground.

Paul Hendler

And then when the development happens, beyond where the ground is, you also want to see the contracts that are signed, so that you get the jobs locally and you get the numbers of lower cost units, proper size and all those specifications in?

Graham Dhelminie

That’s right, thats what we want. While you are building houses for our people, you are creating work. You understand what I’m saying? And at the moment it’s not happening. It’s not happening. All the contractors, or most of the contractors that are busy here, are from outside. And they bring their own people from outside.

Paul Hendler

Okay gentlemen, thank you very much for your time.