Cape Town - Support for Ses’khona People’s Rights Movement appeared to have fizzled out as less than a hundred people gathered for the movement’s service delivery march to the provincial legislature on Wednesday.
Members of the movement usually attended marches in their numbers, but on Wednesday, only a few showed up to support their leader Andile Lili.
Lili quashed rumours that there was division in the movement, saying “the rumours are a lie”.
“We are under house arrest; we only get two hours free time as part of the conditions, Loyiso Nkohla’s time is 9am until 11am; mine is from 10am until noon.”
He said Nkohla could not attend the march based on those reasons.
Lili attributed the poor attendance to lack of mobilising.
He said normally leaders visited each community, but this time it was done using social media.
Addressing the crowd, Lili said the march was a reminder to Premier Helen Zille that the organisation was still in existence and that their cries had not been responded to.
“We came here with a number of memorandums and all those memorandums have not been attended to.
“We are here to demonstrate our dissatisfaction and to remind Madam Zille that Ses’khona is still alive, Ses’khona is still kicking, Ses’khona is still a voice for the poor. It is not dead.”
The organisation demanded subsidised houses, electricity in informal settlements and “proper” service delivery.
Also on the list of demands was the eviction of Delft residents from houses they had been occupying for over 20 years.
“The government is giving title deeds to people who then sell the houses, what about those who are being evicted after occupying the houses for the past 20 years,” Lili said.
The memorandum was signed and received by provincial human settlements head of department Thando Mguli, who has seven working days to respond.
Khayelitsha resident Luzuko Xuma agreed that they would protest en masse: “We are tired of this waiting.”
Lili said the next Ses’khona march would be at the end of next month.
Cape Argus
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