Durban - Hundreds of angry women on Thursday night flashed their buttocks, blocked the road and protested against a Durban High Court ruling which granted 24 children permission to stay with their mothers at the Thokoza Women’s Hostel in the Durban CBD.
The group was in full voice, wielding planks and banging on plastic city bins as the bottom of Dr Yusuf Dadoo (Grey) Street was blocked off by four metro police vans during the protest.
The group was led by former hostel chairwoman, Mabongi Ngcobo, who said the judgment was unfair because it did not consider the well-being of other residents.
She said there was a lease agreement in place that dictated that pregnant women move out for six months and send their children home when they had been born.
“We all agreed that children are not allowed here, and that when you fall pregnant you will move out for six months and return later and find your bed. Now that they are pregnant and have children, they say they have no families, whereas we hire people to take care of our children in the homelands,” Ngcobo said.
Ngcobo claimed some women drove cars and were not supposed to be living at the hostel, as it was meant for poor people.
She claimed some of the mothers were government and municipal workers.
She called for the eThekwini Municipality to move the women to an alternative property because the hostel was already overcrowded.
Another angry dweller, Thembi Dlamini, said the conditions were not conducive for children to live in.
“We don’t want the children in the hostel. There are only 24 who want children here, while there are nearly 980 of us who don’t want children here.
“The conditions inside are bad. We are cramped and they are making decisions for us without consulting us. There are three beds per room, there’s no space to even walk inside, the toilets are dirty and they leave the children’s napkins lying around anywhere and their children are always crying,” she said.
Ngcobo said the lease agreement allowed children to visit in December and leave in January, and said the municipality should prioritise family units.
Some women chanted that if children were allowed, they would bring their men inside the hostel as well.
“The court was not supposed to grant permission. The court has not been here to see the conditions; maybe if they had seen the conditions they would understand that this is not a good environment for children to grow up in,” Ngcobo said.
Another angry woman, Jabu Sithole, said it was unfair to be subjected to living with children.
“The rooms are small. Imagine, when you are trying to eat and somebody is changing nappies. Is that fair? These hostels were made for people who seek employment to provide for their families. If people want to see their children, they must visit them like the rest of us,” she said.
Daily News