Francesca Villette
RESIDENTS of impoverished Hangberg vented their anger at the arrest of a man – by targeting an upmarket block of flats on the doorstep of their overcrowded suburb yesterday.
The man, Tony Jonker, was arrested for being in contempt of a court order after he had refused to move off the firebreak above Hangberg.
His arrest sparked a violent protest during which the complex, Panorama Hill, was attacked and vehicles of some flat owners burnt. The block had been built on what some Hangberg residents claimed was land that could have been used for housing for the poor.
The same block of flats was attacked by Hangberg residents in September 2010 when they protested against the eviction of people who had occupied the firebreak because they had nowhere else to go.
Panorama Hill complex resident Bruce Pollock described yesterday’s attack as “imprisonating”. He said for two hours he sat frightened in his home while a group of about 40 protesters used wooden sticks to disable an electrical fence to gain access to the property.
During the rampage protesters used stones to smash the windows of units, set four cars alight and stoned another
.
Pollock’s neighbour had quickly loaded children living in the complex into his van and sped off to safety.
“It was horrific. Watching those people invade our space and destroy everything in their path. There was nothing we could do. It felt like we were prisoners in our own homes,” Pollock said.
After about two hours, the protesters turned their attention to the Hout Bay harbour market where a number of stalls were looted. Hout Bay Civic Association secretary Roscoe Jacobs said residents were unhappy about Jonker’s arrest.
Jacobs alleged that protesters had targeted Panorama Hill to demand that Hangberg Peace and Mediation Forum vice-chairman Greg Louw, who lives in the complex, address them on housing issues in the area.
Jacobs said while he did not condone the violence it was a “travesty of justice” that people were told to move out and given no other housing options.
“The forum makes housing decisions without consulting the people who will be affected – the people of Hangberg. I am of the opinion that (the protesters) wanted to see Louw and demanded why they were making those decisions,” he said.
Louw hit back, saying the forum did not make housing decisions and that it was state institutions that had the mandate. “The forum had always allowed the community to be involved in what goes on,” Louw said.
The area’s councillor, Marga Haywood, said a new housing development which would house 71 families in Hangberg was 40 percent completed but did not have details about the completion date.
Police spokesman Andre Traut said no arrests had been made.
“The circumstances surrounding the matter are under police investigation.”