Cape Towwn - A new civil society organisation, aimed at driving the coloured agenda, is rising through the ashes of gang-torn Cape Flats areas, to unify and mobilise the coloured people in the province.
Launched in Bishop Lavis, Delft, Elsies River and Factreton at the weekend, the Wes Kaapse Kleurling Ontwikkelings Organisasie (WKKOO) claims to have the mandate of struggling communities at grassroots.
And WKKOO is already on the radar of established political parties that are concerned that it has political ambitions, and is moving onto their turf.
Quashing speculation that they are politically aligned, spokesman Ghalieb Essop said they had no hidden agendas, but were more in touch with the people on the Cape Flats.
Essop added that in a short time they had signed up more than 30 000 members, all fed-up with political games played at the expense of the poor.
Declaring war on fat-cat politicians who are failing the communities, Essop said the WKKOO was taking ownership of the plight of the people, finding its own solutions to the social ills plaguing households across the province.
Essop said it was a disgrace that for decades the people in the province had been ruled by others who did not have their interests at heart.
“Some might say we are racist because the criteria to join are that you must be a coloured, who wants to develop and improve their life, but we can no longer be apologetic for being the majority. From now on we find our own non-political solutions,” he said.
Questioning why the majority of people locked up in prisons in the province are coloureds, Essop said this in itself pointed out that something is horribly wrong in society.
“Coloured people do not wake up in the morning saying today I want to be a gangster, a murderer, a drug dealer, a prostitute, a drug addict or a drunkard. Circumstances have led to this, poverty has hooked its claws into our people and we are planning to change this,” Essop said.
Vowing that WKKOO would be a thorn in the side of the provincial government, local government and national government, which were failing to drive issues of employment, housing and basic services such as sanitation, Essop said this would be the platform established by the people for the people.
“We don’t want people’s votes, we want to redirect the power of the people and use it to bring about change. We have given others the opportunity to lead us, now we the communities are taking back the power for ourselves. Our aims and objective is to get the majority population under one banner, so when we go and run down the doors of national, provincial, local government or private sector – people must sit up, take note and listen because it is the majority in this province that is speaking.”
Essop said while there had not yet been a political solution to the problems facing Cape Flats residents, they could now put their trust in people who would not just ask for their votes.
“We are tackling bread-and-butter issues, and we are getting results.
“We are ordinary people who live in the communities making sure that the troubled neighbours get the help they need. But we are mobilising under one banner.”
Cape Argus