Cape Town - Residents of the informal settlement on 18th Avenue in Factreton have threatened legal action against the City following the injuries suffered by 17 residents, including children, after they were shot at by law enforcement officers over the weekend.
The residents detailed what they said were four hours of violence where the officers emptied their firearms into an “unarmed crowd”.
Professor Brian Williams, who had been conducting peace-building programmes in the area, was also one of the victims. Williams said he had to seek medical attention after he was shot in the back.
The informal settlement is home to about 1200 residents who are sharing two taps, with no electricity or ablution facilities.
One of the victims, 67-year-old Zandra Johnson, who sustained a lower back injury, said she was rescuing her husband when the officers knocked her down and kicked her.
The shooting came after the law enforcement officers allegedly demolished an informal structure belonging to a family who recently had their structure burnt down.
Emptying the remainder of the cartridge cases from two full bags that the community collected after the shooting, Vernon Kleinsmith, who was hit five times in his right arm, alleges that the land the resident occupied belonged to the national government, and that the City had no jurisdiction over it.
“When they arrived we asked to speak to someone in charge, as we wanted to ascertain whether they had a court order permitting them to destroy the one shack, while we made them aware that this was not City land,” Kleinsmith said.
“By this time they already had their guns out, disregarded the points we raised, and then demolished the structure. They were gone already after destroying the structure, but decided to return and wreaked havoc in the community, shooting defenceless residents who did not even have stones to defend themselves with,” he said.
Community leader Eugene Oliver said the people in the settlement were not there by choice, but forced by circumstance.
“The way law enforcement come here and do what they like shows that they want our blood on their hands. Everyone has a right to have a roof over their head,” Oliver said.
Law Enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason said the officers provided support to Anti-Land Invasion Unit staff who were on site to remove one unoccupied structure, performed in terms of an existing court order.
Dyason said officers discharged rubber rounds in the interests of public safety after the crowd become riotous, and hurled stones and petrol bombs at staff.
Dyason said a case was opened of public violence and assault after two law enforcement officers were bitten by a dog.