On March 19, 14 people were arrested for “public violence” after 750 people from the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement in Claire Estate blockaded a major road with burning tyres for four hours. On March 21, 1200 people marched to the local police station demanding that the 14 be released, or the whole settlement be arrested. The police dispersed the march with tear gas and attack dogs. The settlement is desperately poor — residents recently agreed to allow the World Bank to burn methane from the local dump, in return for sending 50 children to Uganda for schooling. There are five working toilets for 1200 families, and their public meeting hall is falling to bits. The outbreak was sparked when a plot residents were developing public housing on was bulldozed without warning, by a brick factory company claiming to have government permission. Residents set up a meeting to discuss it, but when neither the factory owner nor the local council representative showed up, they took to the road instead. For more information, email <pithouse@ukzn.ac.za>.

From Green Left Weekly, April 13, 2005.
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