Dunoon protest heads to CBD

The Dunoon protesters who invaded land along the N7 set out on a march to a railway station to commute to the mayor's office.

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Cape Town - The Dunoon protesters who invaded a piece of land along the N7 just over two weeks ago started protesting about land again on Friday morning - they then set out on a march to a local railway station to commute to the mayor's office.

Backyard dwellers from Dunoon erected structures on a piece of land along the N7 before City of Cape Town officials demolished them in March.

A MyCiTi bus station was damaged after things turned violent with some of the protesters getting arrested.

On Friday morning a group of more than 800 protesters gathered and were making their way to the Century City train station before moving on to to the city centre. They apparently moved right through a police line and were then escorted by police. It is understood that police used stun grenades earlier in the morning and several roads in the area were blocked off after fires were started by protesters.

City Traffic Services spokeswoman Maxine Jordaan said that at 10am Potsdam Road in Dunoon was still closed between Sati Drive and Malibongwe Drive.

Protester Xolani Hlekiso on Friday morning said they had identified a piece of land in the area that was suitable for dwellings but the City did not want them to move onto it.

“We get exploited by our landlords. Rent goes up every month. We can’t even use the toilet inside the house,” he said.

Hlekiso said they had been trying to engage the City on a space for homes but to no avail, so they now planned to march to Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille’s office to hand over a memorandum containing a list of grievances.

siyabonga.kalipa@inl.co.za

Cape Argus