Dann Road squatters to march to civic centre tomorrow
'We say to people of Glen Marais, particularly those in ward 16, to give us space to march' - EFF
Occupants of the Dann Road informal settlement are planning to march to Kempton Park Civic Centre tomorrow (April 6).
Messages about the march have been doing the rounds on social media platforms. Mampuru Mampuru, chairperson of the EFF in Ekurhuleni, confirmed there will be a march tomorrow.
The march follows hot on the heels of the squatters receiving notices of intention to evict them on Tuesday.
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• BREAKING: Aggressive Dann Road squatters chase contractors off land
“There will be a peaceful march from Dann Road to Kempton Park Civic Centre where we will hand over a memorandum with a list of demands,” Mampuru told Express on Thursday morning.
“A memorandum will be delivered to the City of Ekurhuleni. We will make sure we have been heard and the metro, through the office of the city manager and chief of police, have given their blessings to our memorandum.”
It is believed the memorandum was meant to be received by ward councillor Jaco Terblanche but according to Mampuru, Terblanche refused to receive the memorandum. The contents of the memorandum include the current court order of the eviction application notice served to the occupants on Tuesday.
“Access to quality health services for our people on Dann Road are also among the demands but the contents of the memorandum will only be heard on the day. We want to voice our concern and dissatisfaction with how things are run in ward 16 in general,” explained Mampuru.
“The march will start at 10am. We don’t have a specific route but the metro police are aware of the march, so is the chief of police, city manager and MMC for Community Safety. I have also told the mayor that our people are going to march and we are not going to be violent, it will be a peaceful march.
“We say to people of Glen Marais, particularly those in ward 16, to give us space to march.”
Khobedi Mokheseng, EMPD spokesperson, confirmed their presence at the march: “EMPD and SAPS members will monitor the march and escort the marchers from Dann Road to their destination, Kempton Park Civic Centre.”
According to Clr Gideon van Zyl an application for 350 people to march on April 6 was handed in about two weeks ago.
