Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

AfriForum wants to stop relocation of Melgisedek residents to Gezina with court application

AfriForum today brought an urgent court application in the High Court in Pretoria to stop the relocation of hundreds of illegal residents in the infamous Melgisedek building, near the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, to a temporary settlement in Gezina. According to the civil rights organisation, the planned relocation to an open site on the corner of Nico Smith Street and Johan Heyns Drive is unacceptable because it could have a serious adverse impact on the Moot community. There is no permanent infrastructure or toilet facilities on this site. The establishment of a large temporary settlement in an established residential area therefore poses significant risks to safety, local infrastructure and the economic well-being of residents and businesses in that area. With the court application, AfriForum also wants to put pressure on the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality to establish a sustainable plan for the relocation, rather than placing its own problems on the shoulders of the residents of the Moot.

AfriForum spoke to representatives of the Melgisedek community and according to them the community is not prepared to move to the proposed site and even welcomes the organisation’s court application. Although their current circumstances are not ideal, the community maintains that there are at least structures in which they can live. The proposed facilities in Gezina only provide temporary infrastructure, which includes, among others, 85 tents and 10 temporary toilets for approximately 450 people. This is not at all ideal with the current rainy weather and the upcoming winter and it is unhygienic.

In addition to the court application, AfriForum sent a formal letter to the Tshwane Metro on Wednesday requesting urgent answers on the reasons for the move, as well as on the processes that were followed before this decision was made. The Metro has not yet provided any feedback. The organisation also sent a formal letter of demand to the Metro on Thursday demanding that all activities regarding the move be immediately stopped pending the court application. AfriForum argues that the process is not being handled transparently and that the rights of both the residents concerned and the surrounding communities must be considered.

“The economist Milton Freidman was right: there are few things as permanent as a “temporary” government program. Ill-conceived projects like this, pushed through by the disastrous government without public participation and a sustainable plan, create a breeding ground for a permanent tent city in the heart of the Moot,” says Arno Roodt, AfriForum’s Head of the Northern Region. He further argues that issues like these are noticeable across the city, including Plastic View in Pretoria East, and can lead to far-reaching consequences for the surrounding community.

The organisation emphasises that a decision of this magnitude cannot be made without proper planning, consultation and transparency and that a sustainable plan must be established before the Metro takes hasty steps. AfriForum will therefore continue to put pressure on the Metro and use all its available resources to fight the legal battle on behalf of the community.

“AfriForum calls on the Tshwane Metro to immediately provide clarity on the process and to halt all relocations until the matter has been properly dealt with. The impact on both the residents who are to be relocated and the community to which they may be relocated will be enormous,” says Llewellynn Hemmens, AfriForum’s Spokesperson for Pretoria.

The civil rights organisation further encourages residents of Pretoria to support the court case and add their names to the fight by completing this link below: https://www.artikels.afriforum.co.za/stop-die-melgisedek-tentedorp-in-die-moot-beskerm-ons-gemeenschap-nou/.