[DEBATE] : Fwd: 'We don't want coloureds here!'

[Sean Jacobs]

>>>
>>> 'We don't want coloureds here!'
>>> 30 January 2008, 12:20
>>> Click here
>>> By Andisiwe Makinana and Leila Samodien
>>>
>>> A legal row over the sale of a Khayelitsha house has blown up into a
>> racial
>>> war, with Khayelitsha residents stoning the home of a new "coloured"
>>> neighbour.
>>>
>>> After a protracted legal battle, teacher Adrian Adams was due to 
>>> move into
>>> the house on Monday, but residents welcomed him with a stream of 
>>> abuse,
>>> saying
>>> he belonged in Mitchells Plain and alleging that coloured people 
>>> would
>> bring
>>> tik into the area.
>>>
>>> Ownership of the house has been disputed for some time, with the 
>>> previous
>>> owner, Nozibele Stamper, refusing to vacate the premises to make way 
>>> for
>>> Adams.
>>>
>>> Then on Tuesday night the animosity erupted into violence after a 
>>> crowd of
>>> residents gathered outside the D-section house in support of Stamper.
>>>
>>> When the Cape Argus team arrived at the house at 5pm, the 100-strong 
>>> crowd
>>> appeared hostile, but were protesting in orderly fashion.
>>>
>>> The team left for 20 minutes - and returned to find the windows 
>>> shattered
>> by
>>> stones. The crowd had grown to about 400.
>>>
>>> Adams was not at home at the time.
>>>
>>> The mob threatened two security guard Adams had hired to watch the 
>>> house.
>> He
>>> had also deployed two Doberman guard dogs.
>>>
>>> Security guard Nazeem Isaacs, of GRD Security, said the crowd had 
>>> become
>>> violent, forcing him to call the police.
>>>
>>> "All of a sudden they started throwing stones at me and (the other 
>>> guard)
>>> Mbulelo (Maswana). Everything went fine yesterday, but after what I 
>>> saw
>>> today,
>>> I'm not putting my life in danger for someone else - I have children 
>>> to
>>> support," he said.
>>>
>>> The crowd sang and jeered at a dozen police officers who tried to 
>>> disperse
>>> them peacefully.
>>>
>>> They dispersed soon after 6pm.
>>>
>>> Adams, who had been warned of the crowd's presence, had stayed away.
>>>
>>> A neighbour said people were more willing to support an old 
>>> neighbour than
>>> one they "didn't care about".
>>>
>>> When he entered the house on Monday, Adams stood in an empty kitchen 
>>> as
>>> residents hurled insults at him.
>>>
>>> "Go back to Mitchells Plain, we don't want coloureds here!" they 
>>> shouted.
>>> Others said they feared coloured people would introduce tik to the 
>>> area.
>>>
>>> The dispute arose after the house was sold as part of a divorce
>> settlement,
>>> with Stamper and her former husband sharing the proceeds.
>>>
>>> But Stamper denied having received the money.
>>>
>>> Seven months after the sale, she was still occupying the house. Then 
>>> on
>>> Monday she was evicted by the sheriff of the court, accompanied by 
>>> City
>>> Police.
>>>
>>> Her belongings were stacked up on the pavement outside the house as 
>>> Adams
>>> cowered inside.
>>>
>>> "By sunset all these things (household goods) will be back in . and 
>>> we
>> will
>>> get rid of him," one woman said.
>>>
>>> Adams told the Cape Argus that "as a single-income guy I could only 
>>> afford
>> a
>>> lower-bond house".
>>>
>>> "Besides, I don't have a problem living in Khayelitsha . I taught in 
>>> Langa
>>> for years, am comfortable with black culture and even speak Xhosa," 
>>> he
>> said.
>>>
>>> Besides his day job as a teacher at Woodlands High School, he 
>>> moonlighted
>> as
>>> a "network marketer", helping people start small businesses. He has
>> clients
>>> in Khayelitsha.
>>>
>>> He bought the two-bedroomed house for R190 000 and had it registered 
>>> in
>> his
>>> name last June.
>>>
>>> He has been paying a bond on the property since last July although 
>>> he has
>>> been unable to move in.
>>>
>>> "I've gone from being credit-worthy to being blacklisted, as I pay a 
>>> bond
>>> (for the house) and rent in Mitchells Plain, where I stay," he said.
>>>
>>> "Normally 'There goes the neighbourhood' would be directed at 
>>> coloured and
>>> black people when they moved to white areas.
>>>
>>> "I never thought it would be levelled at me in Khayelitsha."
>>>
>>> Adams said his problems had begun when Stamper contested the sale of 
>>> the
>>> house after it had already been registered in his name.
>>>
>>> She went to the Cape High Court in an effort to have the sale ruled
>> illegal
>>> but the court ruled in Adams's favour and issued an eviction order 
>>> against
>>> her.
>>>
>>> Stamper did not give up and appealed against the High Court ruling 
>>> in a
>>> magistrate's court.
>>>
>>> In December she lost the appeal and the court ordered her to vacate 
>>> the
>>> house on or before January 11 or be evicted on January 16.
>>>
>>> Adams alleged that during the court case, an SA National Civic
>> Organisation
>>> (Sanco) member who called herself Mabel had phoned him to say he 
>>> couldn't
>>> move
>>> to the area because he was coloured.
>>>
>>> Sanco's Vuyiswa Madubela said the organisation had become involved 
>>> in the
>>> issue because they felt the correct procedure had not been followed 
>>> in
>>> selling
>>> the house.
>>>
>>> "While normally a time frame of three months is given before an 
>>> auction,
>> in
>>> this case the house was sold in a matter of days," she said.
>>>
>>> Madubela distanced Sanco from racist statements by residents, as did 
>>> ward
>>> councillor Princess Kotyi .
>>>
>>> SA Human Rights Commission spokeswoman Judith Cohen said: "I think 
>>> it's
>> the
>>> fear of the unknown. I can't think of any suburbs in Cape Town that 
>>> are
>>> truly
>>> representative. It's not surprising then that people who are
>>> barrier-breakers are confronted by these stereotypes."
>>>
>>> list of 1 items
>>> . This article was originally published on page 1 of
>>> The Cape Argus
>>>  on January 30, 2008
>>> list end
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