WAR ZONE: Booysen Park residents gather at the site in Stanford Road where a heavy truck smoulders. Earlier, there were running battles with police Pictures: FREDLIN ADRIAAN
THE anger and frustration of an embattled Nelson Mandela Bay community is etched on the face of a 98-year-old resident who has been waiting for a home for more than 20 years.
As Nomhase Mkhwayi sat in her shack that is attached to one of the 8 000 toilets built in Khayamnandi, her neighbours burnt tyres yesterday, demanding their promised homes.
The protest descended into violent confrontation – not only with police, but also between neighbours.
Mkhwayi is one of thousands of people in Khayamnandi waiting for an RDP house.
But she no longer believes she will live to see her home built – a dream that has played out in her mind many times since the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990.
While Mkhwayi has lost hope, her neighbours fought bitterly as violent protests broke out for a second day running.
Yesterday, the protests – during which about 500 residents took to the streets of Ward 41 – erupted into violence, with a man trying to get to work hit by rubber bullets, a truck burnt, and two taxi drivers and their passengers robbed.
Mkhwayi says she understands why her neighbours are so angry.
She is so incensed that she shouts as she answers questions, saying her yard is simply a toilet and a cement slab.
“I started voting during the time of Nelson Mandela, but to this day I still stay in a shack full of holes,” she said despairingly.
“My yard is decorated with a toilet and a slab. When I moved here last February, I thought I was moving to my new home after many years of fighting for a house.
“It seems as if I will die staying in this old shack. What is hurting more is seeing government officials coming here to lie to us when they want our votes.”
Day two of the Ward 41 protests started at about 4am in Booysen Park.
Residents are demanding construction of RDP houses, schools, a clinic, a police station and title deeds to their houses.
Deputy mayor Bicks Ndoni addressed residents of Khayamnandi and a follow-up meeting was set for tomorrow.
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