12h00, THURSDAY 12 SEPTEMBER @ NDIFUNA UKWAZI (47 STRAND STREET)
At midday yesterday a total of 21 SJC leaders, members and supporters were arrested, charged, and held in custody at Cape Town central police station for ten hours.
At 10h00 the SJC had begun a peaceful and organised act of civil disobedience outside the offices of Mayor Patricia de Lille. The reason for this action: years of unfulfilled commitments and missed opportunities by the Mayor and the City of Cape Town to improve sanitation in informal settlements.
Instead of engaging with us, Mayor de Lille refused to meet the SJC or send a representative to do so. Rather we were met with upwards of 30 law enforcement officers from SAPS and Metro Police who proceeded to arrest.
We will be holding an urgent press conference today to address the arrests of our leaders, members and supporters as well as respond to the serious allegations made against the SJC yesterday in this statement released by the Mayor following our action.
We will be releasing an overview detailing the magnitude of SJC’s attempts to engage with the City on sanitation over more than three years and the unrelenting broken promises by the Mayor in particular in this regard over the past two years.
All media are welcome to attend.
[ENDS]
For more information please contact
Joel Bregman
Policy, Communication & Research Manager
072 769 0100