[PICS & VIDEO] ‘Hire bruin builders in Bontas’: Cape Coloured Congress disrupts City project with job demands
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EMPLOYED: Bontas man says CCC got him a job
The Cape Coloured Congress (CCC) has vowed that every “bruin laaitie” will be employed on the Cape Flats.
The political party made the bold statement on social media after its members disrupted a City of Cape Town EPWP working project in ward 31 in Bonteheuwel on Friday.
CCC members stopped the workers from digging trenches to lay power cables underground as the area still has overhead krag lines.
In a Facebook video, the CCC’s Desmond Syce claims that only foreigners were employed at the project while mense from the area are desperate for work.
“Ons is hier in Bonteheuwel vandag en Bonteheuwel sê hulle is gatvol, en hulle gaan nie allow dat daar mense werk wat nie van Suid-Afrika is nie,” he says.
CCC members were back in the area on Monday, boasting that locals have been employed after their “intervention” on Friday.
A prominent member of the party, Nasmi Jacobs, told the Daily Voice: “Friday, one of Bonteheuwel was employed. Today [Monda], 23 people of Bonteheuwel were employed because we demand our communities be involved in the process.”
In a video posted on Monday, two men who claim to be from Bontas commended the CCC for getting them the jobs: “Die mense doen die ding, hulle het opgestaan vir ons Vrydag en hier werk ons alweer vandag.”
Another man added: “Hy [Bonteheuwel ward councillor Angus Mckenzie] sê ek kan nie werk nie, daar werk ek.”
Ward 31 councillor Theresa Thompson couldn’t immediately comment on what transpired in her area and said: “I’m still getting proper feedback from community members and would rather comment when I have all the information.”
The City of Cape Town also failed to respond to queries.
CCC leader Fadiel Adams claims that not enough coloured mense are being hired by government in the Western Cape.
“We go in, we try to negotiate and if it doesn’t work, then we will stop any site if there aren’t enough coloured people working.
“If residents are complaining that we are disrupting things, if a site gets held up for a few hours or a day, [it doesn’t matter because] in the end, 20 children get employed,” he explained.
“The days of our children standing on corners is a thing of the past, I see ward councillors coming out to fight us.”
Earlier this month, the party threatened to disrupt a new housing project in Macassar. They accused the company contracted by the City to build a R132 million housing project of being a “boere” firm who paid bruin mense “peanuts”.
Responding to accusations that he was “useless”, McKenzie called the CCC “extortionist skollies”.
“Extortion is gangsterism in a new evolved way, this is exactly what the CCC is doing,” he added.
“They are extorting projects for their own benefit. I will personally report it to the Speaker.”
According to Adams, a certain number of locals must be employed for EPWP projects in their area.
“If they as ward councillors are doing their jobs, then we don’t need to step in.”