THE NIALL Mellon Township Trust said yesterday that the violent protests that have taken place in Cape Town’s largest township over the past few days were not expected to spread to the area in which Irish volunteers will be working this week.
Violent service delivery protests involving hundreds of residents from Khayelitsha, a sprawling township on the outskirts of the Western Cape provincial city, began last Thursday and continued into the weekend, forcing police to shut roads and declare the area a no-go zone.
A number of civilians who were driving through the area have been injured by mobs venting their frustration over poor living conditions by hurling stones and petrol bombs at passing cars and setting buildings alight.
By Saturday evening the unrest had spread to a number of areas close to Khayelitsha and local officials said the protesters have promised to continue their action for the next two weeks.
About 750 Irish volunteers arrived in Cape Town over the weekend for the trust’s annual building blitz. However, they will be doing their charity work in a township called Wallacedene, which is some distance away from Khayelitsha and thus far has not experienced any protests.
Charity founder Niall Mellon told The Irish Times the trust was confident it could deal with any unfolding events as the organisation has several years of experience managing high-level security arrangements for the volunteers on its annual building blitz.
“Our security measures are designed to cater for almost any situation. We are fully prepared for, but are not expecting any untoward civil disturbances in Wallacedene where the blitz is taking place. In the unlikely event that something such as that occurs we have a very thorough and organised evacuation procedure,” Mr Mellon said.
Mr Mellon added that it was impossible to get complete assurances that the violence would not spread to Wallacedene, but that the trust was working closely with the South African police to ensure the volunteers’ safety.
“We work hand in hand with the South African police force for many months before the volunteers arrive and they have a dedicated response unit at the centre of our volunteer site in Wallacedene. That team is kept up to date with developments around the city by police headquarters.
“The community leaders in these townships have huge influence over their community and all 15 community leaders in Wallacedene were wearing T-shirts yesterday with ‘Ireland’ proudly printed on the front, which demonstrates the residents’ support for the Irish who are coming here today,” he said.
Despite the increased tensions, the Irish volunteers appeared in good spirits as they prepared to build 140 two-bedroom houses from scratch for shack dwellers from today until Friday.
Of the 750 people who have arrived to take part in the event about 550 are veterans of previous trust building blitzes, which began in South Africa nine years ago.
Ignatius Flannery (75) and his daughter Deirdre (40) from Galway city, who flew in to Cape Town yesterday morning, are here for their seventh and third building blitz respectively.
They said that although the economic recession in Ireland had made it more difficult to raise the money – each volunteer must raise between €4,000 to €5,000 to take part – for this year’s blitz, they believe it will be well worth the effort.
“The building blitz is such a worthy cause; and on a personal level we get so much from it. It is the best value for money in the world,” said Mr Flannery.
Ms Flannery said they managed to raise the money to participate by packing shopping bags at supermarkets, holding a golf outing and by selling photographic prints of her mother’s original paintings.