Living like refugees in the land of their birth

by Letters Editor · Published February 16, 2012 · Updated February 13, 2012

From Colin Arendse, Cape Town

�Land is God�s gift to all of which we as human beings are responsible as custodians.� This poignant statement issued recently by the Southern African Catholic Bishops� Conference should be lauded as the indigent members of our society grapple daily to enjoy their basic human rights.

It is a travesty of justice that the poorest of the poor are dumped, like those once removed from District 6, in far-flung places like Blikkiesdorp on the periphery of Cape Town.

I am filled with revulsion when I come across vast pockets of open land, particularly in the more affluent areas of the Cape peninsula, where the lush grass is allowed to grow unhindered, while our people continue to live in abject poverty.

Why is this land lying dormant when there are so many poor people who do not have access to proper housing? It cannot be right that after 17 years of democracy, there are still some who are forced to live like refugees in the land of their birth.

Not a day passes without one reading about a group of homeless people who are forced to defend themselves in court against those in local government who are silent by their very actions in denying proper access to housing.

Those politicians who claim to represent the interests of the poor should heed the words of St Ambrose (340-397): �Why do you reject one who has the same rights over nature as you? It is not from your own goods that you give to the beggar; it is a portion of his own that you are restoring to him. The earth belongs to all.�