QQ Section

QQ Section also known as Tambo Park, was founded in 1989 and is an Informal Settlement in the Site B sub-division of Khayelitsha in South Africa.

Structure and location

There are about 650 families living in QQ Section, which is occupied mostly by migrants from the Eastern Cape and backyard-dwellers from the old overcrowded sections of Khayelitsha.[1]

QQ section is located on Eskom-owned land beneath power lines[1] and next to the formal settlements of Q Section and the informal settlements of BM Section, RR Section and France.

Conditions

The settlement is well known as one of the most under-served and neglected communities in Cape Town. It has no services except for eight water taps. The city has refused to build toilets in the settlement and residents have to either pay homeowners in Q Section to use their facilities or cross the N2 freeway and use an open field.[2][3] Despite living under electricity pylons, government refuses to install formal electricity in the community. Residents instead have to resort to illegal electricity connections.[4][5] As a result, there have been huge shack-fires in the community.[6][7] There are also severe floods in the settlement every winter.

Protests

QQ Section is collectively affiliated with the movement Abahlali baseMjondolo which as an office in the settlement[8]

QQ Section has been on the forefront of various protest actions led by QQ Section Concerned Residents and Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape. These protests have been in response to the refusal of government to provide the community with services, the slow pace of relocation of residents and the lack of engagement from government. Protests by the community have included marches to the Mayor and Premier, civil disobedience and road blockades.[9][10][11][12]

NGOs and Research

QQ Section has been the site of intervention by a number of NGOs. Most prominent is the work of the NGO CHOSA, which supports a community-run daycare centre inside the settlement.[13] It has also been the site of academic research because of its role as part of Abahlali baseMjondolo in leading various prominent protests and strikes in the Khayelitsha area.[14]

See also

References
  1. Abahlali baseMjondolo. "Notes on a Visit To Qq Section". Abahlali.org. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  2. Independent Newspapers Online (18 July 2005). "Atrocious QQ Section Stuns Community". Iol.co.za. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  3. "A crisis of dignity – 5 humiliating years later". Timeslive.co.za. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  4. Independent Newspapers Online (5 May 2010). "No kick-off for blackout victims of QQ-section". Capetimes.co.za. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  5. "Whose South Africa?". Mondediplo.com. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  6. Abahlali baseMjondolo. "105 homeless in shack fire in QQ Section, Khayelitsha". Abahlali.org. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  7. Independent Newspapers Online (5 May 2010). "Simon's Town fire 'under control'". Capeargus.co.za. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  8. Abahlali baseMjondolo. "Abahlali baseMjondolo: 'a home for all'". Abahlali.org. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  9. Cape Town mayor's no-show angers residents
  10. 'Rivalry and negligence' to blame
  11. Independent Newspapers Online (30 January 2006). "Cape Residents ready to take to the Streets". Iol.co.za. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  12. Independent Newspapers Online (5 May 2010). "Khayelitsha residents to be briefed on solutions for service delivery". Capeargus.co.za. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  13. QQ needs new creche Archived 2 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine, VOCFM, 5 April 2012
  14. Jared Sacks (20 September 2018). "On Militancy, Self-reflection, and the Role of the Researcher". Politikon. 45 (3): 438–455. doi:10.1080/02589346.2018.1523349.

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