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columnIn the Braelyn Extension, Children are forced to stay out of school because of rising fees.Braelyn Extension:a community in crisisBy Anele MbiBraelyn Extension is a newRDP settlement situated justoutside East London betweenDuncan Village and AmalindaSouth, a former white suburb. It is asmall township with approximately 1 000housing units. Like most comparablewards, poor service delivery and livingconditions are affected by the weak stateof governance with the Buffalo CityMunicipality (BCM).Despite being a new township, Braelynis plainly in a state of crisis. Like manyother African townships, Braelyn isbeset by a wide range of socioeconomicproblems such as youth unemployment,violence, binge drinking, out-of-schoolyouth, crime, etc. In addition to these ills,Braelyn is faced with political infighting,frequent instances of mob justice anddisintegration of RDP houses. Problemsin the community mount day by day andsolutions seem even more unlikely as thethe stand-off between a section of thecommunity and the councillor gets worse.Before the local government electionsthere were a number of outbreaks ofpolitical unrest organised by the sectionof the local ward committee. As a result,many of the Braelyn residents haveactively rejected the second term forcouncillor Nozandile in favour of Calvary,who are both ANC candidates. TheANC in Buffalo City turned a deaf ear tothe series of political actions that wereeventually crushed by the police, andNozandile threatened to reveal corruptionscandals implicating the ANC leadershipin the region if she is not re-nominated.Nozandile has been re-electedeven though a sizeable section of thecommunity has vowed that it will notrecognise her. But there is more to thestory of Braelyn than the mere rejection oftheir councillor. The major contention isthat Nozandile has failed to live up to herpromises and the ANC-led BCM; insteadshe has satisfied her cronies, who are tagtailingbehind her, expecting to receivecrumbs at the expense of communitydevelopment. Her first unkept promisewas that there would be money set asideto renovate and extend the disintegrating,inadequate RDP houses.The housing crisis in Braelyn hasnow reached a tipping point and if it isnot dealt with effectively it will turn theentire new settlement into an informalsettlement. The number of shacks erectedboth in front and at the back of the RDPhouses has already outnumbered thehousing units. Households are erectingshacks not only to supplement theinadequate housing but also to makeincome in the form of rent – this despitethe fact that toilets are only locatedinside the one-room houses. Despite thisdebilitating crisis, both the councillor andthe BCM cannot explain what happenedto the funds earmarked for the housingredevelopment. And it is not just thehousing that is disintegrating; the roads inthe area are also very bad.Whether one looks at housing,education, skills development – there isa clear crisis of government everywherein Braelyn, showing a real inability todeliver. There is no secondary school andonly one primary school. I spoke to twowomen who have been forced to keeptheir Grade R kids at home because theschool fees have risen from R50 to R150.Bear in mind that this is taking place afterthe alarming media reports of massivedrop-outs of Eastern Cape pupils.Coupled with these deep-seatedproblems is the escalation of poverty,crime and unemployment. Social decayand the demoralisation of young people isvisible on the streets as they get involvedin drugs and gambling. So far the ANCalignedcommunity leadership has beenunable to tackle these issues and hasn’tbeen able to link these problems withthe capitalist system, due to its lack ofpolitical capacity and its fear of speakingtruth to power.The crimes persist in a barbaricway. Crime in Braelyn is widespread,whether it’s house breaking, snatching ofcellphones, robberies or illegal electricityconnections. The community libraryhas been burgled every month sincethe beginning of this year. This is whynew services, like computers, cannot beinstalled.Every time informal committeemembers, set up for protection, blow thewhistle, the community knows that a thiefhas been caught. The response is alwaysmob justice and suspects end up dead orat the hospital. The police are also guiltyas they work hand in hand with the mob.They take the suspects to the hospitaland never bother to address the rule oflaw issue. Like the community, the policere disillusioned with the criminal justicesystem. It is clear to everyone that simplylocking up and releasing criminals to thevery same appalling conditions is a futileexercise.The responsibility comes back tous, as activists and genuine grassrootscomrades, to educate and re-organisethe community. It must be empoweredto analyse the issues facing it and toput its demands in one basket. Aboveall, people must know that it is the verysame deteriorating social and economicconditions of poverty that produce crimeand suffering. The government, the DAand ANC won’t do it – it is only theindependent activists and movements,who are dedicated to natural justice andeconomic liberation, who will unite andconscientise the community.Anele Mbi is an unemployed activist fromEast London.Amandla! Issue No.21 | OCTOBER 2011 7