18 NEWS THURSDAY AUGUST 23 2012 The Star

SCOTT SMITH

IT IS no secret that Joburghas a huge number of aban-doned and what are often

referred to as “dark buildings”. Latest research suggests

that there more than 1 000 suchbuildings providing shelter foran estimated 250 000 people,according to Doctors WithoutBorders (MSF).

The owners are often un-known, rates are left unpaidand the building almost inevi-tably falls into disrepair, whileresidents, some of who payrent, others who don’t, have novested interest in the upkeep oftheir living environment.

In many cases, rubbish is nolonger removed by the munici-pality and residents merelythrow their garbage out oftheir windows. The rubbishpiles up, metres high, alongsidethe building, in some cases

only compounding the alreadyunhygienic and overcrowdedconditions.

This was the case with Mil-ton Court, Pritchard Street,just a stone’s throw away fromthe Johannesburg High Court.

But miracles do happen andrecently, the residents cleanedup the rubbish with organi-sations that try to hep themimprove their living condi-tions.

“We are very happy with theresults of the basic cleaningcampaign with 15 of the large12m2 skips of waste being usedat final count, removing allkinds of waste, includinghuman excrement and rottingfood,” said Simon Mayson,

spokesman for Planact, a non-governmental developmentorganisation working mainlyin the urban areas of Gauteng.

Although Planact has beingworking with Milton Courtonly since May, they teamed upwith the Inner City ResourceCentre (ICRC) that has beenworking with residents of thebuilding since 2006.

“This was necessary to helpPlanact tease out various intri-cacies of management in thebuildings and the inner work-ings of rental, power struc-tures, tensions and relation-ships,” says Mayson.

Shereza Sibanda, fromICRC, a non-profit organisationworking in the field of human-

itarianism, advocacy and devel-opment, says they are alsohappy with the results of theclean-up and are committed totaking the next step, with theresidents of Milton Court, toaddress other human rightsissues that may be affectingthem.

Long-term resident andleader Alfred Mandindi, 47,acted as the real organisingforce among the residents andpushed them to get up andassist in the cleaning.

Mandindi says: “I am veryhappy that we have pulledtogether to clean this buildingourselves.

“We are just waiting for thelast skip to be removed fromthe street.”

Mandindi says they havealready developed a plan tohelp keep the building clean bygetting residents to pay for acouple of cleaners.

RIO DE JANEIRO: For its residents,Rio’s Vila Autodromo shantytown is aquiet corner of drug-free paradise. Forauthorities, it is land where a highwayleading to the 2016 Summer GamesOlympic village will be built.

City officials want the entire com-munity moved to a nearby housingcomplex, but the 3 000 inhabitants ofthe slum, which lacks running waterand schools, refuse to leave.

Rio de Janeiro is going throughgrowing pains as it prepares for the2014 World Cup and the SummerOlympics in four years’ time. Theauthorities are cracking down oncrime, upgrading boulevards, andcleaning up notorious shanty towns,known in Brazil as favelas.

Officials’ eyes have long beenfocused on the Vila Autodromo favela,located on the Jacarepagua lagoon inthe western Barra de Tijuca district.

Pedro Paulo Franklin, a retiredfirefighter who lives with his wife,daughters and grand-daughters inVila Autodromo, is not moving.

“The eviction is totally absurd.God gave us this little corner of para-dise,” the 71-year-old said, as heproudly showed his fig,coconut, acerola andpapaya trees.

“We built it with ourown hands, with muchsweat, effort, dedicationand love.”

Vila Autodromo residents say theyhave a “right of possession,” whichentitles them to occupy the land onwhich they live. But for the past20 years, city authorities have tried toevict them under various pretexts.

“I have no intention of leaving. Iintend to resist in every possible way,because, by right, this land is ours andI have been living here for the past 17years,” said Altair Guimaraes, pres-ident of the Vila Autodromo residents’association.

“I don’t understand much becauseI can’t read or write,” said 70-year-oldAntonia Henrique Macena. “But wehave been here for so many years. Whydon’t they leave us alone in our littlecorner? Where are they going to putus, for Christ’s sake?” he asked.

The Olympic village project isbeing developed by the British firmAecom, which says it would leave thecommunity intact, but authorities sayresidents need to be evicted to makeway for the new highway.

In an attempt to avoid eviction, theresidents asked urban planners fromtwo Rio universities last year to comeup with an alternative.

Guimaraes and other residents

delivered the plan, which includedpaved streets, sanitation, a school anda nursery, to Rio mayor Eduardo Paeslast Thursday.

Rio authorities want the residentsevicted “because the community islocated in an area of intense realestate appreciation,” said CarlosVainer, an urban planner at the Rio deJaneiro Federal University and one ofthe blueprint authors.

The proposal “is better than thebrutal alternative of eviction andsocial segregation proposed by CityHall”, Vainer said.

Residents estimate their proposalwould cost $7 million (R58m), half thecost of evicting and moving the com-munity. Vainer said there was no needfor the planned “Transolimpica”expressway to run through the favela.

“If one looks at the works project,one can see that the expressway is astraight line that makes a detour tocross the community, to give a newpretext for expulsion,” he said.

Paes, who is up for re-election inOctober, has vowed to act within thelaw and promised to study Vila Auto-dromo’s proposal.

Asked about theirplans, a City Hallspokesperson saidthey wanted to evictthe residents because“two thirds of thecommunity is locat-

ed in an environmental preservationarea” and because most residents“don’t have access to basic sanitationand live in precarious and unhealthyconditions”.

“There will be no expulsion with-out an alternative solution,” Paes toldreporters last week.

“City Hall acquired land some500m away from the site and will buildlow-cost housing.”

According to the mayor, “Rioalways has troublemakers, people whooppose projects – that’s why progressin the city has been stalled for solong”.

The World Cup and Olympics Peo-ple’s Committee, an activist networkopposed to forced removals, claimsthat some 22 000 people in Rio, popula-tion six million, live in fear of losingtheir homes.

Some 8 000 people have alreadybeen evicted to make way forconstruction related to the two megasporting events, according to thegroup’s figures.

“Vila Autodromo is a symbol butthis is happening throughout thecity,” said Renato Cosentino, an offi-cial with the activists. – Sapa-AFP

MESS ON HIGH: The rooftop of Milton Court was a pile of rubbish until the clean-up. PICTURE: SCOTT SMITH

Clean-up shines fresh light onJoburg city’s dark buildings

Organisations and residents join toremove mountains of rubbish

Residents asked toleave their ‘paradise’ to make way for sport

I intend to resist in everypossible way

REMOVALS: Residents of the Villa Autodromo favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, arerefusing to leave their homes to make way for a road.