Hout Bay violence stops tourism event

Cape Town - A company organising a tourism event in the Hout Bay community of Hangberg says it was shocked by the scenes of violence as protesters battled the police over the dismantling of illegal structures on the Hout Bay Sentinel.



"I'm shocked. We were organising this community event to promote tourism and now the whole thing has had to be cancelled because of this violence. I was dumbstruck when I read about it on News24," said Alive!PTL representative Leslé Arendse.



She said they were unaware of the anger in the community over the order to dismantle the structures, which the City of Cape Town said were built on a firebreak.



"I've been working with the community and there was no warning, nothing at all. I was there this past Saturday and went on a walking tour in the area. We want to help the community," said Arendse.



The Hangberg community reacted with anger when officials moved in on Tuesday morning to demolish the informal structures on the Sentinel. There were scenes of chaotic violence as the community fought police with stones, flares and burning barricades on the slopes on the mountain. Many were injured, including 15 metro police officials.



Tourism training



"A lot of people have been injured, about 50. I've been shot; people have been shot in their eyes and are prepared to fight to the death. We have nowhere else to go," community worker Trevor Schoeman told News24.



Some questioned the City's drive to dismantle the illegal structures in Hangberg, and accused the City of Cape of Town of ignoring illegal structures in Imizamo Yethu.



"Many of the people who live here were born here and the City talks about 70-odd illegal structures. But there are over 600 illegal structures in Imizamo Yethu. I've never seen this kind of mass police action in that township," said a resident who declined to be identified.



But Arendse said that this was exactly why the tourism training was important to break down stereotypes.



"The Imizamo Yethu community used what they had to put themselves on the map. From a tourism perspective, we wanted to diffuse those concerns and we want to change people's mindset."



She said that tourism would enable this poor community to "sell themselves".



"People have so many stories to tell and their culture is important. They could share their culture, what they eat and how unique they are to Hout Bay."



Arendse said that the event was off while the area was still tense and would be rescheduled.



Are you in Hout Bay? How do you feel about the community? Send your comments to News24 here.



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