DESCRIPTION
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​Eersterust is a small community of 29,676 people, according to the 2011 National Census, and only 4.9 square kilometres. Located about 15kms northeast of Tshwane’s city centre, Eersterust is the first and main Coloured township in the city, and still today 83% of the population is Coloured, 14% black and 2% from other racial groups.
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The majority of Eersterust’s people come from families who have been forcibly removed from Marabastad, Claremont and Lady Selborne in the 1960s, due to apartheid legislation separating people according to their racial classifications.
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The community is faced with urgent challenges such as high levels of gender-based violence. This community is also home to an informal settlement which is in dire need for access to basic services.
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Features
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neighbourhood to 500 churches
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Question
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There are too many people who have been on the housing list for years and we are wondering what the city’s housing interventions look like for our community, how inclusive and participatory the process of planning for our community can be.
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Research Actions
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In April 2020 a capacity building workshop on strategies for combatting GBV was held virtually with about 12 participants from different church groups in Eersterust
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Mapping of the church assets in Eersterust
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Collaborating with Lawyers for Human Rights on land and housing rights in Eersterust
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Engage local persons on deliberate research into some of the thematic concerns in Eersterust
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We have engaged in a lot of conversations with the City through a few leaders, but we would like for this process to be more inclusive. We also believe that urgent action should be taken to deal with the plight of gender-based violence plaguing our community and we believe that a partnership between the different stakeholders in the community and the city will serve this process better.
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