Toyi Toyi

No, this isn’t something we give to the children here in South Africa. This is the local word for a public demonstration or protest. Last week, we witnessed our 2nd uprising in the last couple of months. There are issues going on in the community of Masiphumele where the government is promising to build concrete houses to the people who have land if they will tear down the shacks on the property. They want to put in 1 house for one family, but the way it is right now there are 6 or 7 shacks with 4 to 6 people in each one. When it is all said and done it would leave about 10,000 people without a place to live. Most of the people that live here are not from here but see this as a place of opportunity. They are coming here from other places in South Africa and other countries in Africa. This is causing much controversy and strife amongst the people. We found out this past Monday that John Thomas has been asked to be the interim chairman of a group to work out a compromise for all the people involved. As he puts it, there is no solution right now. They are building some flats (apartments) that were donated by an organization from England. It has forced some of the people off of this property but promised them they would get first dibs at the flats. These people are upset about this because they have to pay rent for these places. They are being asked to pay R30 per month (about $5.00 dollars a month) and they normally don’t pay rent because they get income from the people living on their properties and paying rent to them. This “thinking” is way over our heads of understanding!!!! We work across the street from all of this and know when things are getting out of hand. As volunteers we are all advised to stay clear when they are demonstrating. Please pray for resolutions to these issues. We, as humans, may not be able to understand all that is going on but God has a plan and we have to trust Him for it.