Saturday, October 16, 2021

MRS ALICE LOUISE GOVENDER – A TIRELESS AND COMMITTED COMMUNITY ACTIVIST OF PHOENIX AND ITS PEOPLE

 

 


INTRODUCTION:

One of the community leaders in Phoenix, north of Durban, who has emerged as a dynamic and progressive force recently, since the outbreak of the disturbances in early July, is Mrs Alice Govender. She has rallied to the cries of the people to promote the interests of all residents. Who is this hands-on community activist? Veteran journalist, Subry Govender, interviewed her recently about her community involvement in Phoenix.

 





By Subry Govender

In mid-2000 a woman resident of Unit 10 in Phoenix became concerned at the construction of houses in open spaces and children’s playlots in their area by contractors in collusion with the new democratic Ethekwini municipality.

The resident, Mrs Alice Louise Govender, also raised her concerns about the decision of the municipality to allow the sporting grounds of a nearby school to be confiscated for housing developments.

Today, 16 years later and at the age of 55, Mrs Govender is still fighting the social and economical cause of the local people. She has found that the socio-economic conditions of the poor and those living on the margins of society in Phoenix have in fact deteriorated over the past 27 years.


(The Phoenix foot soldiers working with Mrs Govender)


In order to interact directly with the municipality about the general degradation of the township, she has now agreed to calls by residents to contest the local government elections on November 1.

She has not joined any one of the established political parties to contest the elections but in fact will be contesting Ward 52 as a member of the community organisation, Active Citizens Coalition. The ward includes the areas of Redfern, Whetstone, Westham, White City, part of Lenham and part of Bhambayi.

 

       PHOENIX RICH IN HISTORY AND CULTURE

 

“Phoenix is a township rich in history and culture but sadly after 27 years of freedom there is a general atmosphere of social and economic degeneration and degradation all over,” Mrs Govender told me in an interview.

“There’s filth, litter and rubbish everywhere; the Gandhi-Luthuli Park, named after two iconic leaders, is in a shocking and neglected condition with all sorts of nefarious activities taking place there; drug lords and gang leaders are destroying the future of our young people; open spaces and play lots are being confiscated for housing development in already congested areas; and generaly there’s a climate of neglect all over.”

 


MUNICIPALITY MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE – SERVICE DELIVERY IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE

                                                                                                                                                      

 (Mrs Alice Govender addressing residents about the poor state of the municipal services to the community)

Mrs Govender wants to ensure that the municipality is accountable to ratepayers and there’s economic development in her ward and Phoenix in general so that the unemployment situation of both the skilled and unskilled people are tackled effectively.

“For me service delivery will be of paramount importance because I believe ratepayers must get the services they are paying for. I am concerned about the safety of our residents. We must feel safe when we leave home and return after dark.”

A mother of two adult daughters and grand-mother,  Mrs Govender was born in Durban in June 1966 and grew up in Unit 10 Phoenix. She completed her matriculation at the Northmead High School in Whetstone, Phoenix. She studied business management and is an accredited financial advisor.

While still at high school she became aware of the plight of families in her neighbourhood who struggled to make ends meet. She joined community groups to provide some assistance for the less privileged.

 

SCHOOL SPORTS FIELDS TAKEN AWAY FOR HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

 

Her community awareness heightened when in 2018 she found that the Redfern/Whetsone sports fields were being graded for housing development.

“A school friend, John Pillay, informed me about this pathetic state of affairs and this touched a sensitive nerve.

“I joined a group of fellow activists and ex-students to try to save the sports fields. Despite turning to various community political leaders, the ward councillor, Housing MEC and the incumbent mayor, the anti-social development went ahead.

“The sports fields are the only available space for communities to use for sporting, religious and community activities. The Redfern/Whetstone sports field is an historic piece of land and has been an integral part of the identity of the community for more than 40 years.

“The Ethekweni Municipality and the developers have failed to take into account the processes and by-laws before confiscating the sports fields for housing development.

“Together with other concerned activists, religious leaders and residents we founded the Phoenix Civic Association to take up the social, sporting, cultural and economic concerns of the people. As a final step we took the matter to court and this matter is still ongoing.”

 

      MUNICIPALITY SHOWS LACK OF CONCERN



Mrs Govender said as far as she was concerned the Durban municipality did not care much about the social, sporting, cultural and economic conditions of the people of Phoenix.

“There’s lack of evidence of progress and development over the past 27 years. Unemployment is at an all-time high, social services are always unavailable when in need, and sports fields are being expropriated for high profit housing developments.

“Businesses and residents are plagued by rising crime and municipal services that are contracted out have become a failed system.”

 

        WATER AND ELECTRICITY DISRUPTIONS

 

In her interactions with the residents, she had found that the people were badly affected by water and electricity disruptions. The residents were also concerned about the safety of their children walking to and from school because of the lack of road verges. The safety of the children is also of concern because of the dilapidated condition of many of the school buildings in the township.

 

             PHOENIX IS BEING NEGLECTED

Mrs Govender said as a councillor she would form strong and healthy networks with all community civic groups and ensure that residents are informed of municipal and government work opportunities.

“The Phoenix community has not benefited from any of these benefits. In addition to keeping in close ethical contacts with the residents, my office will have an open-door policy to assist those in need. Regular meetings with constituents are vital to ensure social and economic upliftment of the people and the residential areas of Phoenix.”

 

EMULATE THE COMMITMENT OF PROGRESSIVE LEADERS OF THE 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s

 

 

 

The emergence of Mrs Alice Govender is a clear indication that there’s a need for committed, hard-working and strong leaders to help in the socio-economic development of the working-class and the poor in communities such as Phoenix. Mrs Govender has given her assurance that she would promote the interests of the people just like our progressive leaders and forces of the late 1960s,1970s, 1980s and early 1990s era. As a demonstration of her commitment to community development, she has pledged that once elected the first two months of her salary would be set aside for urgent environmental improvements in Ward 5.  Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com Oct 16 21

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