'Switch that off': Sisulu's angry exchange with housing activist asking about building materials

• A Cape Town housing activist was shocked by a confrontation over building materials with Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.
• In a video, Sisulu called him a liar and demanded that he stop filming her.
• Sisulu hinted at legal action in a statement which dismissed him as somebody out to get "cheap personal credit".

A Cape Town housing activist said he was shocked by the way Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu shouted at him when he said residents of eMpolweni were still waiting for building materials he said she had promised.

"She took off her mask and in a violent way she was shouting at me," Nkosikhona Swartbooi told News24 on Wednesday.

"She slapped my hand and said I mustn't record."

In a tweet on his Twitter page, Swartbooi claims that moments later, when Sisulu got into her vehicle to leave, she instructed one of her protectors to confiscate his phone and force him to get into a vehicle.

He said by then the community had started shouting in annoyance over the situation and the ministerial convoy left.

A video he took of Sisulu's visit to the fire-ravaged Taiwan informal settlement was posted on Twitter. Sisulu was visiting what was left of the settlement in Khayelitsha after a fire raged through it in the early hours of New Year's Day, leaving at least 500 people affected.

This was after the devastating fire in Masiphumelele devastated about 1 000 structures on 17 December.

She was accompanied by Western Cape Human Settlements MEC Tertius Simmers and City of Cape Town MMC for Human Settlements councillor Malusi Booi as part of plans to fast-track relief, according to a statement by the Western Cape government.

'You are lying'

In the video, Sisulu moves through the site, treading carefully, and Swartbooi comments: "Let's hope, minister, you won't do that same thing you did [at] eMpolweni. You promised for years to build structures. You never built them."

Sisulu then replies, taking off her mask with a pink gloved hand, "No! No! No!"

Swartbooi continues: "They are still waiting for you, even this very day..." to which Sisulu replies, "You are lying."

She then calls on him to "switch that off". When Swartbooi refuses and asks why, she says, "Because you are talking rubbish. I said to you I will buy that material."

"Did you buy it?" he asks and she replies, "Did you bring it to me?", as she becomes increasingly agitated at being filmed.

Swartbooi told News24 he is part of a group called Community Action Network, which "bridges gaps" between communities and shares resources and knowledge. 

He is also part of a group called Cape Town Together as well as a network of human rights monitors. They helped link the people who were evicted from eMpolweni during the lockdown to connect with lawyers to represent them.

He said the eMpolweni residents lost their materials during the evictions, and the materials that were returned were unusable. In a meeting, Sisulu told them she would help them get it back, but he said nothing was done.

A court judgment had ordered that they get their materials back and R2 000 compensation.

Swartbooi said when Sisulu promised the Taiwan residents help, he asked why she had not fulfilled her promise regarding eMpolweni.

He said he has video footage of a meeting she attended, where she committed to getting building materials for the residents of eMpolweni.

"Everyone is angry and disappointed that politicians come and give big commitments and they never follow through. It's disheartening," he said.

He added that even if somebody else was responsible for the actual distribution, Sisulu should have followed up on the issue to make sure her promise was kept.

In a statement, Sisulu said the Housing Development Agency had given building materials to the City of Cape Town, which she said refused to hand it out.

Comment was not immediately available from the City of Cape Town on this aspect.

She said Swartbooi had tried to "insert" himself into the Taiwan visit to score "cheap personal credit".

The statement said Sisulu was in consultation with her lawyers.

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