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In a dire situation that has captured national attention, including two recent features on SABC showcasing starving and homeless families, the residents of over 130 villages under the Port St Johns Municipality are facing severe human rights violations. These include lack of access to clean water, widespread homelessness, extreme malnutrition, inadequate sanitation, poor road infrastructure leading to isolation, limited healthcare access, and a significant number of unregistered residents. These ongoing hardships, which affect thousands, demand our immediate attention and action. 

By signing this petition, you can join a critical movement to demand Government intervention and bring about meaningful change in the lives of these communities. Stand with us in advocating for the dignity and rights of every resident in these villages! 

To witness the personal impact of these challenges, we invite you to visit our Instagram channel, Forgotten SA Movement, or our Tiktok channel. Here, you'll see the faces and hear the voices of those directly affected, providing a powerful and human perspective to the issues we are striving to address. 

Here is our petition letter: 

Petition for Urgent Government Intervention: Addressing Human Rights Violations Across Port St Johns Villages

His Excellency, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa
President of the Republic of South Africa

Honourable Sir, Mr. Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane
Premier of the Eastern Cape

We, the residents of the Port St Johns Municipality, comprising over 130 villages, urgently request your intervention to address critical human rights violations affecting our communities.

Despite our repeated pleas, these villages, including Cwebeni, have faced continuous neglect, leading to inhumane living conditions. In line with the Bill of Rights in our Constitution, we highlight the following pervasive issues:

1. Widespread Lack of Clean Water: Many villages have been deprived of reliable water sources for years, denying residents a fundamental human necessity for dignified living. 

2. Rampant Homelessness: Numerous families are displaced, living in substandard, hazardous conditions due to disasters and extreme weather, inhabiting structures that are not only dilapidated but also unsafe and unfit for habitation. 

3. Severe Malnutrition: Countless families, particularly children, are suffering from starvation and insufficient food supply.

4. Inadequate Sanitation: The absence of basic sanitation facilities,
including toilets, posing a threat to public health and well-being.

5. Poor Road Infrastructure: The fragile state of our roads, particularly exacerbated by torrential rains, results in an alarming frequency of thoroughfare collapse. This grave situation precipitates a harrowing isolation of our villages, severing vital connections to healthcare facilities, essential commercial establishments, and educational institutions for both children and adults . The ramifications of such infrastructural decay are profound, severely hindering the routine and emergency needs of our populace and thereby compounding the gravity of our plight.

6. Limited Healthcare Access: Restricted healthcare services, coupled with distant clinics and prohibitive travel costs, leave many without proper medical care.

7. Unregistered Residents: A substantial number of individuals, both children and adults, lack official documentation, crucial for accessing rights and services.

The plight of our communities, as also highlighted in recent national news, is a matter of grave concern. It is unacceptable for any South African to endure such conditions. We urge you to take immediate action to alleviate these hardships and uphold the dignity of every resident under the jurisdiction of the Port St Johns Municipality.

We stand united in our call for swift and effective Government response to these critical issues.

Thank you for addressing this urgent matter with the seriousness it demands.

Respectfully,
Residents of the Port St Johns Municipal Villages, Eastern Cape, South Africa

VIDEO PROOF - SABC TV: Human Rights Violation of Rural Community including Children: Over 100 Homeless & Destitute Families in Cwebeni, Port St Johns.

SABC has visited Cwebeni, one of the rural villages of Port St John's, on two occasions over the past 2 months to share stories of some of the families living in the village.

1) Youtube: Subject: Extreme poverty & starvation, Date: 20 Sept 2023

Families featured in video:

Mtambeki family, 8 people (3 adults, 5 children), Petshana family, 7 people (6 adults, 1 child)

2) Youtube: Subject: Human Rights Violation - Starving families with children, Date: 20 November 2023

Families featured in video:

Dambuza family, 16 people (6 adults, 10 children), Qgetywa family, 15 people (6 adults, 9 children) & Little Flower Pre-School 

Forgotten SA Movement is powered by iThemba Kuluntu NPC, (300-700 NPO, registered Non-profit organization). Contact: info@ithembakuluntu.org