AbM: South Africa’s Great Change

S’bu Zikode’s talk at the 30th anniversary of the 1981 protests against the Springbok tour of New Zealand

I wish to thank Global Peace and Justice, in Auckland, for inviting me to New Zealand to speak on the progress of post-apartheid South Africa and the birth of Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA. I also wish to thank Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA, the movement that I am part of, for trusting me with the responsibility of representing it.

I also wish to extend our deepest gratitude to the anti-apartheid movement here in New Zealand who stood firm with the people of South Africa in the fight against apartheid. Many of our older comrades remember watching, on TV, the protests that you organised against the Springbok tour in 1981. There were thousands of you, many thousands of you. You were attacked by the police. Many of you were beaten and arrested. Your protests were a deep shock to the racists in South Africa. It made them realise that although Ronald Regan and Margaret Thatcher accepted their racism ordinary people in New Zealand did not. Your protests also gave courage to the people struggling against apartheid in South Africa. You were workers, priests, teachers, housewives and students. You were men and women. You were old and young. You were people in New Zealand who made people in South Africa know that they were not alone in this world. The comrades who were of that generation remember how your brave protests made their hearts sing with joy and hope back in 1981.

Services plan for backyard dwellers

September 7 2011 at 12:59pm – BRONWYNNE JOOSTE and CLAYTON BARNES – Cape Argus

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THE CITY of Cape Town’s plan to provide basic services to backyard residents has been met with mixed reaction.

Mayor Patricia de Lille launched the Backyard Essential Services Improvement Programme yesterday.

The pilot stage will start in Factreton next month and entails installing toilets and running water in structures in backyards.

Electricity would also be provided, and backyard residents would get their own wheelie bins. Other areas in the pilot phase are Hanover Park and Langa.

Amnesty International: South Africa Section of the 2011 Annual Report

http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/south-africa/report-2011

2011 Annual Report

South Africa

Incidents of torture and extrajudicial executions by police were reported. High levels of violence against women and girls continued, and there were indications of an increase in harmful practices affecting their rights. Serious incidents of violence against lesbian women, targeted for their sexuality, continued to be reported. There were some improvements in access to health services for people living with HIV, but poverty remained an important barrier especially in rural areas. Refugees and migrants continued to suffer discrimination and displacement in large-scale incidents of violence. There were further threats to the work of human rights defenders.

Media: Khayelitsha a ‘prized area’ for political parties

Malungelo Booi | EWN

 

A political analyst on Friday said the Cape township of Khayelitsha is the focus of political activity due to a unique set of circumstances.

In recent days Cape Town’s oldest township has been characterised by scenes of service delivery protests ahead of May’s local government elections.

The area has seen several political parties coming and going in a bid to secure votes.

At the same time civic organisation Abahlali baseMjondolo has come out to discourage locals from voting.

Shack dwellers ‘mourn’ freedom

Apr 27, 2011 9:55 PM | By PHILANI NOMBEMBE – The Times
Hundreds of protesting Cape Town shack dwellers yesterday threatened to boycott next month’ s local government elections.

Thandiswa Gabula, of QQ section, an informal settlement in Khayelitsha, on the Cape Flats, was one of the people protesting against lack of services, including basic sanitation, while participating in a shack-fire meeting organised by the Abahlali baseMjondolo (shack dwellers’) movement.

Gabula, 45, a mother of four, said she felt excluded from South Africa and that Freedom Day meant nothing to her because her community did not have toilets, running water or electricity.

Tue Apr 26 13:10:27 SAST 2011 Townships are hell, says cross-bearing pastor

Apr 26, 2011 | Sabelo Mpana | Sowetan

A CAPE Town pastor, Xola Skosana, marched almost 14km carrying a huge wooden cross to proclaim that “South African townships are hell”

 Political parties have disappointed us for too long

Media: Suspension of city leaders demanded – under glare of corruption

Chris Makhaye and Mlungisi Gumede – NewAge

About 300 shack dwellers marched to the Durban city centre yesterday demanding that eThekwini Mayor Obed Mlaba and city manager Michael Sutcliffe step aside pending a forensic investigation into reports of tender irregularities in the municipality.

Members of the Abahlali Basemjondolo, the shack dwellers movement, allege that both Sutcliffe and Mlaba or their families have been implicated in tender irregularities, so their continued presence in the municipality could jeopardise the investigation.

“We believe that the reason we are not getting houses is because Mlaba and Sutcliffe are only there to benefit themselves and their families.

“How can Mlaba lead an investigation when the city awarded tenders to companies owned by his own daughters?” said Abahlali’s general secretary, Bandile Mdlalose

Solidarity: Kennedy 12 Trial: Five Nil to Abahlali baseMjondolo

Friday, 03 December 2010
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Today the first five days of the trial of the Kennedy 12 came to an end. The trial will resume in May next year and then, if more time is needed, it will continue again in July.We wish to begin this statement by thanking all of those people and organisations that have stood by our movement in the difficult times that followed the attack and then this ongoing trial. Your solidarity is much appreciated. There is a saying that when days are dark friends are few. But in these dark times we still have many friends and the solidarity from all of you is deeply appreciated.

Solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo – Kennedy 12 finally begin their case tomorrow

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign Solidarity Statement
29 November 2010

Today, 12 members of Abahlali baseMjondolo from Kennedy Road will be in court following more than a year of delays in this clearly political murder trial.

We would like to declare our full solidarity with our Poor People’s Alliance partner during these trying times.

Solidarity: Another Devastating Shack Fire in the Kennedy Road Settlement

Click here to read ‘A Big Devil in the Jondolos: A report on Shack Fires’ by Matt Birkinshaw (2008).

Press Release: 10 August 2010.
Another Devastating Shack Fire in the Kennedy Road Settlement

If electricity, water and adequate housing were provided in the Kennedy Road shack settlement these recurring shack fires could have been prevented.

The Kennedy Road shack settlement burnt once again at about 10 pm on Sunday, 08 August 2010 – two hours before women’s day. As of today thousands of residents in Kennedy are homeless in this cold winter weather. If the municipality had given them houses or provided them with basic services, such as electricity, refuse collection, road access and water they would have been safe from fire. Fire is a serious threat to our lives. It is an undeniable fact that electricity is not needed by us but that our lives’ need electricity. In settlements that have electricity it is so unlikely to have fires of this nature as it is happening again and again in Kennedy.