12 July 2007

Meeting to Discuss Legal & Political Strategies to Oppose the Slums Bill – Friday 13 July, 9:00 a.m., Kennedy Road

Abahlali baseMjondolo has decided to oppose the Slums Bill by all means necessary. Our press release on the Slums Bill is on our website at http://abahlali.org//////node/1629 along with the full text of the Bill, various statements against the Bill and newspaper articles on the Bill.

We have elected a Slums Bill Elimination Task Team to take the resistance forward. The first task has been to lay a foundation for resistance by self-education about the Bill. This has taken the form of line by line readings and discussions. Everyone’s input has been taken into serious account. The second step has been to call a meeting of everyone opposed to the Bill. The meeting is scheduled for Friday 13 July, at 9:00 a.m. in the Kennedy Road Hall, Clare Estate, Durban. People are coming from all over Durban, Pinetown and Pietermaritzburg as well as from Cape Town and Johannesburg. People who can’t attend in person are sending written submissions.

Everyone who wants to join the struggle against the Slums Bill is welcome to attend this meeting. As always the media are welcome to attend too.

Mike Mabuyakulu is always telling the media that this Bill is to deal with slumlords and shack farming. We would also like to take this opportunity to make it clear that Abahlali baseMjondolo are anti-slumlordism and shack farming. We are against all forms of landlordism. We always have been. We would like to say that we would support Mabuyakulu 100% if he can find these people and take them to court. But he must not speak as though our settlements are run by slumlords and shackfarmers. We have sent people to Nairobi and we know that this is how it is in Nairobi where UN Habitat has its offices. We know that Mabuyakulu gets his ideas from what he calls ‘international agreement’. We get our ideas from thinking about the realities of the places where we live. And we also discuss things internationally – we have spoken to shackdwellers in Nairobi, in Harare and in Instanbul. If Mabuyakulu spoke to the people that he is supposed to serve instead of the new colonial masters who are oppressing shackdwellers around the world he wouldn’t embarrass himself so much. Our settlements are run as democratic collectives. There are no slumlords in our settlements. Everyone is invited to come and see for themselves at any time.

For more information and comment please contact:

Zodwa Nsibande 082 8302707

Mnikelo Ndabankulu 073 5656241