Abahlali baseMjondolo (The Residents of the Shacks) is a movement of the poor in South Africa.

Our story began in 2005 when we united twelve shack settlements in Durban, driven by a shared vision of justice. It was a time of relentless demonstrations, many met with violent repression, and our collective strength took shape as we stood together. The catalyst for the formation of our movement was the 2005 blockade of a major road by around 750 residents from the Kennedy Road shack settlement in Clare Estate, Durban. The Kennedy Road community had endured broken promises from the government for years, and it was yet another unfulfilled commitment that sparked the demonstration.

Emerging from KwaZulu-Natal, a province known for its history of violent politics, Abahlali has faced numerous challenges. We have experienced threats, assassinations, unlawful evictions, and many instances of police violence. Tragically, as of the time of writing, 25 lives have been lost due to these circumstances.

Our membership, initially primarily consisting of urban shack dwellers, has expanded geographically to encompass both rural and urban communities in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, and Mpumalanga.

Today, Abahlali is an autonomous, democratic, membership- based social movement comprising more than 150,000 members, operating in 93 branches in 4 provinces. Our politics is rooted in a universal commitment to affirming and defending human dignity as we struggle for land and housing, to foster communities of care, self-nourishment, and solidarity. We assert that everyone has the right to participate in all discussions and decision-making relevant to them, and that no one should think or decide for us. We are clear that our movement belongs to our members and not to any NGO, donor, political party, organisation, or network that thinks that it has a right to rule the organised poor.

We are committed to building the democratic power of the oppressed from below, and using our collective strength to create a world in which land, wealth and power are shared fairly — a communist world. We work to build a movement of communes and an international movement of movements.