6 June 2014
Dear Partners, Friends and Comrades,
Some of you have contacted us to ask what is happening in our movement after receiving emails from Bandile Mdlalose. It is unfortunate that the movement is under this type of attack from one of its former members. We wish to put the facts straight and to rest.
Repression & Living Politic
The first time that there was strain on the family feeling in our movement was after the repression in 2009. When people have been driven from their homes, have lost everything and are living under fear of death and all this is supported by the government it puts them under great strain. People can start to doubt each other and there can be conflict about how the movement decides on its priorities especially in terms of personal and collective security.
From 2006 until 2008 our AGMs were always like a kind of celebration. We had to delay the 2009 AGM into 2010 because of the repression and at this AGM there was conflict for the first time. This was the year in which Bandile Mdlalose was elected as Secretary General at a very young age. She didn’t live in a shack. She and her family lived in a four room subsidy house in KwaMashu. Her mother (Busisiwe Mdlalose) had support in Siyanda which was a new area to our movement at the time and the residents there were mobilized by Bandile’s mother to vote for Bandile in a block vote. This was the first time we had this sort of block voting in our movement. It was strange to have someone with no record of struggle, and who was not a member of a branch, voted in to a senior position like this but it was in accordance with our Constitution. We always try to encourage collective membership through branches or affiliated settlements but individual membership is allowed.
Some small fractures remained after the 2010 AGM but mostly things were fixed and we continued to focus on struggle. We made a mistake at first by accepting new branches too quickly which caused more problems as some branches joined just to avoid eviction but without having any real commitment to ubuhlali. But we recognized that mistake and put careful procedures in place before a new branch could join the movement.
From the onset when an individual is seeking to join Abahlali that person is advised to return to their community and to consult with their families, neighbours, friends and community. If there are at least 50 people that are interested in joining the movement Abahlali will then go to make a presentation about ubuhlali and its living politics. We then leave the people to decide as a collective whether to join our movement or not. They can either form a branch in a community or if everyone in a community agrees the community can join our movement together. If they decide to join then Abahlali will facilitate a political education meeting. After this process then a branch gets launched. Launching a branch will mean that an Abahlali committee will be elected from below. The committee will then take an oath to work with integrity for its community. The committee under-goes an Induction Workshop after being elected to serve its term in the community. The launch becomes a commitment of the movement to struggle with that particular branch and not for that branch.
It is only branches that are in good standing that can send voting delegates to our AGM and we always give priorities to branches in good standing when it comes to deciding where to focus our commitment in the struggle. This is very important to make sure that we remain a democratic and accountable movement. We do not want to become an NGO that provides support to people in crisis and we do not want to become a group of individual activists. We are and will remain a democratic mass movement. Despite many difficulties we have succeeded in remaining as a democratic and mass based movement for nine years.
After Bandile was elected in 2010 she was always respected by the movement and it was expected that she would be shaped by the same living politic that has shaped all of us. She was often mandated to represent the movement nationally and internationally. The movement managed and is proud to have given Bandile an opportunity to study development and politic at UKZN Pietermaritzburg campus. She was given all opportunities to grow in our living politic.
Bandile was always brave when we had to face the police as well as politicians like Nigel Gumede. There were always some complaints from our members though. Some people said that she was rude to them when they came to the office. Mnikelo Ndabankulu, who was in our movement from the beginning, was often critical of what he often called her ‘me, me politics’. Some of our comrades in other grassroots organizations were concerned that when she went to NGO meetings she would speak as if her being there meant that our movement was there. This has never been put politic.
When Abahlali receives an invitation to attend an event hosted by another organisation whether addressed to the movement in general or to one office bearer like the president, administrator or secretary it will always get taken to an Abahlali meeting for discussion. It is only at the meeting where it will be decided whether or not Abahlali will send a representative. If we agree then the next discussion is to collectively decide on the name of the person who will represent our movement, taking into account the nature of the invite and expectations. After the meeting or conference the person who has been mandated to attend must always report back at the next Abahlali meeting. Everyone who is chosen to attend a meeting outside the movement knows that they cannot take any decisions for the movement there. They can only bring proposals back to the movement for discussion. This practice has always been the case and a lot of young activists like Bandile and Mnikelo and others have had an opportunity to travel internationally. But Bandile has personalized invitations that are addressed to her as the secretary. In doing this she has travelled to Johannesburg and spent a week in Cape Town without knowledge or mandate from Abahlali as a collective. She even went to speak at CCS (which is an NGO that we have boycotted since 2006) without any mandate. It became clear that Bandile was not willing to work through a democratic structure and that she wanted to promote herself as an individual to the NGOs. There is a big difference between using a movement to promote yourself as an individual and committing your energy as an individual to a collective movement. Some of the members began asking why the leadership was protecting her. The impression that she was being protected by the leadership started to cause some tensions in the movement. But she had been elected to her position and there was no formal complaint against her so all that could be done was to keep discussing ubuhlali and hope that she would mature into the politic of the movement.
In 2013 we faced serious repression again. Three activists were killed in the struggle over the Marikana Land Occupation in Cato Crest. Others were shot and there were also arrests and beatings. During this struggle we were highly united.
Two of the people that were murdered were given death threats and knew beforehand that they would be killed. Therefore we had to take death threats against our members very serious. Four of our members received death threats during this struggle. Two people, Bandile Mdlalose and S’bu Zikode, received death threats from the ANC structures in Cato Crest. Mnikelo Ndabankulu was threatened by a caller while he was representing the movement on a radio station. Ndabo Mzimela was also threatened with death on the radio.
An international human rights organisation approached us with an offer to support us with security during this crisis. They worked with us to develop a risk assessment. It was decided that Bandile and S’bu were most at risk and safe houses were arranged for both of them at the cost of the human rights organization. Other measures were also put in place such as arranging safe transport, also at the cost of the human rights organization. Mnikelo and his family became very angry that he did not also get safe housing. We understand that they were worried and we wish that we could have given the same support to everyone that had been threatened but it is the nature of the struggle that resources are limited and difficult decisions have to be taken.
Mnikelo has been a highly respected comrade in our movement since it was formed in 2005. His record is well known. But after the safe housing issue he became very angry. He started mobilizing the members through the Whatsapp groups that had been used to organize the road blockades in protest at repression in Cato Crest to demand that he must be given a job in the movement. He also started to mobilize our friends and comrades internationally to make the same demand. He was very honest that his demand was to get a job in the movement. He became very angry and insulting to Thina Khanyile. Then his anger jumped to Bheki Simelane and then it jumped to Bandile. When a person’s anger jumps from one person to another like this it is clear that the issue that is driving their angry is not really personal even if it is expressed as personal.
Three office bearers working fulltime in our movement have been receiving a small stipend. We understand that comrades cannot commit to the movement full-time year after year with no income. People come under serious pressure from their families. For this reason we have lost a lot of our best comrades to burn-out or they have had to take jobs. Some comrades have taken jobs with political parties or NGOs after years of struggle with no income. When comrades take positions (or get a tender) from a party or NGO they are sometimes being paid to undermine and attack the movement as much as possible.
We were sympathetic to Mnikelo’s situation. We understand that he was coming under serious pressure from his family. It is a failure of our movement that we have not found a way to make sure that all comrades who have committed to the movement for many years have an income. This is a problem that we seriously need to address. We are planning to try and look at co-operatives as a way forward.
However the way that Mnikelo took his demand forward was very regretful. He did not come to a meeting and make a case for his position. Instead he tried to mobilize people in and out of the movement to support his demand. He used very angry and insulting language. This Malema style politic was very upsetting to a lot of our members. When Mnikelo’s anger jumped to Bandile they had a huge fight on Whatsapp for some days. This has never been the culture of our movement. We have always insisted that the meeting is the right place to raise all issues and we have never had personal fights between members. We have always engaged each other respectfully. But Bandile and Mnikelo began to really insult each other while both were looking for support from the members on the Whatsapp group. Bandile used very rude language to Mnikelo and this really upset him. This fight was very destructive and completely against the culture of the movement. It was highly worrying to many of our members especially many of the older comrades. Many of the older comrades came to the office to express their concern about this fight on Whatsapp.
Mnikelo is from the Foreman Road settlement. For the last three years there has been no branch in good standing in this settlement. There has been no election here. This goes directly against Abahlalism and it means that individuals can dominate with a mandate or accountability. Mnikelo was looking for personal support through Whatsapp groups but he was not willing to be part of a democratic process in his own community. This was very disappointing to us.
After Mnikelo and Bandile had this big fight on Whatsapp Bandile logged a complaint to the Abahlali Disciplinary Committee against Mnikelo. He was suspended. But he failed to comply with the suspension and made a lot of noise out of it. And he further claimed that as a co-founder of the movement he cannot be disciplined by this committee and that suspending him was unfair. But he failed to appeal the suspension to the Abahlali Executive which would have been the proper process. Just as he had started to ignore all democratic processes in Foreman Road he had started to ignore all democratic processes in the movement. Obviously no movement can accept a situation where a person says that because they have been in the movement for a long time and are facing repression they can now operate outside of all democratic mandates. This would lead to the quick destruction of the movement.
Just as Mnikelo started to privatise Foreman Road by remaining personally active in the movement but not keeping a branch in good standing in his own community Bandile started trying to privatise her relationship to new communities that approached the movement. Twice when people came to the Abahlali office to approach our movement Bandile privatised her relationship with them so that they didn't have an opportunity to connect to the movement as a whole. This happened in Wyebank and in Claremont. We didn't ever launch branches there because they only had a relation to Bandile and not the movement and they didn't follow the processes to establish a branch. When she would travel to these areas she was being driven by someone from CCS. It is not clear to us whether he was acting in his personal capacity or as part of his job at CCS.
The next problem came when Bandile advised the Ridge View Community to occupy flats on 31 December 2013. This community had not joined Abahlali at that time but she met them privately. None of the processes for forming a new branch were followed and she kept her relationship with them privatized. They had a relationship with Bandile as an individual and not with a democratic movement. Bandile also took their membership money. She charged R50 for membership whereas the cost of membership in the movement is now R20 a year. The procedure is that all the movement's money from membership fees is immediately deposited into the Abahlali banking account but she failed to do so. She then promised them bail money should they get arrested and lawyers for legal representation.
When the occupation happened the police were waiting. Twelve activists were arrested and Bandile disappeared in court leaving them without assistance or explanation. It was at this time when we got very angry calls from the community and became aware of the arrests and the deal she had made with them. An occupation is something that needs to be carefully planned. It is highly irresponsible to advise people to occupy and promise support to them when this has not even been discussed with the movement and there has been no proper planning to support the occupiers. No movement can operate like this and retain the trust and respect of its members.
The Ridge View Community then logged a written complaint against Bandile through the Abahlali Disciplinary Committee which then communicated all the complaints, correspondences and the nature of the complaint to her. She was given the opportunity to respond and defend the allegation during the hearing set on the 6 April 2014. It was further explained that should she fail to appear before the committee a hearing will proceed in her absence. All this was in writing.
Bandile wanted S’bu to intervene and stop the DC. She also approached people outside the movement to lobby them to stop the DC. She did not approach the movement’s structures to express any concerns. When Bandile realized that S’bu was not going to protect her from the DC and would respect the autonomy of the committee she became very, very angry at S’bu. This was the first time that she was ever angry at S’bu. Before this she always held S’bu in very high respect. She met with Mnikelo and everyone was surprised when they formed an alliance even though all these problems started with them fighting with each other. Mnikelo’s anger then shifted from Bandile to S’bu. They both started to attack S’bu personally inside and outside the movement but they did not take their issues to the movement’s structures.
Mnikelo was a popular activist in some of the branches. Mnikelo put together a slate for the AGM, that included Bandile, and they campaigned very hard. They arrived at the AGM with a lot of people that are not Abahlali members in good standing. Mnikelo came with his brother who has not been part of any Abahlali activities since he started to support COPE in 2008. These people who are not members should not have had the right to vote but Mnikelo and Bandile were very angry and so we allowed it to avoid conflict at a time when we had just been facing such bad repression. For some people this looked like an attempt by young people to take over the movement in the style of Malema. They were rude and not worried about democratic processes. On our understanding this was an attempt by two young leaders, both who were refusing to accept democratic processes, to force themselves into power to avoid having to accept democratic processes. Bandile and Mnikelo were both making themselves famous outside of the movement on social media which is not where our struggle is. Bandile was focusing on NGOs to build her name and Mnikelo on some branches but they were both refusing to accept democratic processes.
Due to Mnikelo’s popularity some members of Mnikelo’s slate were elected at the AGM including Bandile. S’bu Zikode was not on Mnikelo’s slate, but he was elected as President. The members see S’bu as a uniting figure when there is conflict and he was returned to the Presidency. The votes at our AGMs are always counted by visitors. This time it was members from Cape Town. People voted freely and the votes were counted freely. People from Mnikelo’s slate, including Bandile’s mother, witnessed the counting. Although Bandile was elected back to her position with Mnikelo’s support she now says that the election was not free and fair. This is not true. The only problem with it was that Mnikelo bought people who were not members to vote. This will not be accepted again. We cannot be blackmailed into compromising on proper democratic processes by the threat of internal conflict.
After the election Bandile began making threats that if the DC went ahead she would destroy the movement by going to Heinrich Bohmke and CCS who have always tried by all means to destroy our movement. Bohmke is well known for his lies about our movement and for his defamation and character assassination. He has also written defamation about other activists and organisations. We could not allow our movement to be blackmailed by this kind of threat. Also no one that is important to us has ever taken Bohmke’s lies seriously. His lies have destroyed his credibility. They have not damaged our movement.
Bandile stopped coming to meetings as a participant and started to storm into meetings, disrupt them and insult and swear everyone. One of these incidents was observed by someone from an international human rights organisation. Bandile also began to tell incredible lies about us to our allies. One day she stormed into a meeting, disrupted it and insulted everyone. She was asked to leave. She then said that this was intimidation by S’bu even though it was not S’bu who asked her to lave. There are many witnesses to what happened and it can easily be shown that she is not being honest about this incident. In fact she is being blatantly dishonest.
For some time before all these problems started Bandile had a boyfriend working at CCS. When there was a general meeting after the AGM to find a way forward she came to that meeting with two people from CCS. Our history with this NGO is well known.
Bandile did not attend the DC and it went ahead without her. She was expelled from the movement. S'bu was not part of the committee or the process. She was informed about the decision in writing. It was made clear that despite the expulsion she would still receive legal support from the movement from her case arising from the struggle in Cato Crest.
We decided not to issue a statement about the expulsion as we did not want to humiliate Bandile or risk her chances of finding work. Also we didn’t want to undermine when she still have a case on. However she approached a lot of media to attack the movement. The only newspaper that took her story seriously was Jacob Zuma’s personal newspaper the New Age.
The day after she was expelled there was a meeting with the housing MEC over the Cato Crest issues. There had been a long struggle to win this meeting. The delegates were inside and other members from Cato Crest were standing outside the meeting demonstrating in support of the delegates inside. Bandile arrived. She was driven by someone from CCS. She stormed into the meeting and insulted S’bu, MaMkhize Nxumalo (Abahlali General Chairperson) and the movement to the ANC and told various lies. The meeting was ruined.
The people in Cato Crest became so angry with her that some of them wanted to testify against her in her case arising from the struggle in Cato Crest. Some of our members in Cato Crest also insisted that we must withdraw legal support for her case. We had to have long discussions before there was an agreement that although people were very angry with her it would not be a good idea to testify against Bandile or to withdraw legal support for her case. Bandile had made it clear that she was going to put her personal issues before the members of the movement and that she had decided that we are now her enemies. But the politic that says that your enemy’s enemy is your friend is very dangerous. She has chosen that politic. We will not choose that politic.
Bandile began sending emails to all of our friends and allies making highly untrue statements especially about S’bu. We received some few emails asking what was happening. We had to respond. She gained access to our email even though she was suspended and became even more angry that we had written to some of our friends and allies who had asked us for our response to her allegations even though our response was very calm and factual.
Shortly after her expulsion she travelled to Cape Town and represented the movement at a meeting of the Social Justice Coalition as if she was still a member. This really shocked us and we had to write to some more of our friends and explain that she had been expelled.
She was also taken to Wyebank by someone from CCS after her expulsion where she misrepresented herself as a leader of AbM.
We recently discovered that after her expulsion she went to the bank and tried to make herself a signatory on the movement account. The bank showed us the forms. This also really shocked us.
Since her expulsion Bandile suddenly has money to travel to other parts of the country. It is clear that she is getting strong financial support from somewhere. She has a right to make whatever alliances she chooses but she does not have a right to lie about us in the way that she is. What she is saying is not true and it is defamatory. We question the motives of any organisation that funds one individual who is producing defamation against a movement.
All comrades and all organizations make mistakes and we have made mistakes and we will continue to make mistakes. We welcome any discussion about how we can organize and struggle better. We welcome any discussion about how we can learn from the mistakes that we have made and the mistakes that other organizations have made. However nobody in their right mind can see defamation as a positive contribution to the struggle. All that Bandile is offering is defamation.
After the AGM Mnikelo came back to the movement and a healing was being negotiated. This healing was going well and the relationship with Mnikelo and other comrades was good.
About the DA
The decision to vote for DA was a strategic one aimed at weakening the ANC as a punishment for the repression in 2013. We were being killed with impunity and we wanted to make it clear to the ANC that they could not kill us with impunity. We have made it clear that we have not joined the DA or taken its membership and that we are not agreeing with their policies. Our branches do not work with their branches. It is obvious that ubuhlali and the DA’s ideology are like paraffin and water. They cannot mix. We made a legally binding deal with the DA. If they do not stick to their side of the deal we will take them to court just like we take the ANC to court. We expect them to speak up against state criminality in Durban including illegal evictions and violence, including murder. We made this decision to try and protect the space for a living politics in Durban and not to move away from a living politics.
The voting discussion began as early as in September 2013. It is not new and the decision was not hasty. We had a highly democratic process to decide which party to support. When this decision was taken Bandile was no longer a member of Abahlali and therefore for her to make comments that relates to the decision of voting for the DA is misleading and dishonest. Mnikelo was a big supporter of this decision and made his support very clear to people outside the movement on Facebook and Whatsapp. He insisted that the decision must be announced at his settlement which is Foreman Road. Bandile’s mother’s close friend MaShezi was also a big supporter of the decision to vote for the DA.
However the decision to make a tactical vote for the DA in protest at repression was not well understood by some of the left. Some of the left thought that we were shifting our ideology or becoming tied to the DA organizationally and didn’t understand the concept of a tactical vote. This created an opportunity for us to be isolated and undermined.
A New Organisation
Without warning Mnikelo issued a statement with another old comrade saying that he was going to resign. One day he was happily in the office and staying with an old Abahlali comrade at night and the next day he was resigning. It has become clear to us that the repression that Mnikelo has bravely faced for many years has begun to seriously affect him. He even started to doubt his own comrades. We would like to support him through this but it is very difficult because he began to follow Bandile’s example and write to our friends, insult us on Facebook and try by all means to get the media to turn against us. In the beginning he remained honest and was clear that the demand for a job was central to his anger.
Mnikelo told people that he was going to form a new organisation called Friends of Democracy. Our position was that we would welcome any new organisation that was focused on the struggle and that we would be happy to work with any organization also focused on the struggle. We are all hunting for ways forward and it might be good for different organizations to try different strategies. This was discussed with our members.
Some of our old members came to us to say that they were very disappointed that Mnikelo was behaving like this and that he had not raised any concerns that he had in the movement. We made it clear that we were willing to discuss any issues that Mnikelo had. A number of senior people in our movement, including the Gogos from Joe Slovo, asked to meet with Mnikelo to discuss any problems that he was having and to discuss a healing. This meeting was arranged but Mnikelo did not attend the meeting. Mnikelo’s friend Lindela also did not attend meetings aimed at resolving any issues that he had. This shows us that they didn't have real problems that they wanted to resolve inside the movement but that they had already decided to set up their own organisation.
The new organisation was supposed to be launched on 25 May. The launch did not go ahead due to a lack of support. It became clear that Mnikelo had no popular support in his own settlement (Foreman Road) and that some other branches that he thought would support him were not going to support the new organisation. People who supported Mnikelo inside the movement do not want to support him outside the movement. The comrades in Foreman Road are going to soon relaunch the Abahlali branch there.
Mnikelo then started to follow Bandile’s example and also become highly dishonest. This was very, very disappointing to us. He started claiming that he had left the movement due to the decision to make a tactical vote for the DA. This is just not true. Everyone knows that he strongly supported this decision. He cannot honestly deny what he said on Facebook and Whatsapp.
In Kennedy Road, Claremont and in Umlazi he started working with local ANC structures to undermine our movement. In Umlazi he has been working closely with Thembeka Manci. Thembeka was first in UPM, then in Abahlali. She is now in the BEC of the local ANC. This decision, like Bandile’s decision, is very disappointing to us. It shows that the project is now to undermine the movement on the ground by all means while trying by all means to win the support for friends and allies outside but not to build a better or different alternative. On the ground there is an attempt to undermine us by working with local ANC structures. On social media there is an attempt to undermine us by means of lies. To us this looks like nothing other than a struggle for personal power and not a project that is politically serious. So far the new organisation has not been launched due to a failure to win any support on the ground. If it is launched we will be happy to work with it when it is taking the struggle of the people forward but we will not be able to support a destructive politic of just trying by all means, including lies and working with the ANC, to undermine our movement.
Bandile’s Emails
At the same time as Mnikelo has been working with local ANC structures to undermine our work on the ground Bandile has been sending out emails full of shocking lies. In her first email she made it clear that she has chosen to work with Bohmke. She has also made it clear that her ain is to restore the reputation of CCS while dragging the reputation of our movement into the mud. In these emails she is saying things that are not true. She is also saying things that are the opposite of what she said before she was expelled but which Bohmke has always being saying about us. When she was in the movement she used to call Bohmke as a devil and she had very high respect for the people she is now attacking who are the same people that Bohmke has always attacked. Now that she has been expelled she is saying exactly the same things that Bohmke has been saying for years. They were not true when Bohmke said them and they are not true when Bandile says them. She is also sending these emails to a very long list of people and especially to academics around the world. Many of those people are people that she has never met and who have no connection to our movement. Many of them have never even heard of her before. But many of these people are the same people to who Bohmke has always sent his defamation. Her defamation now overlaps with Bohmke’s defamation and her mailing list now overlaps with Bohmke’s mailing list. This is an organised campaign of defamation and character assassination. These are the same tactics that Bohmke has always used. Many of the people receiving these emails have told us that they remind them of Bohmke in terms of their content and in terms of the tactics behind this campaign of defamation.
Our position is that we do not respond to defamation on the Debate list (run by CCS). That list has always been a place where lies are freely expressed and it has no relevance to our struggle. However if the media are approached and questions are put to us then we have to respond to those questions. Also if our friends and comrades write to us with questions we will respond to them.
Our movement has always been open. Activists and students and academics as well as clergy from all over the world have spent time with our movement. They have come from America, Europe, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Brazil, Korea, Zimbabwe and other countries too. They have come freely to all meetings. There are no secrets about how our movement works and how it has changed over time. Some have claimed to have been part of us when they have not but every person that has really been with us has seen very clearly that Bohmke’s lies have nothing to do with reality and only tell us about how sick his mind is. Some of the people who have spent a long time with our movement have said that they feel physically sick or dirty when they read Bohmke’s attacks against us. When Bohmke supported state repression against us in 2009 all the students, academics and church leaders who had been present in our struggle wrote one letter clearly stating that Bohmke does not tell the truth. They were later proved to be correct when the state’s case against us had to be thrown out of court because there was never evidence for their position which was also Bohmke’s position. We continue to welcome guests and to hold open meetings. Anyone who is really interested in the truth of our struggles can come and see what we are doing for themselves.
We are trying by all means to avoid focusing on Bohmke and Bandile and to keep the focus on the struggle. We know that the lies will keep coming and we will not waste our energy responding to every lie. This has nothing to do with politic or good intention of forming a new movement other than personal hatred motives. There is no argument that should be engaged or contested with honesty.
However for those of you have written to ask us what is going on we want to just say the following. Firstly Bandile’s emails are really, really dishonest. They are as dishonest as Bohmke’s writings. To start she is now claiming to have resigned when in fact she was expelled. She tried by all means to avoid the expulsion and it is a straight lie to now claim that she resigned. In her emails she says that she resigned but she has opened a case against us at the CCMA for unfair dismissal. She is telling the CCMA that she was fired, as if the struggle is a job, and she is telling others that she resigned whereas the fact is that she was not dismissed and she did not resign – she was expelled.
Bandile suggests that all activities of Abahlali were done to impress the funders. This is Bohmke’s old story. Our movement has always been democratic and directed by its members. No organisation that wanted to impress funders would organise land occupations and road blockades. No organisation that wanted to impress funders would boycott a powerful NGO with lots of money and networks. No organisation that wanted to impress funders would insist on keeping its organizational autonomy from all NGOs as we have done since 2005. Many of us have refused jobs, tenders and houses meant to silence us even while our families are suffering.
Bandile also suggests that we are only looking for donor money for our own personal interests. Abahlali has an elected structure that has a treasurer and two other signatures to effect financial transactions on behalf of the movement. Any of the two signatures can sign and S'bu has not been part of the signing for past four years. In fact Bandile had been assigned to write financial reports and to work with S'bu to help prepare for narrative reports in the last financial year. Early this year the whole Abahlali leadership underwent a financial management workshop to assist the leadership with relevant skills to handle finances well. The movement is in the process of auditing and all money received is used as it has been requested for and funders get their reports. We have never had one complaint about misuse of funds from our member or from our funders. If Bandile is now claiming that there were problems she is undermining herself because she herself worked on financial and narrative reports.
Bandile is being very dishonest. She uses the example of the rich businessman that approached the movement to make it seem like we only care about money. The truth is that she had a close personal relationship with this man and she bought him into contact with the movement and she was the one that communicated with him. She is now blaming us for her own very poor judgment. This is really unfair and it is really dishonest.
It is clear to us that Bandile is all out to attack S'bu personally. The attack on S'bu is clearly viewed by us as an attack to Abahlali. It is clear from the language she uses from Bohmke that she is now suggesting that if you are black and poor and being an effective activist there will always be a white man behind you. This is how out of nowhere she would use comrade Richard Pithouse's name. This shows that there is no real politic that we can contest other than personalities and ulterior motives to destroy the movement. Before she was expelled she had high regard for the comrades she now attacks. After she was expelled she decided to join with Bohmke’s hatred of these comrades.
She is showing no regard for our members. This is all just about her. It is clear that the NGOs will reward her for deciding to give her name to their old project of trying to ruin whatever popular organizations they cannot rule. She has made her choice. It is the choice of someone who is putting their personal ambitions before any political concerns. She is showing no concern at all for our members or their struggle.
The Role of the ANC
Bandile has chosen to collaborate with CCS and Bohmke. Her family are now working with the local ANC. This became very clear last Sunday, 4 June 2014 when her mom and her friend who left the movement after Bandile’s expulsion wore ANC t-shirts and collaborated with the local ANC to prevent Abahlali from launching a branch in the Mandela Complex. We have photographs of her mother and her mother’s friend, MaShezi, wearing the ANC t-shirts while the ANC prevented our launch. These pictures are on Facebook. The truth cannot be denied.
We were also planning to launch another new branch in Claremont last weekend. Mnikelo sent out a press statement saying that this branch had resigned from Abahlali. Firstly a branch that is not yet launched cannot resign. Secondly one of the contact people is Thembeka Manci who does not live in that community and is a member of the BEC of the local ANC. Thirdly when we phoned a community member whose name was on the statement she said that she knew nothing about the statement. This politic is very, very far from Abahlalism.
If Mnikelo, Bandile, Bandile’s mother, MaShezi and one or two others do start their new organization it will be very hard for us to trust a movement that begins with clear links to the ANC. For us it is very difficult to believe that such an organization will be about anything other than personal power. To us this seems like nothing but opportunism.
However if a new organization is started, if it gets some members, if it breaks from the ANC and if it is democratic and represents its members in the struggle for land and housing we will be happy to work with it.
Way Forward
We cannot take Bandile’s politic serious now that she has made her support for Bohmke and CCS clear and we cannot take anyone’s politic seriously when they are openly working with the ANC to disrupt our organising. Therefore we are going to ignore the lies that will keep coming. Bandile and Mnikelo are taking a lot of their energies to social media. This is not where our struggle is. It is in the branches. This is where we will focus our energies.
If the media ask us questions we will answer them and if our friends and comrades have questions we will answer them. But we cannot let a politic of lies set the agenda for a whole movement. Our response to this will be to continue to focus on the struggle.
Every effort was made to find a solution with Bandile and Mnikelo through proper discussion with them and it all failed. But there are two lessons that we take from this:
1. We really need to focus on keeping people together and feeling safe when there is repression. We also need to focus on healing ourselves during and after repression. Repression can do serious damage to individuals and to our collectivity and we need to take this very seriously.
2. We really need to find a way to make sure that comrades with many years of service to the movement can get an income. We need to look seriously as the possibilities of setting up co-operatives.
Update – 9 June 2014
On the 8th of June we relaunched the Foreman Road branch. The Ward 25 ANC councillor, Bhekisani Ngcobo arrived in the settlement and tried to elect an ANC Area Committee at the same time. The ANC made Ngcobo (a shack dweller) councillor in order to try and undermine our movement in the area. Their strategy failed but he knows that his job is dependent on opposing us where ever he can. Mnikelo was with him trying to get the ANC Area Committee launched in Foreman Road. They failed to get a quorum and had to give up. We had our quorum and went ahead with a successful launch. It cannot be denied that Mnikelo, along with Bandile’s mother, Busisiwe Mdlalose, and her friend MaShezi, and Thembeka Manci are now working with local ANC structures to try and undermine us on the ground.