Update – Two more comrades have now been arrested. Police bail has now been secured for all four comrades.
Friday, 14 November 2014
Abahlali baseKwaNdengezi Press Statement
Two Comrades Arrested in KwaNdengezi
At around 20:00 last night to Abahlali baseMjondolo members were arrested in KwaNdengezi. They were arrested by police officers in plain clothes and driving unmarked cars. They were not told why they were arrested and up until now they are not yet charged let alone to appear before court. Theexplanation from the Station Commissioner of SAPS KwaNdengezi is that they will not be taken to court since a 48 hour period has not expired yet. It is clear that as usual their arrest was timed so that they could be held for Friday and through the whole weekend. We fear for their safety while they are in police custody.
The Abahlali baseMjondolo chairperson in KwaNdengezi, Thuli Ndlovu, was assassinated on 29 September 2014. On 5 November 2014 Mobeni Khwela an ANC activist, working against Nqola’s corruption in KwaNdengezi, was also assassinated. These assassinations were carried out impunity. There have been no arrests. It is clear that the police are working for the ANC and not for justice.
The KwaNdendezi station commissioner was rude and had a bad attitude toward Abahlali members when they tried to get more information about these arrests and the safety of the comrades that were arrested. These arrests must be taken seriously because in this period of time Abahlali are facing assassinations, death threats and physical attack from the ruling party cases are opened but no investigation is taking place and as a result there are no arrests. We have to be loyal to our new oppressors and not say anything to power even if ward councillors like Nqola in KwaNdendezi and Mzi Ngiba in Cato crest are evicting people to build RDP houses and then allocating them to their comrades and friends.
Abahlali baseMjondolo is fighting for equality and against injustice in our society. Our movement has always been struggling for the truth to be told in the form of revealing a true South Africa from the grassroots, a South Africa that the South African citizens and the citizens in the world do not have access to seeing, since it is a South Africa that they do not see when watching television or reading newspapers.
This struggle has been criminalised by the State and ruling party in this so called Democratic country, Abahlali have publicly said that the police are working in the hands of politicians and that the people’s rights have been violated in the name of the law. In our living struggle
As a result of an act of a controversial Act of Parliament, the Ingonyama Trust Act of 1994 was passed and through it the Municipalities with Ingonyama Trust have an agreement by which the development has to be conducted in urban and rural areas. As a result of this agreement the development in the areas where amakhosi have land is supposed to include the amakhosi and the councillors. But in areas like eTafuleni in Inanda and KwaNdengezi in Pinetown people who have land and houses through the amakhosi are just being evicted so that the councillors can build RDP houses for their people. This has resulted in deaths but government and its officials on the ground are so so quiet about that despite all the necessary attempts made by this movement to draw the attention of the respective departments and politicians to this problem.
The corruption in KwaNdendezi has caused unstable conditions in that area but police have failed to arrest the perpetrators of this corruption and intimidation. But because we are treated as people who do not count the same in this society we are being arrested without warrants.
Contact people:
Thembela Ngwane.
0781979217 (Abahlali member in Kwandengezi)
Sphindile.
0742796655 (Abahlali member In Kwandengezi)
Thembani Ngongoma.
084 6139 772 (Abahlali Spokesperson)