Saturday, 23 September 2017
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Abahlali to hold the Annual Thuli Ndlovu lecture on Heritage Day
Abahlali baseMjondolo will once again use Heritage Day to honour all our heroes who have paid the ultimate price in the fight against new forms of oppression. While the rest of the country celebrates heritage through diverse cultural activities, our movement will take time to honour all our fallen heroes. Struggle brought us to where we are today and it is only struggle, from the left and from below, that can take us forward. The unity and power forged in struggle is our heritage.
The Thuli Ndlovu lecture is one of our annual events. It is aimed at honouring our fallen heroes and educating our members about the history of our movement and selflessness and sacrifice in struggle. Thuli Ndlovu, like other fallen cadres such as Nkululeko Gwala, Nqobile Nzuza, and Samuel Hloele, were committed to the struggle for the emancipation of the impoverished and the landless. Thuli Ndlovu and Gwala were assassinated in Durban. The City seems to be enjoying to use blood to govern. Nqobile Nzuza was shot dead by the police and Hloele was shot dead by the eThekwini municipal security guards of the Land Invasion Unit. Both the police and security guards were acting on the instruction of the black politicians who pretend to be our leaders when they have turned to be our oppressors and our killers.
Abahlali members have a lot to learn about our society from state brutality, and even more to learn from our fallen heroes. We thought to honour their contribution to our struggle, to celebrate their lives and keep their spirits alive and to inspire us in this annual lecture. Our members, especially the new ones and the young ones, will have an opportunity to engage with the dead from whom we draw our strength.
All these leaders and activists were fearless. They did not fear the monster of greed for money and oppressive power, nor its representatives in our real world at ward and community level. Former ANC gangster councillors and now convicts Nqola Ngcobo and Luvelile Lutsheku can best give evidence of Thuli’s fearlessness in confronting corruption. Both of them today serve their life sentence in Kokstad prison. We shall continue to use the truth to destroy representatives of the corrupt system with the ultimate goal of destroying the corrupt system, opposing capitalism, building democracy from below and restoring land and dignity to the people.
We wish to take this opportunity to express our condolences to the families of the housing activists who were allegedly killed by the Red Ants in Lenasia, in the city of Johannesburg yesterday. We stand in solidarity with the whole community that has braved the forces of the regressive regime that enjoys seeing impoverished black people without land. Their struggle is our struggle. Their pain is our pain. The land will be restored to the people. We will destroy the rule of the gun and build a genuine democracy.
The lecture will start at 10:00am on Sunday at the Surat Hindu Hall in Durban. It will be followed by discussions as members will be engaged on what can be learnt from the fearless and
dedicated cadres of our movement.
Occupy. Resist. Develop.
Contact:
Thapelo Mohapi 072 072 0686
Mqapheli Bonono 073 067 3274
Blessing Izile Nyuswa 084 695 3205