Thursday, 20 May 2021
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Bonono and Gasela out of Prison, Living Solidarity with Palestine on the Docks

There was much to celebrate in Durban today. At the Magistrates Court our Deputy President Mqapheli Bonono and Maphiwe Gasela, the secretary of the eKhenana branch, were given bail and, amid scenes of great collective jubilation, returned to freedom, their families and comrades.

Bonono, Gasela, and Miya, who remains in prison, received incredible solidarity from around the world following their arrest. 

Internationalism was also on display on the docks where workers organised via the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) refused to offload the Zim Shanghai, a ship owned by the Israeli state-owned company Zim Lines. This action follows a call by the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) for workers and trade unions to refuse to unload Israel ships and goods from sea and airports. Dock workers in Durban have a long history of radicalism and we salute their principled action today. Tomorrow morning we will be joining the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) who will be picketing with the dock workers.

Every step towards building living forms of solidarity between the organisations and struggles of the oppressed, in our country and across the world, must be celebrated.

Today more than 500 members of our movement took time off from work, braved the sun and sacrificed time with their families to spend eight hours outside the court to show support for our comrades who had been imprisoned on false charges. Many of the people who spent the day outside of the court were there for the third time, and some had travelled long distances to be at the court.

Bonono had been held for 16 days before finally being released on bail. Comrade Gasela was separated from her seriously unwell baby while she was in prison. Siniko Miya was denied bail and remains in prison because he has an outstanding case that he is attending in court. This case dates back to before he joined the eKhenena Occupation and our movement. As we have noted Miya was not at the open meeting where the state, farcically, claims that Bonono, Gasela and Miya publicly conspired to have a person murdered. We assume that the only reason why he was arrested in this crackdown on our movement is because he has a prior case open and it was thought that this would delegitimate the other accused in the eyes of the public.

Addressing the Abahlali members outside court, Mqapheli was very emotional and thanked Abahlali and comrades around the world for the support received during this difficult time. He said that he has learnt during his time in prison how the system of oppression works, and that seeing another side of the cruelty of the system has encouraged him even more to fight for justice and dignity for all.

Mqapheli, Gasela and Miya will be back in court on 16 July 2021. The red river will be with them at the court, of course.

We would like to thank all our comrades across South Africa, across Africa and around the world who have shown such powerful solidarity with our movement during this time. We will be honoured to be in solidarity with the Palestinian people on the docks tomorrow.

The struggle goes on.

Nomusa Sizani 081 005 3686
Thapelo Mohapi 074 774 4219
S’bu Zikode 083 547 0474