After images of the Battle of Foreman Road even started cropping up in The Economist the City panicked. The Mayor called a press conference on one of the old sugar plantations that are now being turned into gated housing developings, malls and offices parks for the rich. After the usual Third Force rant he announced, with a grand sweep of his right arm, that all the land around him was to be made available for housing for the poor beginning with Kennedy Road. He promised that a meeting would soon be held to clarify the details and even agreed to have the meeting in one of the settlements. Abahlali held a number of meetings to discuss the questions that they needed to have answered by the mayor. One of these meetings is described in article by Raj Patel that also usefully theorises the democratic practices developed by Abahlali baseMjondolo via the work of Alain Badiou. But it soon became clear that Mlaba had lied. In response to open panic from the rich in their gated communities the corporate landowner issued statements denying that any deal had been made with the city to build houses for the poor so near to the rich. The questions that Abahlali wanted to ask the mayor, and a press release denoucing his lies, are below.

A Short Course In Politics At The University Of Abahlali Basemjondolo by Raj Patel:
patel_final.doc 366.5 KB

Questions for and denoucement of Mayor Mlaba:
Mlaba lies to the poor.pdf 309.31 KB