29 September 2009
URGENT Petition to end the Violence in Kennedy Road
http://abahlali.org – Sekwanele! – http://antieviction.org.za/
To sign, please visit:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/9/an-open-letter-to-jacob-zuma
For updates on the situation in Kennedy Road, visit http://abahlali.org/
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Dear President Zuma
We the undersigned are scholars, activists, supporters and veterans of the
struggle for a free South Africa from around the world. We celebrated the end
of apartheid with you, and have worked with you for the building of a genuinely
democratic South Africa.
It is for this reason that we write to you with grave concern following recent
events at the Kennedy Road Shack Settlement in Durban. Reports from the
informal settlement of seven thousand people indicate that horrors reminiscent
of Apartheid’s darkest years are currently being perpetrated – armed thugs have
killed members of the freely elected local development committee and destroyed
their houses, with slogans dripping with the language of ethnic cleansing, such
as “The AmaMpondo are taking over Kennedy. Kennedy is for the AmaZulu”.
With these words of hate, members of the development committee have been hunted
and, in at least one case, killed. What appals us most about these attacks is
that they appear to be happening with the support of local police and
politicians. At the time of writing, reports indicate that local ANC branch
executives and members of the Sydenham police force are in attendance, and
doing nothing to halt the ongoing violence in the settlement. Further, it
appears that members of the development committee, some of whom had been absent
from the settlement during the attacks, have been targeted and arrested by the
Sydenham police force.
Some of the signatories to this letter have personally experienced illegal
political harassment by the Sydenham police in the past, and have witnessed
their ruthless political intolerance towards the Abahlali baseMjondlo
Shackdwellers Movement, of which the Kennedy Road Development Committee is a
part. Many more of us have had the great pleasure of meeting leaders from the
shackdwellers’ movement. All of us have been deeply impressed by the deep
democratic and progressive commitments of the residents of Kennedy Road.
Under such circumstances, it is entirely inappropriate to rely on the Sydenham
police to enforce the rule of law, and we appeal to your office to demand:
*an end to the violence in the shacks
*an end to arbitrary detention of innocent people
*an independent and transparent enquiry into the relationship between the
Sydenham police and the continued violence
*an independent and transparent enquiry into the relationship between the
violence and senior members of the local ANC branch present at the scene
*the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for these horrific attacks
*full restitution to those harmed in the violence
*and an undertaking that these tragic events be not used as a pretext for
further hardship enforced on South Africa’s poorest citizens.
We have witnessed the great promise of South African democracy, and we hope
that you will bring the full force of your office to protect it in this dark
hour. As once before, the world is watching South Africa, to see how democracy
can triumph over fear.