Shack dwellers honour their leader December 16 2009 , 6:12:00
Anglican Bishop Rubin Philip has called on South African politicians to uphold the principle of democracy. Philip was addressing more than 200 Abahlali baseMjondolo (shack dwellers movement) at a function to honour their leader in Durban.
The church honoured S’bu Zikode with the Order of the Holy Nativity for his distinguished leadership. Zikode is in the forefront in the fight for the rights of people living in the informal settlement of Kennedy Road in the city.
Bishop Philip says Abahlali baseMjondlo always put people’s interest first before their individual interest. “I urge people to put their focus, resources and energy to those in need” says Phillip.
Abahlali baseMjondolo is a South African shack-dwellers’ movement that grew out of a road blockade organized from the Kennedy Road shack settlement in the city of Durban in early 2005 and now also operates in the cities of Pietermaritzburg and in Cape Town.
It is the largest shack dweller’s organization in South Africa and campaigns to improve the living conditions of poor people and to democratize society from below. The movement refuses party politics and boycotts elections. The words Abahlali baseMjondolo are isiZulu for ‘Shack dwellers’.