27 February 2024
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Abahlali will be in the Constitutional Court today

The right to the cities, to live in the cities and to shape the cities from below, continues to be denied to many in our country thirty years after apartheid. Along with oppression by a predatory political class the poor continue to face brutal evictions in the form of gentrification by capital whose interests are in maximising private profit at the expense of the poor.

Cities are built by the poor and working class but they often cannot afford to live in the cities because the rent is too expensive for ordinary families. Capital is brutal and has no mercy for the poor. It is inhuman. Continue reading →

12 February 2024
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

McDonalds are Dumping their Rubbish in our Community

The Lindokuhle Mnguni Occupation in Rosherville, Johannesburg, organised strikes on Monday and Wednesday last week. On Monday South Rand Road was blockaded the whole day, from 3:00 am till 4:00 pm. On Wednesday it was blockaded from 5:00 am till 12:30 am.

The police were not violent to the protestors but some taxi drivers did assault comrades on the blockade. Continue reading →

4 February 2024
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

The Poor Need to Vote the ANC Out in the Coming Election

Frantz Fanon said “Each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it, in relative opacity.” The challenge of our generation is to move past the ANC, to build a politics of the future, a politics by and for the oppressed, a politics committed to humanising our country and the world.

In April it will be thirty years since the end of apartheid. In that time we have watched and suffered as the promise of the new society has been betrayed by the ANC. We have witnessed corrupt leaders continuing to enrich themselves and their families at the expense of the poor majority. We have seen inequalities grow as more and more people are unemployed or precariously employed, including by labour brokers. We have watched as the ANC continues to impose devastating economic policies, including brutal austerity, on the country as more and more people are pushed into poverty and the poor get poorer. We have seen that, year after year, there has been no real rural or urban land reform. Many more people live in shacks now than at the end of apartheid. As food and transport get more and more expensive and the government cuts spending on essential public goods such as education, healthcare and social grants the crisis lived everyday by the poor gets worse and worse. Continue reading →

15 January 2024
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Our Lawyers Made Us So Proud at the ICJ

Abahlali baseMjondolo commend the outstanding work by the South African legal team at the International Court of Justice in Hague. Many of us watched with great pride as our brilliant legal team stood in front of the world to protect humanity and end the devastating attacks against the people of Gaza that have led to the loss of more than 23 000 lives, including more than 8 000 children.

We do not see the importance of this case as being restricted to proving to the ICJ that the Israeli state is committing genocide. It is also a statement of conscience to the people of the world, and encouragement to the huge numbers of people around the world who have taken to the streets in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Continue reading →

31 December 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Abahlali welcomes government’s filing of a genocide charge against Israel

The first of January marks an important date in the calendar of the long struggle to humanise the world. On 1 January 1804 enslaved Africans won their freedom in Haiti and so New Year’s Day is a day of celebration. This year, though, our hearts will be heavy as the new year comes.

Around the world people of conscience are watching in horror as the attack on the long and brutally oppressed people of Palestine by the Israeli state rages on. In Gaza more than 23 000 people have been killed, more than 55 000 wounded, 85% of the population have been displaced and more than 80% of homes destroyed. More than 8 000 children have been killed. Hospitals and journalists have been deliberately targeted in the attacks. People are now starving, sleeping in the open, unable to get clean water and at great risk of disease. There is a real risk of the war spreading into neighbouring countries. It is clear that the Israeli state, with the backing of the United States, has launched a genocidal attack on the people of Gaza. Continue reading →