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 →

26 December 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo Youth league press statement

Christmas means solidarity with the oppressed

As the youth league, we were drafting warm Christmas wishes to our members in the Motala Heights settlement, but suddenly we were reminded that our lives can never be safe even during Christmas. Continue reading →

17 November 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

We condemn the killing of Ahmed Abbasi in Gaza yesterday

The mass murder of civilians in Gaza by the apartheid state of Israel, supported by the imperialism of the United States of America, continues before the open eyes of the world.

Ahmed Abassi was the head of Gift of the Givers in Gaza. He was killed yesterday while returning from the morning prayer with his brother. His brother was also killed in what Gift of the Givers have said was a targeted attack. Another Gift of the Givers worker, Mohammed Al Ahel, was killed on 6 November. Continue reading →

En Gaza se ataca a la humanidad

16 de octubre de 2023

Comunicado de prensa de Abahlali baseMjondolo

Civiles, incluidos niños, fueron masacrados a un lado de la frontera entre Israel y Gaza. Ahora el terror y la muerte se abaten sobre Gaza, al otro lado de la frontera, mientras Israel utiliza el ataque indiscriminado de Hamás para lanzar un ataque aún más cruel e indiscriminado contra los residentes de Gaza. Lamentamos todas estas muertes e insistimos en que la única forma de poner fin a la violencia es acabar con la opresión de los palestinos. La justicia es el único camino hacia la paz. Continue reading →

16 October 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press statement

Humanity is under attack in Gaza

Civilians, including children, were massacred on one side of the border between Israel and Gaza. Now terror and death crash through Gaza, on the other side of the border, as Israel uses the indiscriminate attack by Hamas to launch an even more cruel and indiscriminate attack on the residents of Gaza. We grieve all these deaths, and insist that the only way to put an end to the violence is to put an end to the oppression of the Palestinians. Justice is the only road to peace. Continue reading →

14 October 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Crackdown on the Indian media and others

The fascist government in India has launched a major attack against the media. On the morning of 3 October the homes of over 100 journalists and others, including a comedian, were raided in four cities, in an operation carried out by more than 500 police intelligence officers. Around 50 people were interrogated in police stations, and two arrested. Continue reading →

This is the text of a talk given by Mqapheli Bonono to an audience of Canadian students on Thursday last week.

Thursday, 05 October 2023

The right to decent housing in South Africa

Thank you, programme director, for this wonderful opportunity to share Abahlali’s perspective on this important topic of the right to decent housing in South Africa. Greeting to students and all participants.

According to the official statistics, there are about 2700 informal settlements in South Africa. We are also told that about 12 000 people live in substandard housing conditions. Clearly there is a high rate of homelessness in our country. Continue reading →

4 October 2023
Abahlali Youth League Press Statement

Youth paving the path to a just and equal society for all humankind

The 4th of October marks the day of the establishment of the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement, AbM in short. In 2005 the movement was established because the impoverished, the marginalised and the shack dwellers of South Africa were continuously rejected or left out by the system that had promised to be democratic and free to every citizen of South Africa.

The movement was formed in the Kennedy Road settlement, and other settlements in ward 25 in Durban, by young people who were tired of the inhumane conditions that they had to go through every day, were facing evictions and were deprived of their rights to political freedom. Since the establishment of the movement 25 lives have been lost during the course of the struggle for land, housing and dignity. Amongst the 25 there are young people who were so determined to change the oppression faced by the shack dwellers. As the Youth League of the movement we continue to salute and honour every soul who dedicated their lives to struggling for an equal society in which the dignity of all people is respected. Continue reading →