http://www.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://www.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.