Category Archives: University of Abahlali baseMjondolo

Serving our Life Sentence in the Shacks

This article has now been translated into Spanish, Italian, French and Russian.

Friday, 16 July 2010
Serving our Life Sentence in the Shacks

People all over South Africa have been asking the leaders of Abahlali baseMjondolo as to why the government continues to ignore the demands of the shack dwellers. They have been asking why after all the marches, statements, reports and meetings the Kennedy Road settlement continues to get burnt down through the endless shack fires. They have been referring in particular to the recent Kennedy Road shack fire on Sunday, 4 July 2010 that took four lives, leaving more than three thousand people displaced and homeless.

Without much more words to explain this continuous tragedy we have replied that in fact the shack dwellers of South Africa are serving a life sentence. Everybody knows that we are the people who do not count in this society. But the truth that must be faced up to is that we have been sentenced to permanent exclusion from this society.

Over the years it has been made clear that the cities are not for us, that the good schools are not for us and that even the most basic human needs like toilets, electricity, safety from fire and safety from crime are not to be met for us. When we ask for these things we are presented as being unreasonable, too demanding and even as a threat to society. If we were considered as people that did count, as an equal part of society, then it would be obvious that the real threat to our society is that we have to live in mud and fire without toilets, without electricity, without enough taps and without dignity.

Waiting for ‘delivery’ will not liberate us from our life sentence. Sometimes ‘delivery’ does not come. When ‘delivery’ does come it often makes things worse by forcing us into government shacks that are worse than the shacks that we have built ourselves and which are in human dumping grounds far outside of the cities.’Delivery’ can be a way of formalising our exclusion from society.

But we have not only been sentenced to permanent physical exclusion from society and its cities, schools, electricity, refuse removal and sewerage systems. Our life sentence has also removed us from the discussions that take place in society. Everyone knows about the repression that we have faced from the state and now, also, from the ruling party. Everyone knows about the years of arrests and beatings that we suffered at the hands of the police and then the attack on our movement in the Kennedy Road settlement.

We have always said that in the eyes of the state and the ruling party our real crime was that we organised and mobilised the poor outside of their control. We have thought for ourselves, discussed all the important issues for ourselves and taken decisions for ourselves on all the important issues that affect us. We have demanded that the state includes us in society and gives us what we need to have for a dignified and safe life. We have also done what we can to make our communities better places for human beings. We have run crèches, organised clean up campaigns, connected people to water and to electricity, tried to make our communities safe and worked very hard to unite people across all divisions. We have faced many challenges but we have always worked to ensure that in all of this work we treat one another with respect and dignity.

The self-organisation of the poor by the poor and for the poor has meant that all of those who were meant to do the thinking, the discussing and to take decisions on our behalf – for us but without us – no longer have a job. Our decision to build our own future may therefore not be an easy one to accept for those who can no longer continue to take decisions and to speak for us but without us. Some of the people who have refused to accept our demand that those who say that they are for the poor should struggle with and not on behalf of the poor are in the state. Some are in the party. Some are in that part of the left, often in the universities and NGOs, that sees itself as a more progressive elite than those in the party and the state and which aims to take their place in the name of our suffering and struggles.

We call this left a regressive left. For us any leftism outside of the state that, just like the ruling party, wants followers and not comrades and which is determined to ruin any politics that it cannot rule is deeply regressive. We have always and will always resist its attempts to buy our loyalty just as we have always and will always resist all attempts by the state and the ruling party to buy our loyalty. We will also resist all attempts to intimidate us into giving up our autonomy. We will always defend our comrades when they are attacked. Our movement will always be owned by its members. We negotiate on many issues. Where we have to make compromises to go forward we sometimes do so. But on this issue there will never be any negotiation.

We have done a lot for ourselves and by ourselves. But for a long time what we could not succeed in doing for ourselves was to secure good land and decent housing in our cities. We stopped the evictions and we were no longer going backwards but it was a real struggle to go forwards. But we kept pushing and made some small advances here and there. This really offended the authorities in the party. This became very clear and evident when the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal passed the notorious Slums Act, meaning that the shack dwellers would never again have any place in our cities. Our successful challenge to the Slums Act in the Highest Court in the land was a great setback for the government’s plan to formalise our life sentence by eradicating our settlements and putting us in the human dumping grounds. The deal that we negotiated with the eThekwini Municipality to upgrade two settlements and to provide basic services to fourteen settlements was another setback to the eradication agenda of the politicians. The recent announcement by the eThekwini Municipality that they will accede to our demand to provide services including, for the first time since 2001, electricity to settlements across the city is another victory of our struggle and another major setback to the eradication agenda. We are slowly but surely defeating the eradication agenda.

As South Africa was hosting the World Cup Abahlali warned that it will not benefit the poorest of the poor in our land. We warned that it would make the poor, poorer and more vulnerable. Leading up to the World Cup there were more evictions and pending court cases in different parts of the country. Poor street traders had their belongings confiscated as they had no permits to sell in restricted zones and the taxi industry suffered the impoundment of their taxis. Stopping the rush to celebrate the World Cup by raising all these questions and condemning these attacks on the poor as immoral and illegitimate has been a slap on the authorities’ faces. Although the fact is that all these huge soccer stadiums, hotels and other projects were built by the poor of the poorest they remained outside their benefit. The South African government has overspent its budget in building a ‘world class country’ and could not match and balance such expenditure with social needs such housing and the provision of the most basic services. The amount that has been spent for the World Cup could have built at least one millions homes for the poor. Although we acknowledge the efforts that have been put into this event we still feel that such effort could have been used to bring basic services and infrastructure to the poor. If that had been the case then the shack dwellers would not have been affected by these ongoing fires every time.

The truth about the attack on our movement has always been firm and not changing at any stage. We cannot make public comment on matters that are sub judice but our demand for an independent commission of inquiry that will bring the whole story into the light remains unchanged. The Kennedy 5, part of those who are already serving their life sentence in and out of the jails, have now been released from Westville prison. They had already been serving ten months of their punishment without any evidence of guilt being brought to the court and without the court saying anything about their illegal detention. The South African Constitution says there shall be no detention without trial and that a person cannot be detained for more than 24 hours without a proper bail hearing. The fact that, up until the release of the Kennedy 5, this trial was being conducted as a political trial outside of the rule of law even though it was taking place in a court of law tells us something very important about the position of the poor in post apartheid South Africa. Those who have handed a life sentence down to us always want to exclude us from fair and equal access to the courts and the rule of law. When they fail to achieve this through the commodification of the legal system they are willing to actively undermine the system from above.

The movement insists that the people shall govern; this is what the famous Freedom Charter says. Abahlali holds on to that. The strength and the autonomy of the movement compels us all to strive for a just world, a world that is free, a world that is fair and a world that looks after all its creations. We remain convinced that the land and the wealth of this world must be shared fairly and equally. We remain convinced that every person in this world has the same right to contribute to all discussions and decision making about their own future. For us all to succeed we have to be humble but firm in what we believe is right. We have to resist all our jailers, be they in the state, the party or the regressive left, and to take our place as equals in all the discussions.

We also know that the South African government still wants to look good in the eyes of the international communities and that they fear disgrace and shame. They want to show the world Soccer City but hide eTwatwa, Blikkiesdorp, Westville Prison, the red ants and the shack fires all around the country. We wish to thank all the international activists and organisations who have raised their concern against the repression that we have faced, including those that have organised protests against the South African diplomats in their respective countries.

We hope South Africa will become one of the world’s caring countries. We hope that one day our society will be an inspiration rather than a shock to you. As Abahlali we have committed ourselves to achieving this goal. But right now we are serving a life sentence and fighting all those who are trying to keep us imprisoned in our poverty, all those who demand that we know our place – our place in the cities and our place in the discussions. We have recognised our own humanity and the power of our struggle to force the full recognition of our humanity. Therefore we remain determined to continue to refuse to know our place.

Compiled by Zodwa Nsibande and S’bu Zikode
-Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA.

Notes on Gentrification for the Manchester Conference

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Notes on Gentrification for the Manchester Conference
August 2009

defining ourselves

We are here as elected delegates of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African shackdwellers’ movement. We approach each challenge and opportunity from within our own ‘living politics’ which the President of our movement, S’bu Zikode has described as a politics that:

starts from the places we have taken. We call it a living politics because it comes from the people and stays with the people. It is ours and it is part of our lives. … It is the politics of our lives. It is made at home with what we have and it is made for us and by us.
Zikode, 2008.

Throughout our struggles, we have found that others want to define us and they want to understand our struggle according their own definitions and projects. It is always necessary to resist this and to insist that we think and speak for ourselves. Without this discipline, our living politics would die .

clarifying our thought and struggle in relation to ‘gentrification’

We have discussed the issue that this conference will confront in a number of meetings and, last Saturday, in a camp (an all night meeting). We have concluded that the idea of ‘gentrification’ is not one that can really be said to be part of the living politics of Abahlali baseMjondolo. It is not a word that you will hear shackdwellers in South Africa using a lot (or at all really!) to describe their lives or to analyse their situation. This is not surprising since the term was developed in the 1960s by Northern analysts trying to explain certain patterns in the historical development of mostly Northern cities. We know that the word continues to be used, and that it is used quite widely by now. We know that the patterns and issues it deals with are definitely important for all of us who are thinking about cities and who are committed to people’s struggles for justice in cities all over the world. We are very clear that we fully support the struggle of the poor against the rich every where in the world – in Zimbabwe, in Haiti and also in England. But, from the perspective of the living politics of the shackdwellers of South Africa, we want to suggest that it might be more important to clarify some of the ways in which our struggle is not about gentrification – rather than trying to fit our story to match the theories and ideas developed elsewhere by others who do not know our story. This why we can really get to know each other and our struggles that are different in some ways and the same in other ways.

pointing at the differences

Although there are lots of debates about it, ‘gentrification’ usually describes the process where richer people move into neighbourhoods that had been settled by poorer people but which, for various reasons, have become attractive neighbourhoods for these new groups of richer people. On the surface, the results of this can look quite good – if you prefer the aesthetics of wealthy people and their neighbourhoods to those of poor people! Buildings get done up and repaired, new businesses spring up to service these interesting new elites with money to spend lounging about in coffee shops, art galleries or whatever. But below the surface, the results are usually disastrous for the poor. They may have lived in, and helped shape, the ‘edgy’ atmosphere so attractive to some of these new elites, and their inner-city housing may have quaint and historical appeal too – but the rising land, housing and rental costs invariably squeeze them out. So people are evicted by the market.

What we must be clear on is that this is not the pattern that affects shackdwellers in South Africa. Our shack settlements, our homes and neighbourhoods, are under active threat of being demolished and destroyed by the state, and we are being forcibly removed. We are violently evicted by the police, anti-land invasion units and private security – including Group 4 Securicor from England. Rich people do not move in and renovate and refurbish our settlements! On the contrary they want to eradicate rather than upgrade our places. They want to make it look as though our settlements were never there. So it is perfectly clear that elites in our part of the world do not view our settlements as places that are somehow quaint, if a little run down. Their view is one of utter contempt, and that contempt extends beyond the way they talk about the places we live in – which they repeatedly describe as ‘slums’ and ‘hotbeds of criminality’ – to a hateful contempt for the people themselves. This is the dehumanising hatred and contempt we fight against. What we have demanded again and again is to be treated as human beings and citizens who can work with government to make improvements to our settlements on our own terms, so that we can remain in the places we live and make a decent life for the people who are there now.

Often we face resistance to our struggle as shackdwellers from more middle-class people living near to shack settlements. These groups, often sharing the broad elite attitude to shacks and shackdwellers of fear and loathing, can mobilise elite and political opinion against what we can perhaps call the “de-gentrification” that takes place when we as poor people have occupied land and moved into areas reserved for the rich. It seems to be that the armed wing of the state, especially the police, as well as the party-political classes, are often very sympathetic to these middle-class voices and can join in this struggle to remove us.

Of course, as the movement of shackdwellers, we do not claim to represent all of the struggles of all the poor. We are aware of the struggles that have had to be fought by people living in blocks of flats in the inner city of Johannesburg who face violent and frankly illegal evictions in a process that might be closer to ‘gentrification’. But even there, what is happening cannot be seen as some sort of ‘natural’ process arising from the movement and changes in different social groups of Johannesburg– it is a malicious and aggressive project of the local state, backed by big business, private security and the thinking of the World Bank.

suggesting possible commonalities

It does not surprise us to learn that, although the poor of other cities experience different patterns to ours, many of the results look more or less similar. It comes as no surprise that other cities also experience the process of elite projects trumping democratic ones; of rich and powerful people benefiting, and of the poor being pushed aside and right outside the cities. We, as Abahlali, have seen very clearly how our world is made to extract land and labour and life from the poor to benefit a small group of the rich and powerful. We have seen how, in practice, this has turned the idea of ‘development’ into a war against the poor; it has fertilised the elite fantasy idea of the ‘world class city’ where the poor have no place, no voice. We reject this in Durban and we reject this everywhere.

We are therefore sure that we can find strength and solidarity with all other genuine and grassroots movements of poor people in cities all over the world, including those who organise and fight to resist gentrification’s pernicious effects on them. Where resistance and contestation of these processes by the poor becomes a common, popular and political project forged in the minds and hands of poor people themselves, there we know we will find true comrades in a living politics that asserts the right of everyone to the city. We will support this politics full force.

We know too that gentrification is not only a threat against the long-established neighbourhoods of the poor. It is also a threat against spaces in the city that have been taken and appropriated by those who are not counted in the official order of things. Many young people in cities of the North who are called ‘squatters’ have already understood the importance of our own struggles in South Africa, and they have, like the Camberwell Social Centre, found important ways of being in solidarity with us as Abahlali. From their own experiences, they know a lot about evictions and the violence of the state that is unleashed against both them and us. Some of them have come to live and struggle with us for a while. They have been there when the police come to evict us, or when the fires race through our settlements. They are our comrades. We are talking about people like Antonios Vradis and Matt Birkinshaw.

Our movement is a scandal for the rich and the state. Perhaps the biggest scandal of a movement like Abahlali baseMjondolo is our refusal to accept this place of having no place and our insistence that everyone counts – and that refusal is made every-time and every-where that people resist being pushed away and aside by the rich and powerful. We like this idea of the ‘right to say put’. We like it a lot.

resisting gentrification of our struggle

So there are differences and commonalities but we also can’t help wondering whether what we might call “resistance against the gentrification of our struggle” isn’t one of the most interesting conversations to have. What we mean is something like this:

* though our struggle/s, we create new political spaces for contesting power;
* this inevitably creates speculative interest from professional vanguardist ‘activists’ and ‘civil society’ looking for constituencies to populate their imagined fantasies of resistance and revolution;
* they try by all means to invade and take over (often with offers of money) the space our struggle opened up and;
* unless we sustain a living politics militantly resisting against this onslaught, the result looks very much like what the academics describe as the result of gentrification: namely;
* the poor get moved out once again, but the quaint and edgy appeal of the spaces they created has a residual value for the professional activist class who occupy it through their superior access to various international currencies – sometimes quite literally, greater resources and money, but also other currencies of organisational and patronage networks, media and communication technology that can ‘represent’ people’s issues and struggles with no accountability to or insertion in the actual movements themselves that are the currency of ‘civil society’s’ claims to legitimacy, and relevance.

This is why we said at the beginning:

we have found that others want to define us and they want to understand our struggle according their own definitions and projects. It is always necessary to resist this and to insist that we think and speak for ourselves. Without this discipline, our living politics would die.

Ngicelwe ukuba ngikhulume ngokuthi “kungaliwa kanjani noMbuso?” Lo ngumbuzo onzulu, anginazo izimpendulo ezilula

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Ngicelwe ukuba ngikhulume ngokuthi “kungaliwa kanjani noMbuso?” Lo ngumbuzo onzulu, anginazo izimpendulo ezilula

ibhalwe ngu – Arundhati Roy yahunyushelwa esiZulwini ngu – Nontobeko Hlela

Uma sikhuluma ngokuphikisana no “Mbuso”, kudingeka sizibuze ukuthi “uMbuso” uchazani? Ngabe uchaza uhulumeni waseMelika (kanye namazwe ezwa yona ase-Europe), iBhange lomhlaba (World Bank), inhlangano yezizwe ebheka izindaba zezimali (International Monetary Fund), noma inhlangano yomhlaba ephathelene nezokuhweba na (World Trade Organization)? Noma mhlawumbe yinto engaphezulu kwalokhu.

Emazweni amaningi lombuso usuzale imixhantela eminye, eminye yalemixhantela evela emaceleni iyingozi – njengoku phakamisa ubuzwe (nationalism), ukucwasana ngokwenkolo, ukuphatha ngengcindezelo nobuhluku, kanye nobuphekula zikhuni. Zonke lezi zinto zihambisana ncamashi kanye nezinhloso ze-corporate globalization.

Ake ngichaze ukuthi ngiqondeni. I-Ndiya – le eyaziwa njengezwe elinokuphatha kwabantu okukhulu– njengoba sikhuluma nje, leli izwe elihamba phambili kwizinhloso ze-corporate globalisation. “Imakethe” yalelizwe inabantu abayibhiliyoni, livulwa ngenkani yi-WTO. I-corporatisation ne privatisation sekumukeliwe nguhulumeni kanye nalabo abakhethekileyo baseNdiya.

Akwenzekanga ngephutha ukuthi uMongameli wezwe, uNgqongqoshe wezasekhaya, uNgqongqoshe we-Disinvestment- kube ngamadoda asayinda isivumelwano nenkampani yakwa Enron eNdiya, yiwo futhi adayisa I-infrastructure ezinkampanini ezinkulu, ezisebenza emazweni amaningi ahlukene,yilamadoda afuna ukuthi amanzi abe sezandleni zabantu abazimele hhayi zahulumeni, ugesi, u-oyela’ amalahle, insimbi, ezempilo, imfundo, kanye nezokuxhumana nazo bafuna ukuzidayisa – lamadoda wonke angamalunga noma abancomi be- RSS. I-RSS inhlangano engathandi izinguquko, eqhayisa ubuzwe bobuHindu, engafihli futhi ukuthi iyamncoma uHitler ngendlela ayenza ngayo izinto eJalimane.

Ukudicilelwa phansi kwentando yeningi kuqhubeka ngesivinini nangekhono eliseqopheleni eliphezulu. Ngenkathi isu le-corporate globalistaion liklebhula izimpilo zabantu eNdiya, ukudayisa kwezinto ebeziphethwe nguhulumeni ziye ezandleni zabantu abazimele kwenzeka kakhulu kakhulu, “izinguquko” endleleni yokusebenza zixosha abantu emhlabeni wabo zidale nokuthi abantu balahlekelwe umsebenzi. Amakhulu ngamakhulu babalimi abantulile bancama ukuthi bazibulale ngokuthi baphuze ushevu wokubulala izilokozane. Imibiko yabantu abafayo kungenxa yendlala eyafika ezweni lonke.

Ngenkathi laba abacebile nabakhethekileyo bethatha uhambo lwabo ngokomqondo olungathekiswayo ngasokhakhayini lomhlaba, laba abadingisiwe bashona phansi bakhalakathele ebulelesini nasekuphithizeleni. Lesi simo sashaqisa, futhi baphelelwa ithemba ezweni lonke, uma sibheka umlando uyasitshela ukuthi izimo ezinjalo ziyindawo evundile yokuzala ingcindezelo.

Izingalo zikaHulumeni waseNdiya sezikuyolile ukusebenza njengodlaka. Ngenkathi enye ingalo imagange idayisa isigaxa sezwe, enye iphambukisa ukunganakwa. Umkhulungwane, ukuhohoza okukhuluma ngobuzwe bohlanga lamaHindu nokucindezewla ngokwenkolo. Uhulumeni wenza ucwaningo ngezikhali ze-nuzi, ushicilela kabusha izincwadi zemilando, ushisa amasonto, ubuye udicilele phansi izindawo zamaSulumane zokukhonza. Ukuhlolisisa izinto ezibhalwayo nezivezwa komabonakude ukuze ziveze lokho uhulumeni akufunayo, ukubhekwa nokulandelwa kwabantu, ukumiswa kwenkululeko yabantu, kanye namalungelo abantu, konke lokhu kudala ukuthi incazelo yokuthi ubani oyisakhamuzi saseNdiya nokuthi ubani ongesona, ikakhulu nxa kuphathelene nalabo abayingcosana uma kufikwa ezindabeni zenkolo, kungabe kusaqondakala kahle.

NgoMbasa odlule, esifundazweni saseGujarat, izinkulungwane ezimbili zamaSulumane zabulawa ngonya, lesi senzo sasikhuthazwe nguhulumeni. Abesifazane bamaSulumane babenonjoliwe. Babe khunyulwa, bese bahlukunyezwe ngokocansi idlanzana lamadoda, ngaphambi kokuthi bakhongelwe ngomlilo bephila. Abanye babephanga, bashise ngamabhomu izitolo, imizi, izindawo zokukhiqiza izimpahla ezilukiweyo, kanye nezindlu zokusonta zamaSulumane.

Angaphezulu kwekhulu nezinkulungwane ezingamashumi amahlanu (150 000) amaSulumane asexoshiwe emizini yawo. Ingqikithi yesimo somnotho samaSulumane sesicekelwe pahansi.

Ngenkathi isifundazwe saseGujarat singqongqa, uMongameli waseNdiya waye kwiMTV (isiteshi sikamabonakude esidlala umculo) eyophakamisa egqugquzelela izinkondlo ayezibhalile. NgoNhlolanja walonyaka, uhulumeni lo owawugqugquzela ukubulawa kwabantu uphinde wavotelwa ukuthi uphinde uphathe, wawina kahle nje futhi. Akekho umuntu opanishiwe ngenxa yalesi senzo sokubulala esenzeka. UNarendra Modi, okunguye owaye ngumklami walezi zehlakalo, nolilungu eliziqhenyayo le-RSS, useqale umkhawulo wesibili njengoNdunankulu wesifundazwe saseGurajat. Uma ubenguSaddam Hussein, noma ikanjani yilobo nalobo budlova abenzile bebuzovezwa phambi kweCNN (isiteshi sikamabonakude saseMelika sezindaba esisakaza emhlabeni wonke imini nobusuku). Kodwa-ke ngoba akayena uSaddam – kanti futhi “imakethe” yaseNdiya ivulekile kubatshali zimali bomhlaba wonke – ukubulala kwakhe uModi akuyona neze into embangela amahloni noma emphoxayo emphakathini.

Endiya, kunamaSulumane angaphezu kwekhulu lesigidi (100 000 000). Kune bhomu elingaqhuma noma inini kuleliya lizwe.

Konke lokhu kuyaveza ukuthi kuyimpicabadala ukuthi ukuhweba ngokukhululeka kuwisa izithiyo zobuzwe. Ukuhweba okukhululekile akusabisi neze ukuzibusa kwamazwe, okukwenzayo ukubukela phansi amandla entando yeningi.

Ngenkathi ukungalingani phakathi kwabacebile nabampofu kukhula, ukulwela ukukwazi ukuthola amandla kubanzulu. Ukukwazi ukudlulisa izivumelwano zabo ezinongiwe, ukukwazi uku-corporatize izilimo esizitshalayo, amanzi esiwaphuzayo, umoya esiwuphefumulayo, kanye namaphupho esiwaphuphayo, I-corporate globalization idinga inhlangano yesivumelwano yomhlaba ethembekile, yohulumeni abonakele, abanengcindezelo emazweni antulile ukuze ikwazi ukuthi kuphumelele ukuthi izinguquko abantu abangazifuni zenzeke nokuthi ithulise abazama ukuhlubuka nokuvukela umbuso.

I-corporate globalization – noma kumele siyibize ngegama layo langempela? – I-imperialism – idinga abantu abathutha izindaba abazokwenza sengathi basakaza ngenkululeko. Idinga izinkantolo ezishaya sengathi zifika ezinqumweni ngokomthetho.

Ngenkathi kwenzeka lokhu, amazwe aseNyakatho ayaqinisa, avala imingcele yawo ukuze kungangenwa noma ikanjani emingceleni yawo., abuye futhi athenge ngamandla izikhali ezinokufa okukhulu. Kadeni kumelwe baqinisekise ukuthi yimali nje kuphela, izimpahla, nokusebenza okuglobhalazwayo. Hhayi ukuhamba ngenkululeko kwabantu. Hhayi ukuhlonipha amalungelo abantu. Hhayi izivumelwano zomhlaba eziphathelene nokucwasa ngebala noma izikhali zamakhemikhali neze-nuzi, noma izinto ezibulala ubunjalo bomhlaba ngokungcolisa ngezintuthu zezimoto nezamafekthri okwandulela ekushintsheni kwezulu.

Konke lokhu, singakubiza ngo-“mbuso”. Le nhlangano ethembekile, lokhu kunqwamelisana kokufuna ukuthola amandla, lesi sikhala esikhulu phakathi kwalabo abenza izinqumo nalabo okufanele baphile ngaphansi kwazo siyanda.

Impi yethu, umgomo wethu, umbono wethu ngomunye umhlaba, kufanele kube nguku vala lesi sikhala.

Ngakho-ke siwuvimbela kanjani “umbuso”?

Izindaba ezimnandi wukuthi asenzi kabi kakhulu, imizamo yethu iyabonakala. Sekuke kwaba khona ukunqoba okusemqoka. Lapha e-Latin America sekuzekwenzeka izikhathi ezimbalwa lokhu – eBolivia, kukhona uCochabamba. ePeru, kwabakhona ukuvukela umbuso e-Arequipa, eVenezuela, uMongameli uHugo Chavez usabambelele, yize iMelika isizame kabi ukumchitha.

Futhi amehlo omhlaba athe njo kubantu base Argentina, abazama ukutakula izwe labo emlotheni elifakwe kuwo yi-IMF.

ENdiya umzabalazo olwa ne-corporate globalization uyakhula, akukude kube yiwo kuphela ozokwazi ukumelana nengcindezelo ahimbasana nokucwasa ngokwenkolo.

Amanxusa e- corporate globalization ango ngqa phambili ezinkampani zakwa – Enron, Betchel, WorldCom, Arthur Anderson – bezikuphi nyakenye, futhi zikuphi-nje namhlanje?

Lapha eBrazil kumele sibuze ukuthi ubani obenguMongameli nyakenye, nokuthi sekungubani namhlanje?

Yize, noma abanye abaningi bethu sisafikelwe ubumnyama, sizizwa siphelelwa amandla nethemba. Siyazi ukuthi ngaphansi kompheme wempi yabavukela mbuso (War Against Terrorrism) amadoda agqoke amasudi amatasatasa ayasebenza.

Ngenkathi amabhomu esinetha, nezilabi zindiza esibhakabhakeni, siyazi ukuthi amakhontilaka azobe esayindwa, ama-patents e-register, amapayipi a-oyela efakwa, ingcebo yemvelo iphangwa, amanzi edayiselwa izinkampani ezizimele, bese uyamangala ukuthi yini u-George Bush efuna ukuyohlasela I-Iraq.

Uma sibuka lokhu kuphikisana njengoba kubhekene ngeziqu zamehlo “noMbuso”, bese ubheka labo abethu abaphikayo bezabalaza, kungabukeka sengathi siyahlulwa.

Kodwa-ke ikhona enye indlela esingayibheka ngayo le mpikiswano. Thina sonke esilapha, sonke ngezindlela zethu, siwubambile “umbuso”.

Mhlawumbe asikakayibambi-ngqi – okwamanje – kodwa sesiyivezile ubuze bayo. Siyenze yakhipha imaskhi. Siyiphoqelele ukuthi ivele obala. Manje imi phambi kweshashalazi lomhlaba elikhulu, inqunu, iveziwe ubuhluku nobubi bayo bampela.

Umbuso uingahamba uyolwa lempi yayo efuna ukuyilwa, kodwa manje isisobala – yimbi ayikwazi nokuzibuka emehlweni. Lombuso mubi ngalendlela yokuthi uyahluleka ngisho ukugcina abantu bayo bengakuyona. Ngeke kuthathe nesikhathi esingakanani ngaphambi kokuthi abantu baseMelika babe mdibimunye nathi.

Ezinsukwini ezimbalwa ezedlule e-Washington, ikota lesigidi sabantu besibhikisha siphikisana nempi yase Iraq. Inyanga nenyanga izwi lokusola, nokuphikisana liyakhula.

Ngaphambi kukaMfumfu wamhlaka 11 2001 iMelika ibinomlando ofihlekile. Ubuyi mfihlo ikakhulu kubantu bayo. Kodwa manje izimfihlo zeMelika sezingumlando, nomlando wawo usuwaziwa uwonke-wonke. Kukhulunywa ngawo ezitaladini.

Namhlanje, siyazi ukuthi yonke impikiswano ebisetshenziswa ngempi yase-Iraq, ukuthi ingamanga. Into ehlekisa kakhulu yile ethi uhulumeni waseMelika uzimisele ukuletha intando yeningi e-Iraq.

Ukubulala abantu ngoba uthi uyabasiza noma ufuna ukubakhulula kuhulumeni wengcindezelo umdlalo omdala wahulumeni waseMelika. Lapha eLtin America, niyazi kangcono leyonto kunabanye emhlabeni.

Akukho ongabazayo ukuthi uSaddam Hussein ungumphathi onesihluku esibi, umbulali (yize kunjalo izenzo zakhe ezimbi kakhulu zaxhaswa nguhulumeni waseMelika nowase Ngiladi). Akungabazeki ukuthi abantu baseIraq bangabangcono kakhulu uma uSaddam engekho.
Uma kunjalo kodwa umhlaba wonke ungaba ngcono kakhulu uma uMnuzane Bush “othile” enganyamalala. Empeleni, uyingozi kakhulu kunoSaddam Hussein.

Ngenxa yalokho-ke sekufanele simbambe simkhiphe ezindlini zaseMelika zahulumeni e-White House?

Kusobala ukuthi uBush uzimisele ngokulwa ne-Iraq, nanjengoba kunezinkomba eziqinisekile zokuthi akanandaba nabantu emhlabeni ukuthi bathini.

Ekuzameni kwayo ukuthola abantu abazoma ngkuyo, iMelika izimisele ngisho nokuqamba amanga.

Lo mdlalo ewudlalo iMelika ngabahloli bezikhali, le indlela yayo yokuba icanule noma, ithuke, izama ukuthola indlela okuzoba sengathi yenze yonke into esemandleni ngaphambi kokuthi ihlasele e-Iraq. Lokhu kufana nokushiya “intuba” ivuliwe ukuze kuthi lapho sekugoqwa abazimbandakanya neMelika, mhlawumbe nenhlangano yezizwe imbala, bakwazi ukugaqa ngamadolo bangene.

Uma sikhuluma iqininso, impi entsha ne-Iraq isiqalile.

Singenzani thina?

Singacijisa izingqondo zethu, sifunde emlandweni. Singaqhubeka sivuthele amalangabi kubantu nemibono yabo, kuze kugcine sekubanga inhlokomo enkulu engazibeki.

Singayiphendula lempi yase-Iraq siyiguqule ibe isitsha senhlanzi Ekhombisa ukunganeliseki kwahulumeni waseMelika.

Singabadalula o-George Bush noTony Blair – kanye nabaxhumene nabo – ukuthi bangamagwala ababulala abantwana, ukuthi bafaka ushevu emanzini abantu abaphuza kuwo, nokuthi bayizinti ezingenamgogodla ezibhomba zikude.

Singakha kabusha ngezindlela ezahlukene indlela yokungalaleli singumphakathi. Ngamanye amazwi, singaqhamuka nezindlela eziyizigidi zokuthi sibe yimbumba ezobelesela.

Nxa uGeorge Bush ethi “uma ungekho ecaleni lethu, ukulelo labavukeli mbuso” singathi kuye, “Qha, siyabonga”. Singamtshela ukuthi abantu bomhlaba akudingi ukuthi bakhethe phakathi kobubi obufanayo.

Amasu kanye namacebo okuphemba ethu, akufanele kube kuphela ilawo okulwa nombuso, kodwa kumele siwuvimbe. Siwucindezele, siwuncishe umoya. Siwuveze ukukhohlakala kwawo. Siwubhuqe ngobuciko bethu, umculo, izincwadi, ngenkani, ngenjabulo, ngobuhlakani, ngokungaphezi kanye nokukwazi ukuthi siyixoxe indaba yethu. Sixoxe izindaba ezihlukile kunalezo abafuna sizikholwe.

I-corporate revolution izobhidlika uma sinqaba ukuthi sithenge lokho abakudayisayo – indlela yokwenza, ukulandisa umlando, izimpi zabo, izikhali kanye nokwenza sengathi ayikho enye indlela ngaphandle kwale abayishoyo.

Khumbulani lokhu: Thina sibaningi kunabo. Basidinga kakhulu kunalokho sibadinga bona.

Omunye umhlaba, enye indlela yokuphila, hhayi nje ukuthi ingenzeka kodwa isendleleni. Uma usuku lucwathile ngiye ngiwuzwe lomhlaba omusha ozayo uphefumula.

* U-Arundhati Roy wayeyibhalele ukukhuluma ePorto Alegre, eBrazil, ngoNhlolanja wa- 27 enyakeni wa-2003.

The Award of Hope!

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The Award of Hope!

It came as a surprise to be awarded the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Trophy at the third annual graduation ceremony for the University of Abahlali baseMjondolo. Not only was I surprised by my achievement, but I ran out of words as well. The Kennedy Road Community Hall was packed to capacity as the Master of Ceremonies cleared his voice and began the announcement that changed my life, saying, ‘The Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award goes to ………eh……this young man, who comes aaaaaall the waaaaay from …………… Zimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbabweeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ……………!’

The graduation ceremony by the University of Abahlali baseMjondolo is a rare one. It signifies how a militant poor people’s movement recognizes the skills, capabilities and talents of the poor and oppressed. It is a salutation of the achievements by the now-popular shack dwellers’ movement in the right to education and self empowerment. It is also to prove the true meaning of Abahlalism and what it entails to be an ‘Umhlali’.

When I was growing up back in Zimbabwe, little did I know that the poor and oppressed could seek recognition for themselves if not being recognized by others, could seek justice for themselves if being denied the right to justice, could seek to empower themselves if being marginalized from empowerment initiatives, or could seek to dignify themselves if denied the right to human dignity. However, for Abahlali baseMjondolo, being a shack dweller boosts some certain pride for the movement’s members. Abahlali has tried by all means to expose how shack dwellers are being oppressed, repressed, depressed, suppressed and expressed. Our movement has shown how the poor are sidelined, excluded from participating in life-changing opportunities, forced out of the cities and even presumed to be guilty without committing an offence. All the misfortune of shack dwellers saw the Zimbabwean government ‘eradicating and eliminating’ all the shacks in the country, leaving millions of people homeless. At Abahlali we always propose that shack settlements be upgraded where they are instead of being bulldozed to the ground. We always propose that grassroots urban planning must be supported and defended.

During the so-called xenophobic attacks, Abahlali was at the forefront of condemning the sad violence on our African brothers and sisters. It issued a very strong Press Statement which was widely-circulated and read. It organized countless meetings to alert the people to the danger of attacking their bothers and sisters. It organized defence. It even stopped an attack that was happening in a settlement where we have no members. I’m pleased to announce today that the attacks left me unscathed, all because of Abahlali’s caring love and protection. Had I been back home at Old Bob’s slaughtering territory during the election campaign I would be limping on crutches today. The old, reluctant dictator has tried by all means to punish innocent Zimbabweans if ever they vote for the MDC. His unity is founded on fear. S’bu Zikode, the President of Abahlali has done it the other way round, positively, he has founded a unity on hope. He has united the Xhosas with the Zulus; the Pondos with the Shangaans; the Vendas with the Sothos; the Africans with the Indian community, and those born in South Africa with those born in other countries. S’bu has made it clear that he will not tolerate any ethnic or racial divisions, thus Abahlali’s gospel is spreading like veldfires, even as far as Kimberly, uniting all tribes from all corners of South Africa. At Abahlali we have made a home for everyone, regardless whether one is a card-carrying-member of the movement or not; regardless whether one is a member of a certain political party or not; regardless whether one is a foreigner or not; and regardless whether one is a shack dweller or not. One is not born to be an Umhlali – one chooses to be an Umhlali when one accepts Abahlalism – the bottom up living politic that says everyone can think, everyone must be respected. This wonderful movement is always neutral in the face of the human being – everyone counts for one. But the movement is never neutral in the face of injustice! The spirit that S’bu’s style of leading by listening has ingested in Abahlali is much-needed in all the governments of the world!

When it comes to my award, I feel the ‘real and true’ spirit of ‘Zikodeism’ played an important role. I could tell by the expression on his face that he was elated, to say the least, when I received the unexpected award. I could also tell by the suddenness of his rush for the cameras, just to be pictured with me, never shying away from a ‘foreigner’. I could also not help imagining how Mugabe would feel to be outdone by the president of Abahlali, if ever he heard the news. During the photo shots with S’bu, I could not even think of my family back home, as I felt his fatherly and brotherly presence to receive the award on my behalf. He even forgot to hand over the neckband medal that he had received on my behalf, owing largely to his excitement, and I had to follow him to his home and remind him. Still, he was wearing it around his neck!

I also feel indebted to Fazel Khan, the Programme Co-ordinator fort the Computer part of the University of Abahlali Classes. He was all smiles during the graduation ceremony, but when it came to presenting my award, he just said, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t have told you about the award. That would be cheating’. Oh! I couldn’t stop admiring the man who had put so much effort in the progress of the computer classes. Fazel said that “Fanwell, our comrade, has been given the right to South African citizenship by Abahlali baseMjondolo’!

What more can I say? The award gave me hope that leaders like S’bu Zikode are needed worldwide; that Abahlali baseMjondolo shall become the home of all people from all walks of life; that Abahlali shall win the struggle in the ‘Land and Housing’ issues. It gave me hope that one day I could be part of a real struggle to change Zimbabwe with the experience I have gained at Abahali. For me, it was truly an award of hope for a bright Zimbabwe that is not surviving on power-sharing deals, and hope for the millions of starving Zimbabweans and my mother, including other family members too!

Prepared by: Nsingo Fanwell, Abahlali baseMjondolo Member and Activist