Mqapheli Bonono gave this presentation to a meeting of shop stewards in the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa in Kimberly today.
Presentation to NUMSA Shop stewards
20 August 2022
Greetings to all Comrades of the WORKING CLASS.
It is an honour and privilege for me to be sharing this platform with the people who share the same struggle as ourselves.
Brief back ground
Abahlali baseMjondolo is a mass democratic, grassroots social movement of the shack dwellers and the poor in South Africa. It is the biggest social movement of the shack dwellers to have emerged in the post-apartheid South Africa with over 105 000 members in five provinces.
The movement was formed in 2005 to fight, promote and advance the interests and dignity of the shack dwellers and the poor in South Africa. The movement campaigns for decent land and housing in our cities, but most importantly Abahlali struggles for human dignity for shack dwellers and the poor. The movement was formed as a result of being sick and tired of the lies of the politicians. A piece of land that was promised to build houses for the poor in Kennedy Road was sold to a businessman. We then blocked the busiest M19 Road access to the city of Durban. This was out of anger and frustration. We had enough of the lies. We continue live in abject poverty.
Organising in the Shadow of death
Our movement continues to face repression from the ANC. We have lost 23 leaders and activists in the fight for land, decent and dignity. We have realised that our dignity as the poor does not count in the eyes of the ANC led government. We have been accused of organising outside of the ruling party. We continue to organise the unorganised. We are killed because of our organising. The ANC is threatened by our art of organising.
We have face brutal evictions at gun point from the state police and armed forces from the eThekwini municipality. Since our movement was formed the ANC led government wanted to destroy it. We were criticised for organising the poor. We were criticised for creating our own authority. It is not easy to organise the unorganised. It is not easy to the poor and marginalised.
In 2014, a 17 year old Nqobile Nzuza from Cato – Crest was murdered in a protest by the South African police services. Her family and others were facing an eviction from the Anti Land Invasion Unit in the eThekwini Municipality. Her crime is being poor and living in shack.
Samuel Hloele was 29 when he was killed by the Anti Land Invasion Unit in Durban. We was protecting his home from being destroyed by this armed force from the municipality. He was shot from the back and killed in eKukhanyeni Informal Settlements.
Baby Jaden Khoza was only two weeks when he was killed by police teargas in the Foreman Road Informal Settlements. The police attacks residents who were protesting for electricity. When the residents ran to their homes they followed us and teargas the entire community.
Siyabonga Manqela was killed by police in Enkanini Informal Settlements. This is after police raided people’s homes and kicked doors. Just like apartheid policing.
All these comrades died in the hands of the brutal system that uses arms against the poor.
Many leaders were attack and killed by hitmen hired (Izinkabi) hired by the ANC politicians. Thuli Ndlovu, Nkululeko Gwala, Thembinkosi Qumbela, Sifiso Ngcobo, Nokuthula Mabaso, Ayanda Ngila are some of our comrades who were killed by hitman hired by the ANC. They were uncovering the corruption in the ANC.
The Importance of Solidarity between Workers and Community Struggles
Comrades we must realise that we are facing a system of Capitalism. A system that is brutal and merciless. Capitalists do not care about us. Their interest is to make profit at all costs. They continue to exploit us. We must unite, and fight against this system.
A worker is a community member before he\she goes to work. The issues of landlessness are our issues as the poor. When workers are being exploited and paid salaries that are below the bread line, it is our responsibility to support the call for a living wage for all. It is our responsibility to call for a Basic Income Grant for all the Unemployed.
When were facing attacks form the state those who were working did not see our struggle as their struggle. It is important that we define the Working Class in the Marx way. ‘It is those who sell their labour, those who do not own means of production’.
We are Working Class, We do not own means of Production. We continue to be exploited by Recruiting Agents. We are poor and marginalised. We live in shacks indignity like pigs in the mud.
Comrade this calls us to be United and realise that our struggles are the same. We are Working Class. Your Pain in the Copper belt, Engineering and in every steel industry where workers are exploited is our pain as Abahlali baseMjondolo. We have no one but ourselves.
In order for us to fight against the oppression and exploitation we must unite the struggles of the workers and those in our community. The continuous increase in food prices affect us as communities as if affects you as workers.
Today we want to assure NUMSA our solidarity. NUMSA has been there when we are killed by the ANC. That for us is Solidarity in practice.
Amandla!!