14 August 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Abahlali in solidarity with the people of Morocco and Libya

A devastating earthquake has taken just under 3 000 lives in Morocco. We would like to send our condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones during this catastrophic event, as well as all the people who have lost their homes and livelihoods.

As happens with every disaster the majority of those who lost their lives in the earthquake are the poor who live in houses that are not built as strong structures because they do not have money and are abandoned by the state. In Morocco as in South Africa, and around the whole world, the poor continue to suffer as a result of impoverishment and being abandoned because we are not considered as full and equal human beings. Every disaster hits the poor harder, and as climate change escalates it will be the poor who will suffer the most.In Libya a devastating flood has taken more than 8 000 lives. The death toll is expected to continue to rise in the coming days. In all African countries the rich continue to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor. The poor and working class are the ones that build these cities but are left to die like flies. The life of the poor does not count at all in a government that is only interested in profit maximisation, whether via capitalist means or political and government corruption

We are angry when the poor and working class perish in the manner in which the people in Morocco and Libya have been killed by the earthquake and the flood.

If the people of Morocco are not killed by the brutal state under the dictatorship of the monarchy, they are left to die in the same conditions that we live under in South Africa. We send our deepest solidarity to the Moroccan people. We also send our solidarity to our brave comrades in the Democratic Way who are always in solidarity with us when we face repression.

The pain of the people of Morocco and Libya, is the pain of more than 120 000 members of Abahlali baseMjondolo. We are in solidarity with the oppressed from Palestine to the Democratic Republic of Congo to the ghettos and prisons of the United States. Capitalism strangles life and humanity across the planet and the struggles of the people stand up for life and dignity, for humanity, across the planet.

Our hearts and souls are with you in these difficult times.

Kunzima. Sidabukile. Kodwa thina simunye.

Thapelo Mohapi: 084 576 5117
Mqapheli Bonono: 073 067 3274
Bathabile Makhoba: 081 360 2461