Speech by Thembani Ngongoma in Rome

Click here to listen to the audio file of the speech by Thembani Ngongoma.

Talk by Thembani Ngongoma at the Press Conference to Launch the Abahlali baseMjondolo Social Tour to Italy in Rome, May 2010

These are rough notes from the audio file – not an exact transcript

In Abahlali there is no “I”, there is only “we” – and I am not going to say my position in Abahlali because that is not important. With Abahlali what matters most is what you neighbour is doing with you. We come from South Africa, in the province of KZN, and a city known as Durban – specifically Siyanda, an informal settlement.

My lovely SA, which has a beautiful constitution that is admired by the world. Most surprisingly, take it from me, with such a beautiful constitution – the highest law of the land – most of the poor people still have to fight for their rights. Why is it like that?

It seems that everywhere, government officials behave in the very same way – as if they landed from outer space and they don’t know the circumstances that the people live in. They pretend they don’t know poverty when they turn away at people’s struggle, they pretend that they know what poverty is when they sit in their offices alone deciding for the people, instead of engaging them.

What amazes me is that the very same people that vote them into power are the very same people that suffer under their leadership – and I don’t know why it is like that. I am supposed to be happy but I am not happy at all . The reason I should be happy is that the FIFA World Cup is coming to my country South Africa, Africa. But I cannot be happy, I cannot be happy because it excludes the majority of the poor people. If we must talk more about the World Cup, we can make the time to talk about that.

I want to go deeper into what Abahlali is and what they stand for. Abahlali are a social movement for the poor, by the poor people. Most of the members live in informal settlements. A thing that amazes me is that, immediately after the attacks in Kennedy Road last year, which were meant to obliterate our movement, we have been joined by poor people living in the flats in the inner city. So instead of collapsing, the organisation is growing bigger. We must share with you why? I can safely tell you it is because we stand for the reality, we stand for the truth.

We are an organisation that is fighting for social justice. Yes, our country was politically emancipated, but let me tell you, that political liberation was much easier than the fight for social justice in our country. We are fighting the biggest battle – that our government has a meaningful engagement with us, the poor people, the voters. Instead of the government authorities deciding for the people, the people must decide for themselves – the people are the ones who know, and they need to decide what they want and how they want to be treated. We want to be true citizens. At this time, the freedom we have in SA is one-sided. We want to be in charge of our own affairs. We know that this comes with responsibility. We want to be decision-makers and partners with government – not just treated as subjects of the government.

And that is what Abahlali would like to see across the world. We have realised that there is the same problem that is happening globally – not only in South Africa.

We have organised ourselves as the poor peoples movement and it is now beginning to bear fruit. But I can warn you – it is not easy! It comes with blood, tears, and casualties. But that also is unavoidable – it is the only way out of the situation that we are in.

Maybe Brother Filippo has shared with you about how AbM was formed – but let me tell you a few things as well. Can you imagine when the very same people you trusted, the very same people you put into power for you, betray you? Kennedy Road was like any other settlement in SA. One day there was a meeting where the authorities promised residents that they have found land where there will be houses built for the people. And that land was just nearby – across the road. After that meeting, everyone went home smiling, happy that at last something is happening for them. After a week or so, they saw the big tractors to dig the land – and they became excited. They went out of their shacks to see, and began to ask the driver of the tractor some questions. To their disappointment, the work was not for them. The answer was that the land was being prepared for a company that will make bricks, not for housing for the people. How can you work with people who cannot maintain any trust? The people took to the streets, blockaded Umgeni Road – and then the police came in. They did not come just to smile and kiss the people! They tear-gassed, sjambokked and arrested them. And that is why I have said before – the people of SA must not think that things have changed from the time when the apartheid police abused the people before 1994.

When government people make promises, the police are not called in. But when [at this point Thembani apologises for becoming emotional and has to pause in his address] when the time comes when they fail to deliver what they promised, and we march to their offices to ask why they have failed, then they bring the police, and then the police become the buffer zone between the promise and the ones who were promised. They are there in an attempt to prevent giving answers to the people.

And after the people of Kennedy Road were brutalised in this way, they went back to the drawing board and decided what they should do for themselves. They had an idea that they should organise because nobody was willing to assist – they realised that they were on their own. And this is how it is – if you don’t have money, if you don’t have a posh vehicle, and nice big house, nobody will listen to you. And that is why Abahlali was formed as a social movement – to address directly their own issues, in their own settlements, and in their own way.

Perhaps you will think we are asking for mansions to be built for us? – it’s not like that! They are only asking for basic services, adequate houses, safe water, basic health services etc – and mind you, it is all there in the Constitution! Most of Abahlali membership face evictions – in the flats and in the settlements – but the Constitution states clearly that there must be meaningful engagement before any such a thing happens. That is the reason we took government to Constitutional Court to challenge the Slums Act. What is amazing is that this case went through 2 courts – first, the High Court in Durban, where we lost our case, and then the Constitutional Court, where we got a ruling in favour of the poor people. Why did we fail in High Court? – because anything to do with this social movement always has political interference – even in the courts of justice. That is the kind of struggle we are facing in everyday lives in South Africa, and that is why I say I am supposed to be happy the World Cup is coming but I am not.

I am also urging everyone who sees the need for social justice to organise – we have a lot to share. Being in a social movement is like being in a war – you have a lot of battles to fight, you win some and you lose some – you only pray that the number of battles you lose equals the number you win. I can say with confidence- we are here to share with the poor people of Italy our victories, but also our failures because we learn from them.

That is all I can say for now – thank you.