17 May 2021
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

‘This stinks to high heaven’.

It is with great disappointment that we report that state was successful in its application to postpone the hearing of the bail application for Mqapheli Bonono, Siniko Miya and Maphiwe Gasela that was set down for today. The state’s request was based and granted on the prosecutor’s statements that (1) the Investigating Officer was not available as he was testifying in another matter in High Court and that (2) the affidavit that she has from the investigating officer was, in her words, ‘not to my liking’. The bail hearing was adjoined to 9:30 on Thursday, 20 May 2021.  Continue reading →

UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF COMRADE GEORGE BONONO AND SINKO.

The Tanzania  Socialist Forum (TASOFO)  stands in solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo, whose Deputy President, comrade George Mqapheli Bonono was arrested on the 4th of May for fraudulent charges.

The forum is deeply concerned with the ongoing persecution of our comrades and the movement at large.  AbM has been a progressive movement for more than ten years, providing an alternative to Shack Dwellers as they organize to improve their living conditions.  To the downtrodden of  South Africa,  the movement has been nothing but a beacon of hope after being condemned to undignified life by the historical injustices of Apartheid.   Continue reading →

On Tuesday, 4 May 2021, Abahlali baseMjondolo deputy president Mqapheli Bonono and Abahlali member and eKhenana resident Siniko Miya were arrested and charged with ‘conspiracy to commit murder’. These charges stem from witness statements made in relation to a recent meeting with the residents of eKhenana about a murder that took place in Cato Manor in March. The meeting was chaired by Bonono and attended by other senior leaders of Abahlali. Bonono and Miya appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on 6 May for a bail hearing, but the Prosecutor asked for the police to be given more time to gather evidence. A bail hearing was then set for 13 May. Continue reading →

15 May 2021

A statement of solidarity with Mqapheli Bonono and Abahlali baseMjondolo

It has been a great honour for me to journey with Abahlali baseMjondolo over the last fifteen years. The movement’s insistence on the imperative to recognise the full and equal dignity of every human person has been an inspiration that renews my own commitments to justice.

The movement has grown in reach, influence and stature in a way that no one could have imagined when it began, in 2005, in the dilapidated hall in the Kennedy Road settlement in Clare Estate in Durban. Today it has branches in five provinces and strong connections with emancipatory movements around the world. Continue reading →

Thursday, 13 May 2021
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

The Repression Machine Continues to Grind

Today our movement was at the Magistrates Court in Durban to demand the immediate release of Mqapheli Bonono and Siniko Miya, the dropping of all charges against Bonono, Miya and Maphiwe Gasa and an end to political repression. There were solidarity protests at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, the Magistrates Court in Tembisa, the Magistrates Court in Cape Town and the South African Embassy in London.  Continue reading →

Wednesday, 12 May 2021
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

The Attack on our Movement Continues – More charges, Bonono & others in court tomorrow

Another comrade appeared in court today on trumped up charges of conspiracy to murder, another comrade has been charged with the same offence and there has been more violence and armed intimidation at the eKhenena Occupation.

In the early years of our movement Shamitha Naidoo and Louisa Motha led a brave struggle against the notorious thug Ricky Govender in Motala Heights in Pinetown. Govender, who was widely referred to as a gangster and claimed to have a personal connection to Jacob Zuma, was illegally and violently evicting poor people from their homes to build houses for middle class people. He was commodifying land for private profit. He repeatedly acted in a wide variety of illegal ways with complete impunity. The police answered to him, and not to the law. Continue reading →

NUMSA DEMANDS THE UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF MQAPHELI BONONO
12 May 2021

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) condemns in the strongest terms the arrest of Mqapheli Bonono the deputy president of Abahlali baseMjondolo (ABM), Bonono. On Tuesday 4 May he was arrested on an entirely trumped up charge of ‘conspiracy to murder’. This is clearly an attempt by the governing party to discredit and delegitimize the ABM. It is not a secret that the ABM is a thorn in the side of the ANC government for their independence, and also, their refusal to compromise on the demand for land, housing and dignity. The arrest of Bonono is the latest examples of the relentless attack which this government has unleased on the organization and its members. We align ourselves with the statement issued by the SRWP that “This is a straightforward attempt by the ruling party to misuse the state to attack and delegitimize a highly effective socialist militant organization, with outrageous accusations of criminality.”  Continue reading →

12 May 2021
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

The Blood of the Palestinians is our Blood

Our struggle is rooted in the principle that the recognition of our full and equal humanity is non-negotiable. We also insist that this principle is applied to all people everywhere. There can be no group of people whose humanity is denied.

As everyone knows a shared experience of colonial dispossession and oppression – and of apartheid – means that most South Africans have a deep understanding and concern for the suffering and struggle of the Palestinian people.  Continue reading →