This is the text of a talk given by Mqapheli Bonono to an audience of Canadian students on Thursday last week.

Thursday, 05 October 2023

The right to decent housing in South Africa

Thank you, programme director, for this wonderful opportunity to share Abahlali’s perspective on this important topic of the right to decent housing in South Africa. Greeting to students and all participants.

According to the official statistics, there are about 2700 informal settlements in South Africa. We are also told that about 12 000 people live in substandard housing conditions. Clearly there is a high rate of homelessness in our country. Continue reading →

4 October 2023
Abahlali Youth League Press Statement

Youth paving the path to a just and equal society for all humankind

The 4th of October marks the day of the establishment of the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement, AbM in short. In 2005 the movement was established because the impoverished, the marginalised and the shack dwellers of South Africa were continuously rejected or left out by the system that had promised to be democratic and free to every citizen of South Africa.

The movement was formed in the Kennedy Road settlement, and other settlements in ward 25 in Durban, by young people who were tired of the inhumane conditions that they had to go through every day, were facing evictions and were deprived of their rights to political freedom. Since the establishment of the movement 25 lives have been lost during the course of the struggle for land, housing and dignity. Amongst the 25 there are young people who were so determined to change the oppression faced by the shack dwellers. As the Youth League of the movement we continue to salute and honour every soul who dedicated their lives to struggling for an equal society in which the dignity of all people is respected. Continue reading →

21 September 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Abahlali welcomes the SAHRC report on the water crisis in KwaZulu-Natal

Earlier this year the South African Human Rights Commission conducted an inquiry into the water crisis in the municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. The inquiry has found that the municipalities have violated people’s rights by not providing clean water for the residents of KwaZulu-Natal.

Many richer people do not know how difficult it is to walk kilometres to get access to water which is a basic necessity. It is a feeling that everyone experiences daily in the shack settlements and rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal. This is not the life that South Africans should be living 30 years after apartheid. Continue reading →

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. Continue reading →

S’bu Zikode’s speech at the Built Environment Climate Change Indaba earlier today

1 September 2023

Democratisation of the built environment

Programmer director, Minister Khuzeni, MEC Nkosi, Mayor of eThekwini, Cllr Kaunda, President of SALGA, Mama Mtshali, CEO of CBE, academia, officials and civil society formations, Abahlali baseMjondolo delegates, ladies and gentlemen. I wish to thank CBE for inviting Abahlali to participate in this important discussion on the built environment and climate change.
In most cases impoverished communities are not invited to participate in spaces that discuss their future and we welcome this invitation to contribute to this meeting. Continue reading →

31 August 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Our deepest solidarity with the victims of the fire in Johannesburg

The news that at least 73 people have died in the terrible fire in downtown Johannesburg has left all people of good conscience reeling in pain. Just as with the Grenfell Tower Fire in London in 2017 that took 72 lives, and just like the shack fires that tear through our communities year after year, this fire is a direct result of the contempt for the lives of the poor by politicians and the state.

Last Sunday five children died in a shack fire in the Itireleng shack settlement in Pretoria. Shack fires are relentless. We are left to burn year after year. In South Africa to be poor is to live with the constant risk of fire. Continue reading →

18 August 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

We will honour our fallen leaders on Sunday

This Sunday, 20 August, we will be marking a year since the assassination of Lindokuhle Mnguni, chairperson of the eKhenana Commune.

The Commune has lost three of its leaders through assassinations. Nokuthula Mabaso and Ayanda Ngila were assassinated in March and May last year respectively. In March, shortly after the assassination of Ayanda Ngila, masked police officers conducted an illegal raid in the nearby eNkanini occupation and murdered Siyabonga Manqele. Continue reading →

11 August 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Solidarity with the Socialist Party of Zambia

The repressive regimes across Southern Africa are highly intolerant of independent progressive organisation. There is sustained repression in countries like South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe including arrest, torture and murder.

When the notoriously authoritarian Edgar Lungu was voted out of office in Zambia in 2021 there was hope that the new President, Hakainde Hichilema, would allow space for political freedom. Continue reading →

08 August 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo Women’s League Statement

Tomorrow We Will Celebrate Women’s Day

Tomorrow we celebrate Women’s Day, which is held on the anniversary of the women’s march in 1956 when 20 000 women marched against the pass laws. The march was also about the wider issues of patriarchy, racism and classism. The women who led the march were Hellen Joseph, Lilian Ngoyi, Albertina Sisulu and Sophia Williams De Bruyn and we honour them each year. We also remember and honour the women who were at the forefront of the riots in Cato Manor in 1959, including Dorothy Nyembe and Florence Mkhize. Women living in shacks played a major role in the struggle against apartheid and continue to play a major role in today’s struggles. Continue reading →

3 August 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement

Statement on the Police Killing of Karabo Chaka

On Monday 31 July, a road blockade – the strike of the poor – was organised by residents of the Slovo Park settlement in the south of Johannesburg to demand that the City keep its promises, and adhere to its legal obligations. The protestors blocked the N12 highway for more than six hours. The police responded with violence, taking the life of Karabo Chaka (16).

Karabo Chaka was shot dead by the police while in the yard of his family home in the Slovo Park. We would like to express our deepest condolences to his family and all who knew and loved him. We would also like to express our solidarity with the Slovo Park community. Continue reading →