According to police, the Land Invasion Unit had been demolishing shacks at the Mansenseni Informal Settlement yesterday when community members tried to stop them. Continue reading
Tuesday, 13 June 2017
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
One death and several injuries in Marianhill, three arrests in Kranskop
Today we came under serious attack from the Land Invasions Unit in eMansenseni in Marianhill. One person is confirmed dead, two are in a critical condition in hospital and a number of others are injured – all shot in the back. It was a war zone. The Land Invasions Unit didn’t talk to anyone. They just fired live ammunition. The intention was clearly to kill, to teach a lesson.
There was also an eviction in Kranskop resulting in three arrests. Continue reading
Safura Abdool Karim, GroundUp
On 8 June 2017, the Constitutional Court handed down a judgment, which clarifies the role of judges in eviction proceedings and is a victory for unrepresented people facing eviction.
The case involved almost 200 people who are occupying a property in Berea and who were subject to an eviction order made in 2013. The occupiers, represented by the Socio-economic Rights Institute, appealed against an eviction order granted by the High Court in Johannesburg. The Constitutional Court then heard the appeal earlier this year. Continue reading
The Restoration of our Human Dignity is not Negotiable
Talk given by S’bu Zikode at the Mzala Nxumalo Centre conference on ‘The Future of the Left, South Africa in a Global Context’, 10 June 2017
I would like to thank the Mzala Nxumalo Centre for inviting us to speak at this conference. I only received this invitation because of the movement that I am part of so I would also like to thank Abahlali baseMjondolo for entrusting me with this responsibility to represent our views.
Abahlali baseMjondolo has about thirty five thousands members in 38 branches in KZN, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng. In July this year we will be launching our first branch in Mpumalanga province, in Vukuzakhe Township. Our members are fundamentally committed to the struggle for land, housing and dignity. We have occupied and held land across this city. Some of our members have been arrested, assaulted, slandered, tortured and murdered in the this struggle. Continue reading
Bernadette Wolhuter, The Mercury
Durban – Two fires claimed the lives of five children – all under the age of 7 – in Durban, early on Sunday morning.
In both incidents, it’s believed the children were left unattended by their parents.
In Fannin Road in Wyebank, in the outer West of of the city, 6-year-old twin girls Snegugu and Snenhlanhla Mtolo and their 3-year-old sister – Esihle – were killed when the shack they were sleeping in caught alight at around 2am. Continue reading
Richard Pithouse, Mail & Guardian
On May 11, Karabo Mokoena’s body, burnt and mutilated, was found in a ditch, discarded along with the ordinary detritus of our lives, in Lyndhurst, Johannesburg. Her name took a very public place, along with Anene Booysen, Reeva Steenkamp, Nokuphile Khumalo, Rachel Tshabalala, Nosipho Mandleleni and so many others, in the grim record of what our society does to women. Continue reading
On Monday 22 May, the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) and the Red Ant Security Relocation and Eviction Services (commonly referred to as the Red Ants) arrived to demolish a few hundred new homes erected on a piece of land dividing Ward 133 of Ivory Park and Tembisa townships.
“Everyone does something to try to make a living but we are pleading for people to assist us with food and warm clothing until we manage to get back on our feet,” By Ihsaan Haffejee for GROUNDUP.
First published on GroundUp
A lack of basic necessities, including food and medicine, is hampering the efforts of the Bekezela community as they attempt to rebuild their homes and lives after being evicted on Friday morning. The eviction was initiated by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and executed by the Red Ant Security Relocation and Eviction Services (Red Ants). A high court order was subsequently obtained allowing the residents to return but the damage had already been done. Continue reading
This article by Imraan Buccus was published in The Mercury and the Sunday Independent.
A REVOLUTION seems to be building in South Africa.
As inequality and developmental deficits persist, South Africans are standing up and demanding social justice. The “rebellion of the poor” has most often emerged from the informal settlement. But since the beginning of regular protests from informal settlements, protests have also spread to the mines and to university campuses.
But the informal settlements have been more or less constant sites of struggle. There is no doubt that shack-dwellers have often been given the short end of the stick in their attempt to carve out an existence on the fringes of the cities. Despite this, one often hears middle-class citizens talking about how frustrated they are “with these people constantly protesting”. The poor are often spoken about in truly derogatory ways. The middle-class often express prejudices that sound like they come straight from the colonial script. Continue reading
3 June 2017
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Comrade Nompilo has Just Been Arrested
This morning Baby Jayden Khoza, killed during a police attack on the Foreman Road settlement, was buried in Inanda.
Now Comrade Nompilo has been arrested at a new land occupation in Mayville. The movement is currently mobilising to secure her safety and release.
The struggle goes on.
Land. Housing. Dignity.
For more information contact Comrade Zondi on 078 340 9972