GroundUp: Massive land occupation in Khayelitsha

GroundUp, 19 May 2017

By

A massive land occupation is underway in Town Two, Khayelitsha, near the Magistrates’ Court with hundreds of sites demarcated on the land. If the occupiers are successful, thousands of people will live on the privately owned land.

The occupiers are backyarders from Town Two who say they are tired of renting and living with their parents, while an enormous piece of land stands empty. All the occupiers that GroundUp spoke to said the land had stood unoccupied since they were children.

“I’m a 42-year-old and I am living in my mother’s house,” said Thuliswa January Tshofela.

“We are sick and tired of backyards and renting,” said Liwa Mdleleni. Continue reading →

GroundUp: Massive land occupation in Khayelitsha

GroundUp

Massive land occupation in Khayelitsha

Residents say the land has stood unoccupied for decades

Photo of land occupiers erecting shacks
Residents start to build houses on land in Town 2, Khayelitsha. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
By

 

A massive land occupation is underway in Town Two, Khayelitsha, near the Magistrates’ Court with hundreds of sites demarcated on the land. If the occupiers are successful, thousands of people will live on the privately owned land.

The occupiers are backyarders from Town Two who say they are tired of renting and living with their parents, while an enormous piece of land stands empty. All the occupiers that GroundUp spoke to said the land had stood unoccupied since they were children.

Continue reading →

Sunday Tribune: Building a left alliance remains critical – and challenging

Building a left alliance remains critical – and challenging, writes Imraan Buccus, Sunday Tribune 

YET again we have had a tumultuous political week. May Day in 2017 turned out to be the most significant May Day in South African history since 1986.

Firstly, Numsa, and its new federation, Saftu, celebrated the day in Durban with a march from Curries Fountain, where Cosatu was launched in 1985.

For the new federation to decide to show its strength in Durban, the heartland of Jacob Zuma’s remaining support, was a bold and important act. Continue reading →

The Future of the Left – South Africa in a Global Context

 

 
The Future of the Left – South Africa in a Global Context
 

08 June 2017

 
18h00 – 18h10 Welcome: Derek Buchler
18h10 – 18h20  

Introductory Remarks: Noel Solani

 
18h20 – 18h45  

Keynote Panel:  Setting the scene: What is the Left? Brief overview of the crises of socialism from the late 20th century and the challenges for the Left

Panel: Panelist TBC, Joel Netshitenzhe and Jeremy Cronin (TBC)

Chair: John Pampallis

 
18h45 – 19h00  

“Mzala’s views and their applicability in contemporary South Africa” – Percy Ngonyama

 


Continue reading →

Attachments


The Future of the Left - Final Programme

Stop massacre, exploitation and oppression in DR Congo

03 Mai 2017

CONGOLESE SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN MOVEMENT PRESS STATEMENT

Stop massacre, exploitation and oppression in DR Congo

On the 04th May 2017 the Congolese Solidarity Campaign will organize a protesting picketing. It will take place outside the Durban International Convention Center hall. The event will start at 09:00 am and continue till 12:00 pm.

Since 1997, The Democratic Republic of Congo endured bloodshed and brutal, political and economical repression from its government. Congolese people’s lives remain in a permanent insecurity. Governments in these African countries were involved in causing instability in our country: Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Sudan.

Continue reading →

UnFreedom Day 2017: The poorest of the poor will gather once again

21 April 2017

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

UnFreedom Day 2017: The poorest of the poor will gather once again

On the 23rd April 2017 the movement of Abahlali baseMjondolo will once again convene its annual Unfreedom Day event. It will take place at the Springfield Sports Grounds at eThekwini FET College. It will commence at 09:00 and run until 15:00.

While the rest of the country celebrates 23 years of “Freedom” we the impoverished, the marginalised and the oppressed will be mourning the absence of this freedom that our mothers and fathers fought for so hard. We say that as long as we are still landless, homeless and impoverished we cannot say we are free. As long as we are subjected to floods and shack fires we cannot say that we are free. As long we are not recognised as human beings and for as long as our lives do not matter to the politicians and the government we cannot say that we are free. As long as we are divided by politicians who say that those who are born in the Eastern Cape and those who are born in other countries must ‘go back where they came from’ we cannot say that we are free. As long as we face assault and eviction when we occupy land and arrest, assault, torture, imprisonment and assassination when we organise independently we cannot say that we are free. Continue reading →

The eThekwini Municipality continues to demolish people’s houses illegally

19 April 2017

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

The eThekwini Municipality continues to demolish people’s houses illegally

The illegal demolishing of people’s houses still continues in the eThekwini Municipality. As we speak people in Marianridge are destitute and have nowhere to live after the eThekwini Municipality illegally demolished the homes in which they had lived for more than three years.

When the community members asked the security guards for an order from the court they were met with rubber bullets. Some were physically attacked by the officers. A seven months pregnant woman whose home was demolished was severely beaten by security guards. She is currently in hospital. When the leadership of the movement arrived at the place the security guards were still there and continued to demolish the houses. It was clear that people were still living in these houses. The houses that were demolished had beds and fridges and so on. Continue reading →

Sowetan: Police investigating Durban ‘vigilante group’

Police investigating Durban ‘vigilante group’

By Bongani Mthethwa, The Sowetan, 18 April 2007

Police have launched an investigation into a recently formed “vigilante group” in Inanda‚ north of Durban‚ which a shack dwellers’ movement claim is armed with dangerous weapons.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokeswoman Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said on Tuesday that the police had no knowledge of the “militia” operating in the area‚ and confirmed the investigation. This comes after the Abahlali baseMjondolo shack dweller movement raised concerns over the group‚ which it claimed was established to intimidate their members.

Mbhele acknowledged the existence of the group‚ known as “Qina Mhlali”‚ but said they were not authorised to “carry dangerous weapons as well unlicensed firearms”. Continue reading →

Two ANC Ward Councillors Have Launched a Local Militia in Durban

13 April 2017

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Two ANC Ward Councillors Have Launched a Local Militia in Durban

In our previous statement we reported that our members are facing serious intimidation and harassment from ANC councillors, and their committees, in a number of wards in Durban. This included the shooting of the husband of one of our members in Bhambayi, in Ward 52, on the 26th of March 2017.

On Saturday the 08th April 2017 two ANC Ward Councillors from Wards 52 and 57 officially launched an armed vigilante group known as ‘Qina Mhlali’, a well known slogan from our movement. Witnesses say that the group was mainly made up of men armed with all sorts of weapons. These weapons included spears, bush knives, pangas and guns.

Continue reading →