Four Housing Activists Were Killed in South Africa: Protests in Budapest, London, New York & Chicago

http://avarosmindenkie.blog.hu/2014/11/27/four_housing_activists_were_killed_in_south_africa_protests_in_budapest_london_new_york_and_chicago

The City is for All Hungarian activists group (AVM) protested with a petition against the killing of four housing activists in front of the South African Embassy, on the 24th of November, 2014. The assassinations raised global attention, and last week a series of solidarity actions took place in Chicago, London, and New York to pay tribute to the victims.

AVM thinks it is unacceptable that the South African government responds with the most extreme suppression to citizens exercising their fundamental political rights. The Group demands that the South African Government investigate the assassinations of the activists through a formal investigation procedure, and that they provide secure conditions for social and political participation. Continue reading →

Daily Maverick: Life after Marikana

Stuart Wilson, The Daily Maverick

First the facts. In August 2012, a group of Rock Drill Operators, dissatisfied with their wages, and with the representation available from either of the labour unions with a presence at the Lonmin Marikana Shaft, embarked upon an unprotected strike to push Lonmin for higher wages. The strike, and its attendant protest, soon gained widespread support, and incited a violent response – both from union officials and the police. In the days before 16 August 2012, the striking miners, union officials, Lonmin security guards, and the police themselves, all took a small number of casualties. The striking miners – about 3,000 of them – retreated to the top of a small rocky outcrop just outside the Lonmin shaft compound. There they stayed for four days, demanding that Lonmin management come and address them on their demands. Continue reading →

The Con: Political Assassinations in South Africa

http://www.theconmag.co.za/2014/11/17/political-killings-in-sa/

Political assassinations appear to be on the increase in post-apartheid South Africa – especially in more recent years – with researcher David Bruce suggesting as many as 450 people have been killed since the advent of democracy.

Intra-party violence has increased in KwaZulu-Natal since the Inkatha Freedom Party’s splintering of the National Freedom Party. Inter-party violence, especially within the ANC, has also seen a spike to mirror the increased competition for resources, tenders and government positions.

The multiple shooting of Seskhona People’s Rights Movement leader Andile Lili in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township last week appears part of a broader assault on grass-roots activists. Lili is still recovering in hospital but several other activists working in the socio-economic rights sphere in poor communities have not been as lucky to survive.

Shackdweller movement Abahlali basMjondolo has long claimed that several of their leaders and activists have been assassinated in contested occupied areas and informal settlements in KwaZulu-Natal. In this essay below, David Bruce examines this phenomenon that raises worrying questions about the nefarious, authoritarian instincts that appear to be developing within government.
Continue reading →