http://mg.co.za/article/2012-07-19-darkness-visible-in-jacob-zumas-kingdom-by-the-sea
Darkness visible in JZ's kingdom by the sea
by Niren Tolsi
With the African National Congress beset by factionalism, is the province still 100% Jacob Zuma? Niren Tolsi investigates.
"Wherever I go I carry a gun these days," a longtime ANC member from the eThekwini region in KwaZulu-Natal said, "not because I am afraid of thugs or political opposition, but because I am afraid of my own."
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
12 July 2012
Puntan's Hill Shack Dwellers Blockade Umgeni Road
At around 3 a.m. this morning angry residents of the Puntan's Hill shack settlement blocked Umgeni Road with tyres in protest at their dissatisfaction with Cllr. Bhekisani Ngcobo. When Ngcobo was mobilising for votes he promised them that as soon as he takes office as a councillor he would electrify their shacks. The shacks have never been electrified and last week someone was killed while trying to make a self-organised connection.
Ngcobo has not kept any of his promises. The community have tried several times to talk to him but he has neglected them and ignored their demand. Once more the poor have been used as ladders by politicians. This is why they decided to block the road this morning.
27 January 2012
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
The Interim Eviction Order Against the Shallcross Occupation has been Set Aside
The interim eviction order granted by the Durban High Court to evict residents of Shallcross (Ekuphumeleleni, Inkanyezi Housing Project) was set aside this morning. The High Court has ordered the eThekwini Municipality to stop any further eviction of residents pending the 24th of February 2012 on which date this matter has to return in court. In the meantime the evicted residents have returned to their homes for the second time.
Abahlali wishes to express its disappointment at the fact that the attorneys that South African Nation Civic Organization (SANCO) has promised its members in the area since December did not pitch up in court. This was despite insistence of the SANCO leadership last night that they have lawyers which mislead the community. However Abahlali wish to thank its Legal Team – Nichols Attorneys with the support of SERI – for being able to represent the residents and for doing such a good job.
The permit for the march (a legal fiction in democratic South Africa that is a hangover from apartheid but something that the municipality illegally insists on) was denied but AbM marched anyway in defiance of this de facto ban on the march. With the COP 17 meeting coming up the police did not respond with violence and the march, of more than 3 000, proceeded peacefully in the pouring rain. The officials left the crowd standing in the rain and only came to accept the memorandum when there was a threat to occupy the City Hall.
http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/protest-march-s-graphic-image-1.1186305
Protest march’s graphic image
The rain poured down, but the spirit among Abahlali baseMjondolo Youth League members soared as they threatened to march through the Durban City Hall doors if no one from the mayor’s office came to accept their memorandum of demands.
“We’re giving them 10 minutes and then we are walking into this building,” they shouted from the stairs despite the many police officers barring the way. Continue reading