Thursday, 15 October 2009
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

The Kennedy Eight are now the Kennedy Thirteen

There have been five more arrests. The Kennedy Eight are now the Kennedy Thirteen.

None of the people that launched the attack on us in the Kennedy Road settlement have been arrested.

None of the people that have systematically destroyed the houses of the entire Kennedy Road Development Committee and all of the Kennedy Road Abahlali baseMjondolo members who hold office in our movement have been arrested.

None of the people who have banned our movement from the Kennedy Road settlement on the pain of violent expulsion from the settlement or death have been arrested.

http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5201423

The Kennedy Road killings are akin to Stalinism and a threat to democracy

October 14, 2009 Edition 1

Martin Legassick and Mzonke Poni

ON September 26 at 11.30pm, a group of 30 to 40 men wielding pangas, sticks and guns surrounded the community hall in Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban.

Kennedy Road is the original home of Abahlali baseMjondolo (ABM), a social movement of shackdwellers which has active branches in 34 Durban settlements and 54 nationally, with about 20 000 members. ABM is respected internationally and throughout South Africa by civil society organisations for its participatory democratic and non-violent procedures.

http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=29358

ANC's shameful cover-up
14 Oct 2009

Jared Sacks

I CAME to Durban from Cape Town a few days ago to meet up with the management of the Clare Estate Drop-in Centre (Cedic). The Cedic is a community-run organisation which operated in Kennedy Road by supporting hundreds of orphaned and other vulnerable children. However, after the recent attacks, the Cedic was ransacked, forced to close, and many of its staff members were run out of the community.

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-10-11-kennedy-olive-branch-a-sham

Kennedy olive branch a sham
NIREN TOLSI | DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - Oct 11 2009 06:00

The hatchet job on Durban's Kennedy Road informal settlement continued this week with an alleged "healing process" by the KwaZulu-Natal government.

Its stated purpose was to effect reconciliation in Kennedy Road, home to about 7000 people, after last week's violence that left two confirmed deaths, displaced several hundred and destroyed the homes of Abahlali baseMjondolo (ABM) president Sbu Zikode and other ABM members, who were forced into hiding.

Statement in support of Abahlali baseMjondolo

9 October 2009

The South African shack-dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) is an egalitarian, democratic organisation dedicated to the self-empowerment and self-education of thousands of disadvantaged people. We the undersigned support the resolve of AbM activists to play a leading part in the determination of their own future, and to help make, rather than suffer, public decisions about housing, land, and development. We condemn all acts of violence and intimidation against AbM members and the residents of South Africa's informal settlements. We condemn any participation or collusion of the government and police in the recent assault against AbM leaders and their families, and in the destruction of their homes and offices. We call on the government to do all that is required to repair the damage done in recent weeks, and to protect AbM activists and settlement residents from any future violence; we note in particular the repeated death threats against AbM President S'bu Zikode and Vice President Mashumi Figlan. We call on the ANC to respect and facilitate, rather than discourage, popular participation in the governing of South Africa.

Sunday 10:30 a.m. 11 October
Emergency Press Release

The ANC Attack on AbM Continues in Kennedy Road

The ANC is currently holding a meeting in the Kennedy Road Community Hall.

The meeting was called by Ma Mjoli who is from the Foreman Road settlement and is the secretary of the BEC of the ANC in Ward 25. There are also big men from the ANC there in their fancy cars.

A decision has been taken to demolish two more shacks after the meeting. These shacks both belong to AbM members - they are both women. The decision has been justified on the grounds that:

1. They are known AbM activists.

Durban Magistrate's Court Thursday 9 October 2009

In solidarity with Abahlalibase Mjondolo (AbM) 1

Dear Friends, Foes and all those in between,

Before May 2008, we only knew of Abahlalibase Mjondolo. (AbM), then in May 2008, we met members of AbahalalibaseMjondolo, at the Kennedy Road Settlement. Each one spoke, expressing in various ways the meaning of emancipatory politics; and then, the next day, we met again with S’bu Zikode, the President of AbM.

After he described the situation in which they were living, we asked what was the way out. “Healing” he responded.

Given the coordinated attacks against the Kennedy Road Settlement of the AbM, given the silence from the authorities, given what the AbM have gone through before. Questions arise. These are questions, not affirmations, not speculation, not insinuations.

CONTRIBUTION TO A PANEL DISCUSSION ON JOHN DUGARD’S
LEGACY TO HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISM AND LITIGATION

Stuart Wilson
Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Wits Law School

I would like to talk, in the time allotted to me, about Abahlali baseMjondolo, a movement of informal settlers in KwaZulu Natal I represented while I worked at CALS, which has recently been violently repressed by the state under the guise of a police operation to tackle vigilantism. John Dugard was the first to sign a statement condemning the repression for what it was – a remorseless attack on a peaceful and democratic community based organisation.

Click here to see some pictures from this protest and here to see video footage of the protest.

http://picturethehomeless.org/blog/southafricarally

Picture the Homeless, the Poverty Initiative, and Domestic Workers United invite you to rally to Support Abahlali basemjondolo, the Shack Dwellers Movement under Attack in Durban, South Africa