Durban High Court, 6 November 2008

3 November 2008
Press Statement by the Abahlali baseMjondolo Youth League

Abahlali baseMjondolo Case Against the KwaZulu-Natal Eradication and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act to be Heard in the Durban High Court on 6 and 7 November 2008

Across the country the government is chasing the poor people out of the cities. Across the country we are mobilising to defend our right to the cities.

We are in the cities for good reasons – we need work, education, clinics, libraries and more. Pay is higher and prices are lower in the cities. Therefore we need land and housing in the cities. But the government only want our votes. They do not want us in the cities. Therefore we have said ‘No Land! No House! No Vote!’

Delft Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Statement
9 October, 2008 - For Immediate Release

A few days ago, Jerome Daniels and Riedwaan Issacs were released parole after their lawyer lodged an appeal to the ruling of Magistrate Van Graan. Jerome and Riedwaan, who have been serving their sentences in Polsmoor and Goodwood prisons, where sentenced by Van Graan who argued that he needed to hold the defendants responsible even if they were not present during the incident and that he furthermore needed to "teach the Anti-Eviction Campaign a lesson".

The AEC maintains that the ruling is both politically motivated and an attempt discourage poor South Africans from participating in social movements such as the Anti-Eviction Campaign. Residents of Symphony Way have stated that "if the justice system was fair, the Magistrate would never have sentenced Jerome and Wanie in what his judgment stated was in the interest of the community. Because if you ask anyone in our community, the judgment meant that we had lost two of our most tireless community workers. This was obviously not in our interest."

Abahlali baseMjondolo has just won a major court victory against evictions. But outside the court the eThekwini Municipality is currently demolishing shacks in the Siyanda settlement. There is no court order and so, according to South African law, these demolitions are illegal and criminal acts. Media are urged to rush to the scene.

The shacks that are being demolished were built a month ago after renters in the area were left homeless when shack owners were moved to RDP houses and the renters illegally left homeless. This happens in every relocation or upgrade in Durban and in South Africa it is a completely illegal and in fact criminal act to leave someone homeless. The people who have been made homeless again today, just after being made homeless last month, will rebuild again. What else can they do? This is the cruel reality of the government's plans to eradicate shacks: give houses to shack owners and leave shack renters, the poorest of the poor, homeless and desperate.

Tuesday, 19 August 2008
LPM Protea South Press Release

The Protea South Branch of the Landless People's Movement Has Won a Breakthrough Court Order Against the City of Johannesburg

Since 2003 the Landless People's Movement in the Protea South shack settlement in Soweto has been trying, without success, to engage the City of Johannesburg around the future of the settlement. The Protea South LPM branch has clear demands:

1. There must be no evictions.

2. Every effort must be made to build houses for the people in Protea South.

3. If it is genuinely not possible to build houses for all residents in Protea South then discussions must be held to find the closest possible alternative site.

A defiantly red shack stands in Arnett Drive with Abahlali's injunction to 'Qina!'

26 August 2008

Judgment in this matter was handed down in the Durban High Court today - a total victory for Abahlali baseMjondolo. But while the court was in session the city moved against the Siyanda settlement, where Abahlali just opened a new branch last week with 50 members, illegally demolishing shacks and leaving people homeless...The struggle continues. (Click here to read the short report on the judgment in The Mercury).

Here are three comments on the government's "Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land" Amendment bill. Shortened to PIE, the bill seems to be a manifesto for landowners, and a kick in the teeth for shackdwellers. These comments are by Stuart Wilson, of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University here, Jean du Plessis of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, here, Koni Benson of the International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG) (here) and Marie Huchzermeyer of the University of the Witwatersrand (here).