4 December 2012
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Abahlali baseMjondolo Takes the Minister of Police to Court to Account for Police Repression in Durban

On the 12th of September 2006 S'bu Zikode and Philani Zungu, then the chairperson and deputy chairperson of Abahlali baseMjondolo, were arrested on their way to a radio interview and subject to severe assault in the Sydenham Police Station. When people in the nearby Kennedy Road shack settlement rallied in support of Zikode and Zungu they were attacked by the police and Nondumiso Mke was shot in her knee with live ammunition. The arrest and assault from police at the hands of the police was highly politicised and followed intimidation from senior politicians that including a warning that the movement must stop its communication with the media. For background to this see the statement online at http://abahlali.org/node/72

Dark corners of the state we're in

Padkos from the Church Land Programme

Just after the attacks on Kennedy Road in 2009, S'bu Zikode, then President of the shack-dwellers' movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo said:

"This attack is an attempt to suppress the voice that has emerged from the dark corners of our country. That voice is the voice of ordinary poor people. This attack is an attempt to terrorise that voice back into the dark corners. It is an attempt to turn the frustration and anger of the poor onto the poor so that we will miss the real enemy....Our crime is a simple one. We are guilty of giving the poor the courage to organise the poor. We are guilty of trying to give ourselves human values. We are guilty of expressing our views. Those in power are determined not to take instruction from the poor. They are determined that the people shall not govern. What prospects are there for the rest of the country if the invasion of Kennedy Road is overlooked? ... Our message to the movements, the academics, the churches and the human rights groups is this: We are calling for close and careful scrutiny into the nature of democracy in South Africa" (29th September 2009).

Memorandum from Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement South Africa

DATE: 5 November 2011
RE: Call for the immediate removal of Nigel Gumede as Chairperson of the Housing Portfolio Committee and Infrastructure for eThekwini Municipality

March to Demand the Resignation of Nigel Gumede & the Right to Know - 5 November 2011

Today, Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) is marching to urgently call for the immediate removal of Nigel Gumede as Chairperson of the Housing Portfolio Committee and Infrastructure for the eThekwini Municipality.

Nyanzelisa i… Right 2 Know

Nqanda umthetho we mfihlelo!!!

Iinzuzo zomzabalazo wenkululeko zibekwe emngciphekweni yi-Protection Of Information Bill - POIB exoxwa nguRhulumente sithetha nje. Le-Bill ifana nqwa nale mithetho yengcinezelo. Le-Bill icinezela abanolwazi ngolwaphulo mthetho nokufumaneka lula nama xwebhu emfihlelo.

Naliphi isebe lika-Rhulumente, lingakwazi ukthi amaxwebhu ka rhulumente ayimfihlelo, lonto isenze ilizwe elinee mfihlelo ezininzi. Amagosa ka-Rhulumente, akhomfuneko bacacise xa efuna ukufihle izinto. Akuyakubakho nto okanye ikomiti eqinisekisa ukuba, ukukho zinto ezifihlwa eluntwini, ekumele ukuba luyayazi.

Open Letter to DA Leader Helen Zille

Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape Rejects DA Hypocrisy and Stands Firm for Press Freedom

As a movement we have become used to the blatant hypocrisy of the DA over the years.

The DA says that it wants to crack down on crime and support the rule of law but then it engages in unlawful and criminal evictions, as in Macassar Village in 2009. In South African law any eviction without a court order is an unlawful and criminal act and yet the DA began to demolish shacks in Macassar Village without a court order on 21 May 2009. We went to court to secure an urgent interdict to stop the DA from engaging in these criminal attacks on the poor and we won that interdict and yet you then went ahead and demolished shacks in violation of that court order. The criminality of your municipal government here in Cape Town was condemned by local church leaders and international human rights organisations.

http://www.isolezwe.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5705565

Abantu bafuna abezindaba babike ngenkululeko

October 28, 2010 Edition 1

NQOBILE MASIMULA

BASABISE ngokubuyela emgwaqeni bamashe zonke izinsuku uma izikhalo zabo zingezwakali abagqugquzeli |be-Right2Know, okuwumkhankaso okuhloswe ngawo ukuphikisa umthethosivivinywa wokufihlwa kolwazi.

Laba bantu abalinganiselwa emakhulwini amathathu bebegcwele izitaladi zeTheku izolo bebhikisha njengengxenye yalo mkhankaso osabalele ezweni lonke.

Omunye wabagqugquzeli balo mkhankaso, uMnuz Desmond D'sa, uthe imashi ihehe abantu abasemazingeni ahlukene empilo kwazise ukuthi kuzobathinta bonke abantu ukuphasiswa kwalo mthetho.

Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

THE RIGHT TO KNOW

Abahlali baseMjondolo will support the Right to Know march in defence of media freedom in Durban tomorrow.

Mostly we have said that our struggle is for land and housing. But sometimes we also say that it is for land and dignity or that it is for land and freedom. Slogans are short and the world is big and time is long. We need all of these things. We need land, housing, dignity and freedom. These things cannot be separated. And dignity and freedom require more than just land and housing. We need electricity, we need libraries, we need good education, we need proper toilets, good and safe transport, crèches, decent work, health care and more.

Social Justice Organisations denounce the arrest of Sunday Times journalist, Mzilikazi wa Afrika

A free press is essential to democracy, transparency and the attainment of equality

6 August 2010

We are organisations that campaign for social justice. The success of our work is dependent on respect for the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights. The right to free expression and freedom of the press and other media are essential components of democracy. That is why they are contained in the Bill of Rights. They are one of the essential means by which all people in South Africa, especially the vulnerable, exploited and poor, can hold government and the powerful private business sector to account.