The three interviews here are excepted from a paper by Kate Gunby that looks at why former ANC supporters are now critical of the government. To read the full paper, with the other interviews, Kate's analysis and the proper layout click here.
They Don’t Even Know How It Would Feel To Live In a Shack
System Cele interview 21 November 2007
System Cele is in her late twenties and a mother of four. She has lived in the Kennedy Road settlement for over 18 years. Her contribution to the people of Kennedy Road started years ago, before the creation of Abahlali, through volunteering. She has been a member of Abahlali since the beginning, and her family is, “supportive, although they don’t attend the meetings with me, at home I’m the only one who goes.” System has lost her front teeth to police brutality. Her family has said, “‘please stop going, you’re not getting anything, you’re not working, what are they doing for you?’” but she explains, “I’m not doing it for people, I’m doing it for myself because I’m a parent. I hate living in these conditions, the life I’m living here with my children, we deserve decent houses.”
