Abahlali baseMjondolo
Press Release 16 October 2006

Rafael “Mazisi” Mhnana, a resident of the Jadhu Place settlement, Nonhlanhla Mzobe, a resident of the Kennedy Road settlement and Fazel Khan, a University of KwaZulu-Natal (UZKN) academic, have more in common than the red shirts they wear to demonstrate their abiding dedication to Abahlali baseMjondolo, the Durban-based shack dwellers movement struggling for democratic decision making and land and housing in the city. All three individuals have suffered at work as a direct consequence of their involvement with Abahlali.

Rafael “Mazisi” Mhnana, an Abahlali member, until recently worked at the King George hospital on a building project. He was told by the former head of the local Branch Executive Committee (BEC) of the ANC, generally known as Nicodemus, that he must choose between wearing the “red shirt,” which has come to be associated with Abahlali, and working on the building project at the hospital. As pressure and harassment mounted from co-workers associated with the BEC, Mr. Mhnana was forced to leave the project. Mr. Mhana’s employers promised that they would contact him for work on additional projects but because of his association with Abahlali, he has still not been called back to work. In this country we all have the right to freedom of expression and association. By trying to make access to employment dependent on obedience to local elites Nicodemus and the BEC are actively trying to undermine the democracy won by generations of struggles.