Features
Abahlali baseMjondolo supported all over the world
2009-10-07, Issue 451
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59304
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The armed ANC (African National Congress) takeover of Kennedy Road (including the death of at least four people and the exiling of 1,000 residents) has now been condemned all over South Africa and all over the world. This is a new era in South Africa. No longer can we pretend to be a 'rainbow nation' when political parties are actively supporting armed militia in attacks against independent social movements. But we do have an advantage: In the long run, we are doing what is right and therefore we will win.
Below you will find a huge list of statements, articles and blogs. The most important are the following:
1) 'The ANC Has Invaded Kennedy Road' by S'bu Zikode
2) Abahlali baseMjondolo being featured on DemocracyNow! in the United States
3) The Statement of Support from the Archbishop of Cape Town and from Bishop Rubin Phillip
4) The new Mail & Guardian Article: Ethnic Tension Boils Over
5) Eyewitness Video Testimony on the attacks
Full statements of support have also been published in multiple languages and in at least 15 countries, and a petition to Jacob Zuma has been going around which has garnered 1,000 signatures from concerned people in South Africa and all over the powers. There was also a solidarity protest in the UK on the 30th and one in Grahamstown on Monday 5 October.
(Key statements and articles are marked with a *)
ABAHLALI BASEMJONDOLO PRESS STATEMENTS
2009-09-27 at 12h40 (Sunday) - Kennedy Road Development Committee Attacked – People Have Been Killed
2009-09-27 at 22h40 (Sunday) - The Attacks Continue in the Presence of the Police and Senior ANC Leaders
2009-09-29 at 13h53 (Tuesday) - 'The ANC Has Invaded Kennedy Road' by S'bu Zikode*
2009-10-01 at 16h53 (Thursday) - Update from Kennedy Road
2009-10-01 at 16h55 (Thursday) - Rushed (and Rough) Transcript of an Interview (anonymous of course) with Two Young Women Still Living in Kennedy Road
VIDEO FOOTAGE AND PHOTOGRAPHS
2009-09-28 at 21h35 (Monday) – Photos: S'bu Zikode's House after the attack*
2009-10-01 17h08 (Tuesday) – Photos: Abahlali at Court to defend the 'Kennedy 8' (from 29 September 2009)
2009-09-30 at 16:10 (Wednesday) – Eyewitness Video Testimony (Footage taken on Sunday and Monday)*
2009-10-01 at 16:54 (Thursday) - Moving Video Interview with S'bu Zikode
2009-10-01 (Thursday) - DemocracyNow! Video interview with Abahlali baseMjondolo (DN! Is the largest progressive media radio station in the United States) *
SOLIDARITY PETITION: AN OPEN LETTER TO JACOB ZUMA (NOW WITH OVER 950 SIGNATURES)
STATEMENTS OF SOLIDARITY WITH ABAHLALI BASEKENNEDY ROAD
2009-09-28 - Joint Statement on the attacks on the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement in Durban (27 signatures from academia) *
2009-09-29 - Testimony from Brother Filippo Mondini
2009-09-29 - Democracy Under Attack in Kennedy Road – A Statement by Bishop Rubin Phillip *
2009-09-29 - Letter to the International Media from Nigel Gibson & Raj Patel
2009-09-29 - Kennedy Road Murders Recall Terror of the 1980s (ZACF Statement)
2009-09-30 - Durban Action Against Xenophobia Statement
2009-09-30 - Statement from The Children of South Africa (CHOSA)
2009-09-30 - War on Want Writes to the South African High Commissioner (UK)
2009-10-01 - Statement from the International Forum in Denmark
2009-10-01 - Statement on Kennedy Road Informal Settlement by AFRA
2009-10-01 - War on Want (UK) calls for an end to violence against South African shack dwellers
2009-10-01 - The Poverty Initiative (USA) Supports the Shackdwellers Movement
2009-10-01 - Development Action Groups statement on the violent attacks on Abahlali baseMjondolo in Kennedy Road
2009-10-01 - The KZN Monitor asks tough questions of the South African Police Service
2009-10-01 - Letter from the Editors of the Academic Journal "Interface"
2009-10-01 - Slum Dwellers International Statement on the Attacks on Kennedy Road Settlement, Durban, South Africa
2009-10-01 - Statement by Global Peace & Justice in Auckland, New Zealand
2009-10-01 - Statement of Support from KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council (KZNCC) in response to the Kennedy Road Killings
2009-10-01 - US Center for Constitutional Rights: Solidarity Statement
2009-10-01 – Statement of Support to the AbM from Movement for Justice in el Barrio in New York City *
2009-10-02 – Statement of Support from the Democratic Socialist Movement
2009-10-02 – Statement of Support from the Archbishop of Cape Town *
2009-10-02 – Statement of Support from the Treatment Action Campaign
2009-10-02 - Statement by the National Association of Democratic Lawyers
OPINION PIECES ON THE ATTACKS
2009-09-30 - Abahlali baseMjondolo Is Not A Criminal Movement (The Mercury) *
2009-10-01 - Pogrom murders in the Durban area (Politicsweb)
2009-10-02 - Ethnic cleansing (Business Day)
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
2009-09-28 - SAPA: Attackers Associated with ANC (News24)
2009-09-29 - Academics condemn attack on settlement (Business Day)
2009-09-29 - SAPA: Fund Set Up for Victims (News24)
2009-09-29 - Xhosa attack ‘far more sinister’ (The Witness)
2009-09-30 - Kennedy Road attack: ANC and police in the spotlight (The Natal Witness)
2009-09-30 - Police 'behind shack attack’ (The Mercury)
2009-09-30 - Fund set up after Durban attack (Business Day)
2009-10-01 - Call on Zuma to probe attacks (The Sowetan)
2009-10-01 - Call for solidarity among shack dwellers (The Mercury)
2009-10-03 – Ethnic Tension Boils Over (The Mail & Guardian)
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA ARTICLES
2009-09-30 - Shack dwellers' struggle by Sokari Ekine
2009-10-01 - DemocracyNow! Video and radio interview and transcript
2009-10-02 - Column: Abroad view By Alex Kadis
2009-10-02 - Violent Attacks on Social Movement Abahlali baseMjondolo Misrepresented (SACSIS)
2009-10-02 – Provincial Government & Police Endorse Attack on Abahlali baseMjondolo (Pambazuka)
RELATED EVENTS
2009-09-30 - Protest at the South African Embassy in London on Wednesday (on 30 September)
2009-10-03 - Solidarity Protest in Grahamstown - Monday 5 October 2009
OTHER LANGUAGES
2009-09-28 - Nye etniske opptoyer i Sor-Afrika (Norwegian)
2009-09-30 - Los hechos de los ataques en AbM (Spanish)
2009-09-30 - Attacco Alla Democrazia Nelle Baraccopli del Sudafrica (Italian)
2009-09-30 - Sud Africa. La protesta del movimento dei baraccati Abahlali arriva a Londra (Italian)
2009-09-30 - Νoτιοc Αφρικn: Τρομακτικn επiθεση παρακρατικwν και μπaτσων στουc Abahlali, υπaρχουν νεκροi (Greek)
2009-10-01 - Θυμiζουν τον τρcμο τηc δεκαετiαc του 1980 (Greek)
2009-10-01 - ANC acusado de atacar y asesinar a los que viven en chabolas (Espanol)
2009-10-01 - Operation coup de poing a Durban par Philippe Riviere (French)
2009-10-02 – Sudafrika: Unser Verbrechen ist ganz einfach: Wir sind selbstorganisierte Arme...(German)
2009-10-02 – Declaracion de apoyo a nuestr@s hermanas y hermanos de Sudafrica del Movimiento de los de Casas de Carton (Abahlali baseMjondolo) de parte de Movimeinto por Justicia del Barrio en Nueva York, EU (Spanish)
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Statement on Kennedy Road Informal Settlement
Monday, October 05, 2009 (Washington, DC) – Amidst reports of racially motivated violence against settlement residents in South Africa, Africa Action joins in solidarity with members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement (ABM) - a grassroots movement campaigning to improve the living conditions of poor people.
A statement by S'bu Zikode, President of Abahlali baseMjondolo, indicates he and his family have become refugees after receiving threats on his life during the recent violent attacks at the Kennedy Road settlement. Their home was demolished two days prior to this statement. Despite a heavy police presence at the settlement, no one has been brought to justice.
Africa Action calls for an open, fair and effective investigation into the alleged arrests, detainment, physical violence and murder of all community activists in the region.
In June 2008, Africa Action traveled to South Africa to assess key issues facing the people of South Africa after the most recent 2009 elections. Michael Stulman, Associate Director of Policy and Communications, witnessed first-hand accounts of growing tensions in the informal settlements.
”I am disappointed and shocked by the allegations of police complicity in these attacks,” said Michael Stulman this afternoon. He adds, “The principles of the equality, dignity of all human beings, accountability, justice and the rule of law must prevail over impunity.”
In the report report released in September, Africa Action highlights civil society efforts to address land reform and the people forcibly removed from their homes and community.
The report is available at www.africaaction.org
South African cities rank as the most unequal in the world: 58% of all South Africans live in urban areas, one third of whom reside in slums with informal housing. Some 200,000 houses need to be built in order to meet the demands of the growing population, in addition, many of the informal settlements struggle to meet basic needs such as clean water, electricity, health care, and education.
In Cape Town, over 400,000 people are currently on the waiting list for public housing. The gentrification of South Africa’s inner cities in recent years has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people being evicted from buildings and shacks in and around the city centers and relocated.
In South Africa there is only 1 formal brick house for every 43 Africans compared to 1 for every 3.5 Whites.
“The struggle to channel South Africa’s great potential towards meeting its peoples' needs continues. The country must address the issues that, undoubtedly, it cannot afford to disregard,” said Michael Stulman
For further analysis, read the Africa Action Report from South Africa here.
Michael Stulman, Africa Action