Despite the victory against apartheid in South Africa in 1994, millions of people still live in shacks in the townships in South Africa. The Freedom Charter which called for decent housing has been unimplemented. The award winning film "Breyani and The Councillor" made last year shows the struggle for decent housing and jobs in a township in Durban. The residents begin to struggle for justice and are met with repression.

Twelve years after the fall of apartheid the loyal and patient shack dwellers all over the country are mobilizing against what they perceive to be a new oppression. The shackdwellers movement ­Abahlali base Mjondolo evolved in Durban, a city on the east coast of South Africa. It incorporates various informal shacklands in and around the city. Using the might of their united numbers, Abahlali is mobilizing against slow delivery and relocations planned by Municipal councillors. Their struggle is ongoing. In order to repress this struggle, the government has framed 5 housing activists in Durban and the Durban Kennedy Five Defense Campaign is ongoing. Fazel Khan, one of the directors of the film "Breyani And The Councillor" has been not only an activist around the housing issue but for union and democratic rights and an organizer against privatization at the KwaZulu-Natal University in Durban. As a result of his union leadership with COMSA and community activism he has recently been fired and there is an international defense campaign ongoing. A website in support of Fazel Khan has also been established at http://fazel.shackdwellers.org You can find out more about the housing issue by going to www.abahlali.org For an audio interview about the housing issue go to http://www.pambazuka.org/media/PZ0028.mp3

DETAILS

Durban Kennedy 5 Housing Activist Group & Fired S.A. UKZN Lecturer Fazel Khan Breyani and The Councillor South Africa 2006 (26 min.) By Sally Giles & Fazel Khan Six Percent or Nothing A Video about UKZN¹s 2006 Strike By Giles and Khan.
& Other Labor Videos From South Africa Sunday, May 20, 2007 7:00 PM. 522 Valencia Street/16th St. San Francisco $5.00 Donation (No one turned away due to lack of funds)