South Africa
Martin Legassick on the Macassar Village Land Occupation in Cape Town
The Macassar Village Land Occupation, organised by Abahlali baseMjondolo, has rocked Cape Town. In a context where all political parties support the criminalisation of land invasions and the violent 'eradication' of shacks Martin Legassick has publicly defended the invasion.
Macassar: if the state can't provide, people must be allowed to build themselves
Too few houses, too many people to house
May 26, 2009
Martin Legassick
We are the Third Force - S'bu Zikode
S'bu Zikode's article in response to the attempts of the South African government to attack the shack dwellers' movement.
[b]This article was written by S'bu Zikode in 2005 at a time when the political elite was responding to the emergence of a militant shack dwellers' movement with paranoia and conspiracy theory. The main allegations was that a 'Third Force' (i.e. renegade apartheid security personnel) was 'behind' the movement.
Resisting degradations and divisions: an interview with S'bu Zikode
S’bu Zikode is the elected president of Abahlali baseMjondolo, a radical and radically democratic shackdwellers’ movement in South Africa that has committed itself to waging its struggles independently from party-political and NGO control.[1] This is an excerpt from a longer interview.
Richard Pithouse: What is your understanding of a living politics?
unFreedom Day 2009
Every year the militant South African shack dweller's movement Abahlali baseMjondolo holds 'unFreedom Day' on the national public holiday 'Freedom Day'. This year it went ahead with a police helicopter circling just above the assembly after an initial police attempt to ban the event was seen off.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Abahlali baseMjondolo to Mourn UnFreedom Day on 27 April 2009
Walala Wasala, Wavuka Usuhlala ema-Thini
The Jacob Zuma Cargo Cult and the “Implosion” of Alliance Politics
Michael Schmidt, from the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front, takes apart the Jacob Zuma cargo cult...
Much printers’ ink has been shed by pundits and politicians in attempting to explain, excuse, laud or condemn the rise of Jacob Zuma to the ANC Presidency from where it is just a short hop, skip and jump to the South African Presidency following the 2009 General Election.
Open Letter to US Activists Battling Evictions from the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign in South Africa
The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, the oldest and perhaps the most militant of the radical movements that developed after apartheid, has written an open letter to communities battling evictions in the US in the wake of the financial crisis.
April 7, 2009
The Nation
An Open Letter from the Western Cape Anti-Eviction in South Africa to US Activists
To: All poor Americans and their communities in resistance
106 workers fired over wildcat in South Africa
The world's largest ferrochrome producer, Xstrata said on Wednesday it had dismissed 106 workers at its Rustenburg smelter in South Africa for taking part in an illegal strike over pay.
The workers had demanded to be paid 50 percent of their wages as well as shift allowances during their extended leave in December, when such payments are normally not due to them, Songezo Zibi, Xstrata's spokesman said.
"They took part in a wildcat strike, an unprotected strike and did not follow the process of calling a strike," Zibi said.
Sekwanele! Social movement struggles for land and housing in post-apartheid South Africa
This article, published in the current issue of Left Turn magazine in the USA, gives a useful overview of the militant grassroots movements in South Africa.
Sekwanele! [Enough is Enough!]: Social Movement Struggles for Land and Housing in Post-Apartheid South Africa
By Toussaint Losier
Amabhulu anyama
Asenzeli iworry
[The black capitalists]
[Are making us worry]
- Chorus of a contemporary protest song, sung in Xhosa
Thousands to march against eviction for a massive themepark in South Africa
Fifty thousand people are threatened by an eviction to build a Zulu themepark with Dubai money.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
eMacambini Anti-Removal Committee Press Statement
Ten Thousand to March on S’bu Ndebele in Protest at eMacambini Evictions
Date: Wednesday 26 November 2008
Time: 10:00
Route: From Isithebe airstrip to the Mandeni Municipal Offices
'Be a visitor, not a spy' - QQ Section, Site B, Khayelitsha
.jpg "Khayelitsha Township - Cape Town, SA")
Matt Birkinshaw, a London anarchist, gives an account of his visit to the QQ shack settlement in Cape Town in diary form. QQ has recently joined the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement that began in Durban but now has a national presence.
'Be a visitor, not a spy' - QQ Section, Site B, Khayelitsha
Matt Birkinshaw, October 2008
Introduction
