South Africa: International Solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo

Abahlali baseMjondolo gets support from all over the world including the Archbishop of Cape Town

The armed ANC takeover of Kennedy Road (including the death of at least 4 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.

Abahlali baseMjondolo gets support from all over the world including the Archbishop of Cape Town

The armed ANC takeover of Kennedy Road (including the death of at least 4 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 has also been published in over 6 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 there will be one in Grahamstown on Monday the 5th of 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 -

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 Group’s 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 - (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 5th October 2009

Other languages

2009-09-28 - Nye etniske opptøyer i Sør-Afrika (Norwegian)

2009-09-30 - Los hechos de los ataques en AbM (Espanol)

2009-09-30 - Attacco Alla Democrazia Nelle Baraccopli del Sudafrica (Italiano)

2009-09-30 - Sud Africa. La protesta del movimento dei baraccati Abahlali arriva a Londra (Italiano)

2009-09-30 - Νότιος Αφρική: Τρομακτική επίθεση παρακρατικών και μπάτσων στους Abahlali, υπάρχουν νεκροί (Greek)

2009-10-01 - Θυμίζουν τον τρόμο της δεκαετίας του 1980 (Greek)

2009-10-01 - ANC acusado de atacar y asesinar a los que viven en chabolas (Espanol)

2009-10-01 - Opération coup de poing à Durban par Philippe Rivière (Frances)

2009-10-02 – Südafrika: Unser Verbrechen ist ganz einfach: Wir sind selbstorganisierte Arme...(Deutch)

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 (Espanol)

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For more, please visit the website of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign at:
www.antieviction.org.za and follow us on www.twitter.com/antieviction

Visit Abahlali baseMjondolo at www.abahlali.org and www.khayelitshastruggles.com

The Poor People's Alliance: Abahlali baseMjondolo, together with with Landless People's Movement (Gauteng), the Rural Network (KwaZulu-Natal) and the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, is part of the Poor People's Alliance - a unfunded national network of democratic membership based poor people's movements.