Update: 18:28 Officer Mqadi intimidated the (elected) KRDC and said that they are opposing the (unelected) ANC leadership in the settlement and that he will arrest them if the cleaning work is stopped pending a meeting with the Municipality. He made it quite clear that he is not neutral. He brought Zandile Mdletshe to address the mass meeting in the hall where she was vigorously opposed. At that meeting it was agreed that the KRDC would meet with the ANC and that both parties will report back to a mass meeting on Wednesday. Three state witnesses in the Kennedy 12 trial openly opposed the ANC leadership in today’s mass meeting in the hall. A number of state witnesses have already refused to testify against the accused and one has testified, as a court witness, that she was asked to give false evidence against the accused.
Abahlali baseMjondolo Emergency Press Statement
10 January 2011, 14:37
Urgent Call for Journalists to Rush to Kennedy Road as Tensions Rise Again Read the rest of this entry »
23 December 2010
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
The attack on Abahlali baseMjondolo in the Kennedy Road settlement in September last year was followed by serious intimidation against the movement in the settlement. People were forced to denounce the movement, any support for the movement put people at serious risk and organising in the settlement had to go underground. Homes continued to be destroyed until July this year and people had to be able to show ANC cards to access food vouchers for senior citizens and social relief as well as the building materials that, after the struggle of our movement, are now made available to people after shack fires. Building material was even given to ANC members whose shacks hadn’t burnt. Death threats were made against numerous people including AbM leaders not living in Kennedy Road. These death threats were often issued in public, such as at the court appearances for the Kennedy 12 (who were at first the Kennedy 13). Read the rest of this entry »
The fire is thought to have started at a local meat stall and allegedly left 30 families homeless.
Resident Busiswa Joni, 19, said the fire started at a local meat stall and quickly spread to the shack behind it.
“We tried to extinguish the blaze using water and sand but could not because of the strong wind,” Joni said. Read the rest of this entry »
The Commercial Stevadoring Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) is supporting 48 workers who were first subjected to an illegal lockout by Robertson Abattoirs, on the 30th November 2010, and dismissed on the 3th December. CASAAWU and the workers need support from individuals, activists, social movements and progressive organisations. The employer (who is also a commercial farmer) treated black workers not as human beings but as an extension of machinery. Read the rest of this entry »
Friday, 03 December 2010
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Today the first five days of the trial of the Kennedy 12 came to an end. The trial will resume in May next year and then, if more time is needed, it will continue again in July.We wish to begin this statement by thanking all of those people and organisations that have stood by our movement in the difficult times that followed the attack and then this ongoing trial. Your solidarity is much appreciated. There is a saying that when days are dark friends are few. But in these dark times we still have many friends and the solidarity from all of you is deeply appreciated. Read the rest of this entry »
Today, 12 members of Abahlali baseMjondolo from Kennedy Road will be in court following more than a year of delays in this clearly political murder trial.
We would like to declare our full solidarity with our Poor People’s Alliance partner during these trying times.
Read the rest of this entry »
We are calling for an immediate investigation into the atrocious violence and repression by police forces against the residents of Hangberg in Hout Bay, Cape Town.
Sunday, Hangberg residents will march on Hout Bay Police Station and deliver a memorandum to Safety & Security MEC Albert Fritz, Premier Helen Zille, Mayor Dan Plato and the Western Cape Police Commissioner Arno Lamoer. They will be joined by residents of Imizamo Yethu who are also facing eviction from Hout Bay.
Date: Sunday 3rd October 2010
Time: 10h00 (prayer service and rally) and 12h00 (protest march)
Begin: Hangberg Park
End: Hout Bay SAPS Police Station
Click here to read ‘A Big Devil in the Jondolos: A report on Shack Fires’ by Matt Birkinshaw (2008).
Press Release: 10 August 2010.
Another Devastating Shack Fire in the Kennedy Road Settlement
If electricity, water and adequate housing were provided in the Kennedy Road shack settlement these recurring shack fires could have been prevented.
The Kennedy Road shack settlement burnt once again at about 10 pm on Sunday, 08 August 2010 – two hours before women’s day. As of today thousands of residents in Kennedy are homeless in this cold winter weather. If the municipality had given them houses or provided them with basic services, such as electricity, refuse collection, road access and water they would have been safe from fire. Fire is a serious threat to our lives. It is an undeniable fact that electricity is not needed by us but that our lives’ need electricity. In settlements that have electricity it is so unlikely to have fires of this nature as it is happening again and again in Kennedy.
The remaining sixteen soccer teams will compete in final rounds of the Poor People’s World Cup at the Avondale soccer fields, next to the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town at 10am on Sunday, August 8th, 2010. It will feature teams from Tagelsig, Gugulethu, Delft, Athlone, Khayelitsha, Westlake, Crossroads, Hanover Park, and other communities each representing a different country. The all-day tournament will feature a knock-out series of games during which the sixteen teams will go head to head.
AEC Recent News Feed
Stumble It!
