Abahlali baseMjondol articles

News articles syndicated from Abahlali baseMjondol, the the South African shackdwellers' movement newswire.

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Conference on Friday 19 March 2010

Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Conference on Friday 19 March 2010
Venue: St Paul's Church, 161 Pine Street, Durban 031-305 466
Date: Friday 19 March 2010
Time: 10h00 a.m.
There is a deep corruption at the top of our society and a deep anger at the bottom of our society. As the dirty deeds of the tenderpreneurs are being dragged into the light by the media and as the police become ever more violent the poor are taking to the streets across the country in ever greater numbers. We continue to believe that the only way for this country to heal itself is for the poor to organise the poor so that we can increase our power and decrease that of the politicians, the rich and their civil society. Since the attack on our movement in September last year we have expanded into eight new areas despite ongoing repression and harassment. Now is the time to unite all our branches, the old areas and the new, to defy the ongoing campaign of repression, and to take our demands to the streets of our city.
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Suspicious Shack Fire in Siyanda

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Siyanda, 13/03/2010
Shack Fire in Siyanda
Around 2:30 am, the male occupant of shack 171 woke up with heavy smoke and heat. He left his shack and saw that the smoke was coming from the wall of shack 170. The three women, and young child, that lived in shack 171 were away that night.
He called the neighbours, and around 5 of them came to put out the fire, which they manage to extinguish in a very short time. The male occupant of shack 170 went back to his shack to bathe to go to work. In the meantime one of the neighbours called the owners of the shack 171 to tell about the fire and that the wall of the shack was damaged.
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The Mercury: Shack dwellers vow to march

http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5390599
Shack dwellers vow to march
March 15, 2010 Edition 1
GUGU MBONAMBI
Abahlali Basemjondolo yesterday vowed to go ahead with a march on March 22 - despite the eThekwini municipality refusing it permission to do so.
The shack dwellers' movement has also threatened to take legal action against municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe, who it blames for not being granted a permit to march.
Abahlali spokesman Mnikelo Ndabankulu said Sutcliffe's office had responded that the city did not have sufficient police officers to provide security at the march.
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Independent on Saturday: Colleagues hail top officer's arrest

http://www.independentonsaturday.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5388745
Colleagues hail top officer's arrest
March 13, 2010 Edition 1
Fiona Gounden
SOON after the arrest of Sydenham police station commander Senior Superintendent Glen Nayager, members of his station were "victorious" and said it "was about time" that he was made to answer for his "wrongdoings".
His colleagues gathered outside the station soon after they heard the news that Nayager had been arrested by the Hawks, the Saps crime fighting unit, on Wednesday, for allegedly being in possession of dockets, including one in which he is facing a charge of assault.
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Sowetan: ‘Act on protests to avoid 2010 embarrassment’

http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1122216
‘Act on protests to avoid 2010 embarrassment’
12 March 2010
Penwell Dlamini and McKeed Kotlolo
THE Government must deal with service delivery problems to avert protests and embarrassment during the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Joe Mavuso, facilitator of community and citizen empowerment at the Institute for Democracy in Africa, said protests during the tournament would tarnish the country’s image.
“It would be an embarrassment for our country,” Mavuso said. “The tournament brings with it an opportunity for the country to sell itself to the world.
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Cape Town homeless relocated during World Cup

http://www.playthegame.org/news/detailed/cape-town-homeless-relocated-during-world-cup-4688.html
Cape Town homeless relocated during World Cup
The City of Cape Town’s latest housing initiative is to relocate street children and homeless people 30 km away from the city centre. Critics call the plan a ‘clean-up operation’ for the World Cup, while the municipal government defends it as a humane programme that happens to coincide with the tournament.
Their eyes are deep brown, wide and imploring. Their clothes are ragged and dirty. Their bodies are thin and bony and their feet are bare. On Long Street, the busiest strip in Cape Town, while locals catch a bite to eat during their lunch break or tourists cruise the clubs on a night out, they follow like strays, begging for “50 cents” or “money for food ma’am”.
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City Press: Zuma fiddles as SA townships burn

http://www.citypress.co.za/Content/Politics/News/2259/f8bb89e2086c4103ad56523936fba15f/14-03-2010-02-00/Zuma_fiddles_as_SA_townships_burn
2010-03-14 14:00
Zuma fiddles as SA townships burn
By George Matlala, Tokiso Molefe,
Suné Kitshoff and Johan Eybers
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma is trying to extinguish factionalism in the tripartite alliance as open rebellion takes place across the country.
Townships are ablaze as the number of protests outstrips previous years while ratepayers’ organisations boycott payments and arrange their own refuse collection.
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Kgopotso Khumalo on the LPM & Public Participation' in Johannesburg

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Kgopotso Khumalo on the LPM & Public Participation' in Johannesburg
Kgopotso Khumalo
Landlessness and access to basic services in South Africa remains a 'pipe-dream' for many poor communities who remain marginalised by leaders who are meant to protect them.
When one takes a closer look at Protea South, an informal settlement area in the core of Soweto, one is met by a large number of unemployed residents, many of which are the youth. Lack of electricity, water and sanitation services have also rendered the area both smelly and unliveable. But this is the place where most communities are unified through struggle for land, housing and basic services.
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Pambazuka: World Cup 2010: 100 days to what?

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/62906
South Africa World Cup 2010: 100 days to what?
Azad Essa
2010-03-10, Issue 473
I don’t like press conferences.
Organised to propagate nothing more than a particular message, they are spaces where real questions are rarely asked because there is no place for real answers.
Everything is pre-empted, rehearsed and answers are a performed act, designed by media experts, advisers and prom queen mothers. Everyone knows that real answers to probing questions are found in the most unlikely of places: In the bar, on the golf course, in someone else’s bed.
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Sikhula Sonke’s Motion of Distrust Against the ANC and Government

Sikhula Sonke’s Motion of Distrust Against the ANC and Government
11 Mar 2010
Motion of distrust against the ANC will be put to the United Nations Commission and Minister of International Affairs on refugee rights for the situation in De Doorns and Government and the African Union’s lack of intervention in the torture of our Zimbabwe brothers and sisters and trade union leaders in Zimbabwe.The denial of the leadership of the ANC further endangers people’s lives. The speaker of Parliament and many other leaders have visited the camp, telling people that we are lying about the ANC instigating Xenophobia attacks in De Doorns. We invited the leadership of the ANC to accompany us to De Doorns and Stofland where we will introduce them to people who are willing to speak out, we just need assurance that they will be protected. Nobody came back regarding our request or even contacted us to talk about our concerns raised.
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