In 2011 the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement (a social movement fighting for the rights of the poor to land and housing) marched in Umlazi and gave a memorandum to James Nxumalo whilst he was still the speaker. To date the movement has not received a response. In answer to this deafening silence the Abahlali baseMjondolo will march again today in Umlazi.
The march will start from Mangosuthu passing V section and ending at Mega City where a memorandum will be handed over. The march will start at 9:00am and end at 12:00pm.
The Abahlali baseMjondolo released the following statement in support of their march:
“It time for the politicians to keep their promises, we are tired of being lied too and being misled
“For so long the people from the shacks have been living under threatening situations yet we get no support from the government. We ask for freedom from evictions, services in the settlements and participatory upgrades and instead we are denied services, evicted and either ignored or repressed.
“When we first started to organise in 2005 it was said that the government had a plan to house all the people and that we must be the ‘third force’ because we had no real reason to protest. They said that there would be no more shacks in Durban by 2010. Now the Municipality has admitted that it will take them 82 years to house all the people currently waiting for houses in Durban! That means that if things stay the same most of us will spend out lives rotting in the shacks and we will die in the shacks.
“Our demands for an end to evictions, forced removals and transit camps; for services like sanitation, water and electricity in the settlements and for participatory upgrades are just, legitimate and urgent. Our demand to put the social value of land before its commercial value is just, legitimate and urgent. We are not asking for anything more than what is basic to a decent human life. We are not asking for anything more than that we must be respected as human beings.
“We have engaged on these issues with government officials for years. However they never agree to any clear way forward. All that is taking place are delaying tactics and empty promises. We have had enough of politicians who think that they can manipulate our heart giving us empty hopes knowing exactly that they won’t recognise our right to be part of this city. It is time that all the people that live in this country are taken seriously.
“For years people have been protesting all over the country. The protests are getting more and more. The road blockades are up and tires are burning in Cape Town and in Johannesburg. It is clear that the poor will not accept to continue to be oppressed in South Africa.
“We will use all our strength and all the power that we have to force our government to recognise us as people who do count in our society. This country and it leaders must come to an understanding that the poor, the marginalised, are also human beings and must be treated as such. As long as our human dignity is not recognised, we will fight to protect, promote and advance our human dignity.
“Today we will be using our right to protest using our freedom of expression – a right that we are determined to defend. We will be expressing that we have had enough of the government who run this country as if they are running their spaza shops. People are not clothes that can be bought with a minimum price, used and thrown aside. We want a better life for all, we want to be equal and to be treated as such.
“This is not the time for the government take decisions for the people. It is the time for the people to start taking decisions for themselves. For almost twenty years this government has told us to be silent while it leads us but it has failed us. It has no plan for us. It is time for the people to lead and the government to obey.”
