The first phase of ‘Operation Combat and Demolition of Shacks and Anarchic Constructions in the Municipality of Lubango’ was initiated in March of this year in the capital of the South-Western province of Huíla in Angola. 2,000 houses were demolished along the Moçâmedes Railway, which is being rehabilitated as part of the country’s Programme for National Reconstruction. The demolitions led to an outcry by national and international civil society about the way local authorities had failed to warn people in a timely manner and create the necessary conditions in Tchavola, an area 9km outside of Lubango city centre where plots of land had been allocated to the evicted families.

Over four months have passed since then and currently 3,081 families reside in the area of Tchavola. However, basic necessities such as water and sanitary conditions along with schools and police presence are still lacking. Few of the families have been able to make progress in the construction of new houses as the soil in the area is not considered to be adequate for the fabrication of adobe bricks and people lack the means to acquire construction materials in other ways. The Ministry of Social Assistance and Reintegration (MINARS) is present as a coordinator, but families have complained about corruption amongst the appointed people responsible for the distribution of goods in the area. Tensions are on the rise as rains are expected to be coming again in a month. Meanwhile, families living in tents distributed in the early days after the demolitions have been told that these should be returned to the authorities as in the first week of August the second phase of the demolitions operation has been concluded in the municipality of Matala and Quipungo.

According to a report on a field visit by the local NGO Action Constructing Communities (ACC), 1,351 families in Matala and an estimated 300 to 500 families in Quipungo have been affected by the demolitions.

The question is: Have lessons been learnt from the Tchavola case? According to ACC, in the case of Matala the role of media and local civil society has been crucial in influencing the course of the demolitions. There, a local human rights group set up by community members and with the assistance of Mosaiko, a Dominican NGO working for human rights in Angola, lobbied the local administration and the national ombudsman to conduct the displacement of families in a manner which respects their rights. Together with the administration of Matala, the group managed to mobilise affected communities and facilitate the allocation of plots of land in the adjacent area of Kahululu.

This allowed most of the families sufficient time to make basic preparations for their displacement and collect their personal belongings as well as re-usable construction material. In Kahululu, a plot of land of 900m2 was allocated to each family and water was provided to make adobe bricks. Volunteers were even mobilised to help the displaced families, especially the vulnerable like the elderly, single mothers, widows and people with disabilities.

Although the vulnerable in Matala still face difficult conditions, they are much better off than the people of the neighbouring municipality of Quipungo where civil society is less organised. This has resulted in major delays in terms of assistance to the families. Despite efforts by the municipal administration to get help on track, it too struggles with a lack of means and capacity to meet the most basic needs. For instance, although water is freely available, most of the families have gone without food for days.

Civil society is relatively weak in Angola, as a result of the war and the slow pace of democratisation. However, some say there are signs of change. In an article in the private newspaper Angolense this week by Guilherme Santos of the NGO Action for Rural Development and Environment (ADRA), there is a growing critical conscience among people, groups, organisations and communities in Angola on social problems and citizenship.

The article was written in the aftermath of the national conference on demolitions, held from 29 to 31 July in Benguela. In this conference, the first of its kind in Angola, about 150 people from the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Kwanza Sul, Huíla and Lunda Sul participated to exchange stories, experiences and lessons learned in order to elaborate a national strategy to prevent forced demolitions before adequate legislation is in place and decent alternative conditions are created for displaced populations.

According to Santos, there is a growing notion and understanding among people about the causes of their problems and the need for them to get organised. Therefore, the conference was a step forwards in ‘cultivating an organizational conscience that requires articulation and collective action’. The success of the human rights group in Matala is a hopeful example of the positive impact collective action can have, but it is clear that there is still a long way to go before decent housing and quality of life (article 85 of Angola’s new constitution) become a reality for all people in Angola.

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* Sylvia Croese is an independent Dutch-Angolan researcher and consultant, based in Luanda.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.