High Court orders eThekwini Mayor, City Manager and Director of Housing responsible for ensuring compliance with court order, to provide houses to evicted Siyanda occupiers

Dear Mayor Patricia de Lille,

This letter has been written by the provincial executive of Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement South Africa. As poor people living in informal settlements, we have many severe grievances regarding our living conditions.

Following threats against S’bu Zikode, leader of South African shackdwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, by the chair of a municipal housing committee, the group has called on democrats across the country to support Zikode and other activists ‘facing imtimidation and repression’.

This morning the eThekwini Municipality launched another armed raid on the Kennedy Road shack settlement to try and disconnect the people from electricity. As usual there was resistance, unarmed resistance, to this attack from the Municipality. The Municipality's security guards responded by firing live ammunition at the protesters.

This morning Municipal Security Guards arrived at the Kennedy Road shack settlement and began disconnecting people from electricity. The community had previously negotiated an understanding with the Municipality that they would not send their security guards into the settlement to disconnect.

South Africans are still recovering from the heavy rains that caused a lot of damage and flooding especially to poor communities. In Siyanda people have to deal with fire as well as flood. The Shange family, the Buthelezi family and one other family have all been left homeless after a fire that destroyed three shacks in Siyanda B Settlement on Saturday, 11 June 2011 during the broad day light.

Abahlali baseMjondolo stands in full solidarity with the democratically elected leadership of the Makause settlement as they face threats of violence from the ANC branch in Primrose. We are far away in distance but close in spirit and we will do all that we can to mobilise support for the comrades in Makause as their community politic faces the threat of repression from the party politic. As our experience shows very well these threats must be taken very seriously by all democrats.

Following last week's municipal elections in South Africa, Abahlali baseMjondolo have issued a statement on the threat posed by the eThekwini Municipality’s Land Invasion Unit.

South African shackdwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo has issued a statement in support of the Makhaza back yard dwellers, whose homes are being demolished by the City of Cape Town without a court order.