End the violence against Abahlali baseMjondolo

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To express our grave concern about the killing of a 17 year old girl and the arrest of Bandile Mdlalose, the Secretary General of our partner, Abahlali baseMjondolo, War on Want has sent the letter below to President Jacob Zuma.

War on Want calls for

  • the release of Bandile Mdlalose and for all charges to be dropped
  • an urgent and thorough investigation to be conducted into these three murders
  • an immediate end to the violence in Cato Crest

President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma

Private Bag X1000

Pretoria

0001

2 October 2013

To His Excellency, President Jacob Zuma,

I am writing to you from the UK charity War on Want to express my grave concern following three recent killings in Cato Crescent settlement, KwaZulu-Natal, the arrest and detention without bail of the Secretary General of our partner, Abahlali baseMjondolo and the evictions and demolitions that have taken place despite High Court interdicts against them.

War on Want is an organisation fighting to end global poverty and to promote human rights, and was a staunch supporter of the struggle against apartheid. War on Want has worked in partnership and solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo since 2008.

Abahlali baseMjondolo is a community-based group advocating for the provision of basic services to informal settlements and for an end to forced evictions in South Africa. One of their founding premises is that “Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing” and that “Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected” as enshrined in the South African Constitution.

Abahlali baseMjondolo has been keeping us updated about the increased unrest in one of the settlements where they a strong support base in KwaZulu-Natal: Cato Crest. They have repeatedly gone to Durban High Court to prevent evictions taking place in the settlement and have secured three court interdicts, as well as a previous undertaking and a number of verbal assurances that the evictions and demolitions will be stopped.

Despite this, evictions have taken place in the settlement nine times, according to their records. To express their concern about this, a protest was held on the morning of 30 September 2013. During this, the police reportedly shot and killed a 17 year old girl, Nqobile Nzuza. Another woman, Luleka Makhwenkwana, was shot in the arm and had to be hospitalised.

No arrests have been made yet in connection with the shootings and residents are still concerned that their homes will be destroyed despite the court interdicts preventing this. Abahlali baseMjondolo has been vital in defending and supporting Cato Crest residents in line with South African law at this difficult time.

Yet, Bandile Mdlalose, the Secretary General of Abahlali baseMjondolo, was arrested and is being held without bail. She went to Cato Crest to offer her support to the community facing evictions and to the family of Nzuza.

This is the third killing in Cato Crest this year. Nkululeko Gwala and Thembinkosi Qumelo – active members of Abahlali – were gunned down, but no investigation has been launched into either of these cases. A fourth person, Nkosinathi Mngomezulu, was shot by the city's land invasion unit whilst defending his home against an illegal eviction. He survived, but again, no investigation has been launched.

War on Want calls for

  • the release of Bandile Mdlalose and for all charges to be dropped
  • an urgent and thorough investigation to be conducted into these three murders
  • an immediate end to the violence in Cato Crest
  • the court interdicts against evictions in Cato Crest to be upheld

We express our solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo and all those committed to peaceful, democratic and inclusive community action to improve the living conditions of South Africa's shack dwellers. We support them in their struggle for land and housing for all their members.

I look forward to hearing from you as to the action being taken by the South African government in this matter.

I remain, yours sincerely

John Hilary

Executive Director

War on Want