Abahlali baseMjondolo

Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo movement · FAL · source
Name	Abahlali baseMjondolo
Formation	2005
Founder	Not applicable
Type	Social movement
Headquarters	Durban, KwaZulu‑Natal
Region served	South Africa
Membership	Informal

Abahlali baseMjondolo is a shack dwellers' movement originating in Durban, KwaZulu‑Natal that advocates for the rights of informal settlement residents, tenants, and the urban poor. It emerged in the mid‑2000s amid controversies over land, housing, and service delivery, engaging with municipal authorities, provincial administrations, and national institutions across South Africa. The movement has intersected with political parties, trade unions, legal organizations, and international human rights bodies while provoking debate in media outlets, academic journals, and civic forums.

History

The movement began after mass evictions and protests in Durban involving residents of Kennedy Road, Cato Crest, Quarry Road, and other settlements near the eThekwini Municipality, linking to incidents in Umlazi, Zandspruit, and Joe Slovo Informal Settlement in Cape Town. Early encounters involved the South African Police Service, the KwaZulu‑Natal Provincial Administration, and housing departments in the City of Johannesburg as activists engaged with the African National Congress, the Democratic Alliance, and the Inkatha Freedom Party. Influences and alliances drew from broader traditions connected to the United Democratic Front, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the South African Communist Party, the Treatment Action Campaign, and movements such as the Landless Peoples Movement and the Poor People's Alliance. International attention came from organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Labour Organization, and academic institutions like the University of Cape Town, the University of KwaZulu‑Natal, and the London School of Economics, as scholars compared it with the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto, the Zapatista movement, and the Homeless Workers' Movement.

Organization and Membership

The movement structures itself through branches and general assembly practices in settlements like Kennedy Road, Marikana, Motala Heights, and Kliptown, with committees addressing housing, land, legal, and women's issues, interacting with NGOs such as the Legal Resources Centre, SECTION27, the Socio‑Economic Rights Institute, and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies. Membership involves shack dwellers, backyarders, and tenants in townships like Soweto, Alexandra, Philippi, and Delft, with links to trade unions including the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the South African Municipal Workers Union as well as civil society actors like the Treatment Action Campaign, Equal Education, the Black Sash, and the Desmond Tutu Foundation. The movement has communicated through grassroots media, pamphlets, and collaborations with scholars from institutions such as Rhodes University, the University of the Witwatersrand, and the University of Oxford, and has been in dialogue with municipal structures, provincial legislatures, the Constitutional Court, the South African Human Rights Commission, and international bodies including the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Key Campaigns and Protests

Major campaigns have targeted mass eviction programs, forced removals in areas like Makhaza, Delft, and eMalahleni, and service shutdowns in locations such as Soweto and KwaMashu, confronting actors including the eThekwini Municipality, the Western Cape Government, Gauteng Provincial Government, and national departments like the Department of Human Settlements. Protests have intersected with events such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup infrastructure debates, xenophobic attacks in Cape Town, land occupations linked to the Marikana miners' strike, and solidarity actions with movements like the Landless Peoples Movement and the Treatment Action Campaign. Public confrontations involved the South African Police Service, the Municipal Public Accounts Committees, and judicial injunctions from the High Court and the Constitutional Court, while drawing support from international solidarity networks in Brazil, India, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Legal Actions and Land Occupations

The movement pursued litigation before the Constitutional Court, the Durban High Court, and the Cape Town High Court, challenging municipal eviction orders, by‑laws, and housing allocations in cases involving the City of Cape Town, the City of Johannesburg, and eThekwini Municipality. Legal partners included the Legal Resources Centre, the Socio‑Economic Rights Institute, Legal Aid South Africa, and academic clinics from the University of KwaZulu‑Natal and the University of Cape Town. Land occupations and formations—such as those in Kennedy Road, Cato Crest, and Silverglen—engaged land claims processes, interactions with the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, local ward councillors, provincial human rights commissions, and international mechanisms like the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. Outcomes ranged from negotiated in situ upgrading, court rulings limiting evictions, to continued contestation with municipal development plans and housing policy frameworks.

Political Positions and Ideology

The movement has articulated positions emphasizing the right to the city, in situ upgrading, anti‑eviction principles, and participatory decision‑making, drawing on concepts debated by scholars at the University of Cape Town, the London School of Economics, the University of the Witwatersrand, and Columbia University. Ideologically, it situates itself within social justice and grassroots democratic currents, engaging with the South African Communist Party, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the African National Congress in contested relations, and international networks including Jubilee South, Via Campesina, and the World Social Forum. It has positioned itself against neoliberal housing models promoted in policy documents from the Department of Human Settlements and international financial institutions while supporting tactical alliances with organizations such as the Treatment Action Campaign, the Black Sash, and the Legal Resources Centre.

Criticisms and Controversies

The movement has faced accusations and conflicts involving political parties—most notably the African National Congress and local ward structures—the police, and rival community formations, provoking debates in media outlets like the Mail & Guardian, the Daily Maverick, the Sunday Times, and international press including The Guardian, The New York Times, and Al Jazeera. Controversies included allegations of violence at Kennedy Road, disputes over leadership and representation, and contested relationships with NGOs such as the Legal Resources Centre and academic partners from the University of KwaZulu‑Natal and the University of the Witwatersrand. Human rights organizations, provincial commissions, and courts have examined claims of state repression, while critics cited concerns raised by opposition parties like the Democratic Alliance and civil society commentators associated with the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Institute for Security Studies.

Impact and Legacy

The movement has influenced housing policy debates, jurisprudence on evictions and socio‑economic rights in the Constitutional Court, and urban social movements across South Africa and internationally, informing scholarship at institutions including the University of Cape Town, the London School of Economics, the University of Oxford, and the University of California. Its practices have been studied alongside the Homeless Workers' Movement, the MST, and Shack/Slum Dwellers International, contributing to discourse in journals linked to the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Development Southern Africa, and Social Movement Studies. The movement's legacy includes shifts in municipal engagement strategies in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, inspiration for grassroots organizing in townships such as Soweto, Alexandra, and Khayelitsha, and ongoing debates among policymakers, judges, academics, and activists including those associated with the Constitutional Court, the South African Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.

Category:Social movements Category:Housing rights Category:South Africa