Defend the right to organise! Defend the right to dissent! Stop the killing!
In KZN, Abahlali BaseMjondolo (ABM) activists have faced a history of violence and assassinations during their struggle for land and dignity. In the last 10 years, 16 Abahlali members have been killed by hitmen and security thugs, many of them connected to local ANC politicians and criminals. In the last four months, the threats and attacks against Abahlali have increased and Abahlali leader Sbu Zikode is now in hiding.
We know that these threats are not faced by Abahlali alone. Across the country, those who are fighting state and corporate abuses are being intimidated, threatened, arrested, and even killed. These include the dwellers of Glebelands Hostel in KZN, where assassins have claimed over 100 lives since 2014 and the Amadiba Crisis Committee whose chairperson Bazooka Rhadebe was gunned down on 22 March 2016 for opposing mining interests in Xolobeni, and whose current national spokesperson Nonhle Mbuthuma is under constant threat.
Alongside these killings we see constant threats, repression and police brutality against communities engaging in their right to protest. We will never forget the miners shot down in the Marikana Massacre in 2012, and we will never forget the dozens of others killed by police and private security in protests in post-apartheid South Africa. The increased securitisation of the state is a major threat to our constitutional rights!
The violence against community activists is an attack on the right to organise!. These attacks pose a real threat to democracy and the ability for ordinary people to demand accountability and justice. The silencing of dissenting voices is part of the systemic repression of the poor and marginalised sections of our society. We therefore call on those in mining-affected communities, in independent labour structures, student movements, in land occupations and the hostels, to stand together to say ENOUGH.
On Monday 8 October, we call on all progressive voices to join in solidarity and demand an end to the attacks on activists. We demand prosecutions of those who commit these acts! This call is supported by 35 South African and International organisations.
MARCH DETAILS:
eThekwini: March to City Hall
Assemble at Curries Fountain at 9am
Contact: Mqapheli 073 0673274
Cape Town: March to Cape Town Central SAPS
Assemble at Central Methodist Church, Burg St, at 10am
Contact: Bels 067 145 8744
Jo’burg: Jo’burg: Picket at JHB Central SAPS
Assemble at 1 Commissioner St, JHB, at 9am
Contact: Thami Nkosi 062 624 5992
#Ends
Endorsed by:
- Amadiba Crisis Committee
- Right2Know Campaign
- Alternative Information & Development Centre (AIDC)
- groundWork
- Friends of the Earth South Africa
- University of Cape Town
- Social Justice Coalition
- Mahienour El-Massry
- Social Justice Coalition
- Manenberg Safety forum
- Shooting Stars Production SA
- Ntinga Ntaba kaNdoda
- Sustaining the Wild Coast
- Ceará no Clima
- Youth Connect
- People’s Health Movement South Africa
- Ekogaia Foundation
- WEJF
- PSC
- Right2Protest Project
- Manenberg safety forum
- SailPro
- ILRIG
- Africa solidarity Network(ASONET)
- GIWUSA
- Investigación y Acción Biocultural
- Afrika Kontakt
- Anima Mundi
- Sophie A Kanza Foundation
- Human Rights Media Centre
- Social and Environmental Justice in Action
- Fireflies Memorial
- Lawyers for Human Rights
- Mabeve Babone
- Ndifuna Ukwazi
For more information contact:
Mqapheli Bonono, Abahlali spokesperson: 073 067 3274 [Durban]
Nonhle Mbuthuma, Amadiba Crisis Committee spokesperson: 076 359 2982 [Xolobeni]
Dominic Brown, AIDC spokesperson: 081 309 4973 [Cape Town]
Thami Nkosi, R2K spokesperson: 062 624 5992 [Joburg]
