WeeklySA_AdminRESILIENCE: Solidarity pours in from movements across Africa and the world as South Africa’s shack dwellers’ movement celebrates two decades of existence…
By Nicholas Mwangi
Thousands of shack dwellers, trade unionists, international allies, and community organizers gathered at the Fountain Stadium in Durban to celebrate 20 years of Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), the powerful social movement of the poor that has redefined the struggle for land, housing, and dignity in post-apartheid South Africa.
Founded in 2005 by 32 representatives from 12 informal settlements, Abahlali baseMjondolo has grown into one of Africa’s largest and most consistent movements for land and housing justice, now with over 180 000 members in more than 100 branches across five provinces.
From humble beginnings in Durban’s Kennedy Road settlement, AbM has endured two decades of repression, assassinations, and political exclusion, but has survived, grown, and transformed shack settlements into spaces of working communes and collective liberation.
In a statement marking the anniversary, AbM reflected on its origins and trajectory. “When we began our struggle, we were treated as waste, not as human beings,” the statement reads. “We were left to live like pigs in the mud and to burn in shack fires. We were denied the right to think and speak for ourselves. We have built a movement in which our dignity is recognized and affirmed.”
The movement’s 20-year journey has been marked by unrelenting violence from police crackdowns and illegal protest bans to political assassinations and intimidation. Yet, against these odds, Abahlali has won land for thousands, secured housing and services, and fought back against xenophobia and ethnic chauvinism.
AbM’s history has unfolded alongside the broader history of South Africa’s working-class resistance. The movement deliberately chose Curries Fountain as its site of celebration, the same ground where striking workers gathered in 1913, where the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU) mobilized in the 1920s, where the United Democratic Front (UDF) and COSATU were launched, and where Chris Hani once addressed workers on May Day.
“We take our place in this lineage of popular struggle with honour and integrity,” AbM said.
Abahlali’s milestone has been met with an outpouring of solidarity from across South Africa and the world, affirming its central role in the global struggle for equality and social justice.
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) hailed Abahlali as “one of the most courageous and principled movements of the poor in our country.”
SAFTU saluted the shack dwellers’ resilience in the face of “unlawful bans on protest, police brutality, torture, assassinations,” declaring AbM’s communes and democratic assemblies as “true examples of socialism in practice.”
“As we face neoliberal attacks and the deepening crisis of austerity and unemployment,” SAFTU affirmed, “we are committed to building unity with Abahlali baseMjondolo and all movements of the poor to fight for land, jobs, housing, and dignity. Halala Abahlali baseMjondolo!”
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), another pillar of post-apartheid grassroots struggle, drew parallels between its fight for access to healthcare and Abahlali’s battle for land and housing. “Both our movements stand on the common ground of fighting for the right to life,” wrote TAC’s National Chairperson.
“We solemnly remember comrades who have been assassinated, arrested, and harassed for demanding shelter and dignity. Your endurance is a beacon to all social movements.”
The Pan Africanism Today (PAT) Secretariat joined progressive forces across the continent in congratulating AbM, praising its “profound achievements” over two decades. “Your breakthroughs in securing land, housing, and dignity have not only inspired the people of South Africa, the African continent, and the world but have also raised the bar of what is expected in cities and communities globally,” PAT stated.
“We salute the membership and leadership of AbM for their tremendous achievements and are filled with hope and confidence for the next 20 years. To paraphrase Che Guevara: we need two, three, many more AbMs. Long live the spirit of Pan-Africanism and genuine socialist internationalism!”
The Congolese Solidarity Campaign described Abahlali as an “inspirational tool to many rejected communities,” adding that the movement’s practice of self-organization has taught others that “the poor can and must speak for themselves.” The Tanzania Socialist Forum (TASOFO) celebrated Abahlali as “the steadfast shield that guards the realm of the underprivileged,” while the Manzese Working Women’s Cooperative (UWAWAMA), located in Dar es Salaam, saluted AbM for inspiring urban poor women “to fight for housing and social justice.”
From the Global North, the National Union of the Homeless in the United States sent heartfelt congratulations, recognizing Abahlali’s leadership in transforming shack settlements into “base areas for practical, political struggle”. The union credited Abahlali’s model of revolutionary lawyering and grassroots education for shaping its own strategies to fight homelessness and poverty in America.
In a powerful message from the United Kingdom, Jeremy Corbyn, former Labour Party leader, praised Abahlali for demonstrating that “democracy extends beyond elections to a way of living together, through open assemblies and collective decision-making.” Corbyn added that his new political project in the UK is inspired by “movements such as the MST in Brazil and Abahlali baseMjondolo in South Africa,” describing AbM’s practice as “a vision grounded in humanity, solidarity, and courage.”
Abahlali’s two-decade journey has come at an immense cost. Over the years, numerous leaders and members have been assassinated, among them comrades Thuli Ndlovu, Ayanda Ngila, and Nokuthula Mabaso, martyrs in a long war against systemic exclusion and state violence. The movement’s statement makes clear that while progress has been made, “most of our members continue to live in shacks” and “there has not been justice for most of our members who have been killed.”
But, Abahlali’s response to such repression has been to deepen democracy and organize for socialism, not retreat. It has established working communes and food gardens, and pushed for political clarity. The movement continues to build what it calls a “politics of the poor – democratic, socialist, and internationalist.”
Today, Abahlali baseMjondolo sees itself not only as a South African movement but as part of a “global movement of movements”. Its leadership has called for greater unity among left formations, insisting that “progressive membership-based organisations of the poor and working class must rise above divisions and pettiness.”
As the celebrations continue, after twenty years, the shack dwellers’ movement is not just surviving, it is charting a new path toward socialism for dignity and land. – People’s Despatch
