By: Siyabonga Sithole
Anti shack dweller movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (Shack Dwellers) is bleeding leaders and activists following the death of three of their activists who have been killed in the last three months.
Since their establishment over 17 years ago, the movement says more than 23 of their members have been killed, most of them violently.
This weekend, Abahlali buried their latest activist, Nokuthula Mabaso, who according to the movement’s General Secretary Thapelo Mohapi, was “a powerful leader” who worked tirelessly for her community in the area of eKhenana, Cator Manor, Durban.
Mabaso, who was also leader of the Women's League, was assassinated in eKhenana on 5 May and laid to rest on Saturday, 14 May with at least 500 people in attendance.
“The funeral of comrade Nokuthula Mabaso was attended by more than 500 people and there was a lot of singing of struggle songs,” Mohapi told The Star after the funeral.
He says the members of the community are still angry about Mabaso’s death as her death continues unabated after a series of violent attacks, death threats and violent evictions of its members.
“People are angry about what happened to comrade Nokuthula. The movement is deeply hurt. We are a movement under siege from the ANC led government. We are alone and we are a forgotten generation.
We continue to die in shack fires and in floods and we live like pigs in mud. When we fight for our rights we are killed like animals with 23 of our members and leaders having been killed fighting for our rights,” he said.
Mohapi says Mabaso (40) was shot four times in the back then in the breast and stomach. Mabaso’s death follows hot on the heels of one of the members of the movement, Ayanda Ngila who gunned down a group of four armed men on 8 March.
Ngila is said to have been working with members of the community with repairs of an irrigation pipe at the eKhenana community garden.
The grass-root movement has accused the ANC and the police of not protecting them from attacks and violent killings, adding that members of the movement are living in constant fear since the beginning of the movement in 2005.
“Everyday our families are concerned about our lives. We are constantly living in fear. Fear from the government we thought was going to liberate us. We are scared but will soldier on because we believe in fighting for this,” Mohapi said.
On the issues faced by the community since the Durban floods, Mohapi says the movement has been on the ground helping victims of floods rebuild their lives.
“Many families have been heavily affected by these floods. Many lives have been lost in the shacks and families are living in community halls till today. There’s no food and water and we are the hardest hit by the floods.
“We have been working together with progressive forces to help those in need. We have assisted more than 200 families in shacks with food in terms of food parcels.
This is outside of the government. We are fortunate to be engaging with the MEC for Human Settlement in the province to try and deal with this crisis. We have hope that one day this society, this just society we want to see, will materialise where no one is left behind,” Mohapi says.