The Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA held a successful UnFreedom Day rally in Durban to protest the lack of freedom for impoverished South Africans despite the end of apartheid. At the rally, the Abahlali president announced that the movement's membership has grown to 50,000, with women comprising 60% of members. He also announced the movement's stance that land reform needs to focus on providing land for housing the homeless and impoverished, not just for commercial use, and that occupied urban land should be transferred to residents.

1. 24 April 2018
Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA Press Statement
Abahlali Continues to Grow and to Occupy and Hold Land
Abahlali
baseMjondolo
Movement
SA
held
a
successful
UnFreedom
Day
Rally
in
Durban
on
Sunday.
Abahlali
came
in
their
numbers
to
mourn
the
freedom
that
was
fought
for
so
hard
by
millions
of
impoverished
and
working
class
people
and
yet
now
serves
a
small
elite,
including
a
few
people
who
are
connected
to
the
ruling
party.
UnFreedom
Day
is
a
call
to
government
and
the
general
public
that
many
South
Africans,
including
shack
dwellers,
remain
in
crushing
impoverishment
and
unemployment
in
a
deeply
unjust
society.
In
his
opening
speech
Abahlali
President
S’bu
Zikode
recognised
and
saluted
those
who
came
before
us
in
struggle,
and
those
who
paid
the
ulFmate
price
for
freedom
for
all.
On
the
day
which
brought
together
more
than
5
000
Abahlali
and
other
acFvists
two
important
announcements
were
made
by
the
President
of
the
movement.
The
first
announcement
was
that
Abahlali
membership
has
grown
immensely
in
the
past
years.
Our
membership
audit
is
not
complete
and
there
are
sFll
more
than
ten
branches
that
have
not
yet
been
audited.
But
our
audited
membership
has
now
reached
50
000
members
in
good
standing.
Women
have
always
been
in
the
forefront
of
our
struggle
for
dignity
and
the
membership
audit
has
confirmed
that
60%
of
our
members
are
women.
The
movement’s
strength
has
meant
that
even
those

2. who
did
not
want
to
recognise
us
in
the
beginning
now
respect
us.
The
second
announcement
was
on
the
movement’s
stance
on
the
land
issue.
In
recent
months
hundreds
of
Abahlali
members
have
parFcipated
in
various
discussions
that
have
been
held
at
branch
level
for
us
to
formulate
a
collecFve
posiFon
from
below
on
the
land
quesFon.
We
know
that
when
poliFcal
parFes
talk
about
“expropriaFon
of
land
without
compensaFon”
they
only
mean
land
to
make
profit,
they
mean
agricultural
or
farm
land
to
make
money
for
themselves.
They
mean
land
for
mining,
industries,
mines
and
mega
projects
like
malls
etc.
They
do
not
mean
land
to
build
houses
for
the
homeless
and
the
impoverished.
And
of
course
they
say
nothing
about
land
for
living
(umhlaba
wokuphila).
Therefore,
our
stance
as
a
movement
is
that
land
is
a
precious
giV
from
God
and
must
be
shared
equally.
We
believe
that
land
must
be
used
by
all
to
live,
survive
and
thrive.
We
believe
that
the
re-­‐emergence
of
the
land
quesFon
is
a
poliFcal
agenda
by
the
ruling
party
to
campaign
for
votes
in
the
2019
elecFons.
The
ANC
has
lost
credibility
with
millions
of
people.
Now
they
want
to
regain
that
lost
credibility
by
re-­‐introducing
the
land
quesFon,
something
they
should
have
discussed
24
years
ago.
We
know
that
the
new
talk
about
expropriaFng
land
is
about
taking
land
from
the
white
elites
and
giving
it
to
black
elites.
Impoverished
people
are
sFll
being
brutally
driven
off
urban
land
occupaFons.
The
movement
has
been
occupying
and
using
land
for
living
since
2005.
Our
principle
is
that
the
Social
Value
of
land
must
come
before
its
Commercial
Value.
Land
must
be
collecFvely
owned
and
democraFcally
managed.
If
the
ANC
government
is
serious
about
land
reform
they
must
best
demonstrate
that
by
transferring
the
land
which
shack
dwellers
have

3. already
occupied
to
the
residents
of
those
occupaFons
and
give
some
form
of
cerFficate
as
some
form
of
tenure
security.
All
evicFons
must
come
to
an
end.
We
would
like
to
express
our
graFtude
to
all
the
movements
and
organisaFons
that
supported
us
during
the
UnFreedom
Day
Rally.
We
are
commibed
to
building
unity
and
solidarity
with
struggling
communiFes
and
movements
elsewhere.
However
we
would
like
to
express
our
disappointment
to
some
of
the
media
who
will
only
report
on
our
struggles
when
we
barricade
roads,
as
if
our
struggle
are
a
traffic
issue,
but
do
not
see
an
open
and
legiFmate
public
gathering
of
thousands
of
organised
impoverished
people
as
newsworthy.
We
will
always
support
media
freedom
against
the
poliFcians
but
it
is
very
disappoinFng
that
the
lives,
organisaFons
and
poliFcs
of
impoverished
black
people
conFnue
to
count
for
very
lible
to
most
of
the
media.
We
would
like
to
express
our
solidarity
to
Amadiba
Crisis
Commibee
who
were
fighFng
for
the
land
of
their
ancestors
in
Gauteng
High
Court.
We
know
how
much
pain
these
comrades
went
through.
We
are
glad
that
the
spirit
of
comrade
Bhazooka
is
sFll
with
them.
We
are
also
in
solidarity
with
the
bus
workers
who
are
currently
on
strike
as
they
are
working
under
difficult
condiFons
and
are
paid
peanuts
while
their
employers
are
gefng
high
cheques.
And
we
are
in
solidarity
with
the
naFonal
shut
down
tomorrow
in
protest
at
the
new
labour
laws.
For
as
long
as
the
rights
of
impoverished
people
-­‐
including
shack
dwellers,
the
unemployed,
workers,
farm
dwellers,
hostel
dwellers

4. and
rural
people
-­‐
are
sFll
undermined,
we
will
conFnue
to
organise
and
resist
in
defence
of
our
dignity.
It
is
not
yet
uhuru.
Land. Housing. Dignity.
Occupy. Resist. Develop.