Honourable Speaker;
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces;
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP;
Deputy President of the Republic, Kgalema Motlanthe
Former President of the Republic, Thabo Mbeki,
Our icon, the First President of a democratic South Africa, Isithwalandwe Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela,
Former Deputy Presidents,
Distinguished Premiers and Speakers of our Provinces;
Esteemed members of the Judiciary;
Chairperson of SALGA, mayors and leaders in our system of local government;
Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders and our honoured traditional leaders;
Heads of Chapter 9 Institutions;
Governor of the Reserve Bank,
Religious leaders,
Directors-General and other leaders of the public service;
President of the Pan African Parliament, Honourable Idriss Endele Moussa,
Your Excellencies Ambassadors and High Commissioners;
Distinguished guests, comrades and friends;
Fellow South Africans,
Dumelang, Abusheni, Molweni,

On the 22nd of April, millions of South Africans went out to cast their votes. They exercised their democratic right spurred on by the desire to change their lives for the better.
In their overwhelming numbers, they confirmed that working together we can do more to fight poverty and build a better life for all.
They were encouraged by the vision of an inclusive society, a South Africa that belongs to all, a nation united in its diversity, a people working together for the greater good of all.
We are humbled by this decisive electoral mandate given by the people of our country, who have chosen their government in a most convincing manner.

Honourable Members, Our nation has over the past few years gone through very challenging times.
It is thanks to the fact that we have a strong and fully functional constitutional democratic system, with solid institutions, that we overcame these difficulties smoothly and with dignity.

Today’s occasion is a celebration of what makes this democracy work. It is also a celebration of our culture of continuity and collective responsibility.
This is evidenced by the presence here of our icon Madiba, who laid the foundation for the country’s achievements, and that of former President Thabo Mbeki, who built on that foundation. The continuity is also evident in the fact that former President Kgalema Motlanthe is now the Deputy President of the Republic, after a seamless transition, making us a unique country in many respects.

Fellow South Africans, As you would be aware, the fight against poverty remains the cornerstone of our government’s focus.
On the 9th of May, during the Presidential inauguration, we made a commitment to our people and the world that:
“For as long as there are South Africans who die from preventable disease;
For as long as there are workers who struggle to feed their families and who battle to find work;
For as long as there are communities without clean water, decent shelter or proper sanitation;
For as long as there are rural dwellers unable to make a decent living from the land on which they live;
For as long as there are women who are subjected to discrimination, exploitation or abuse;
For as long as there are children who do not have the means nor the opportunity to receive a decent education;
We shall not rest, and we dare not falter, in our drive to eradicate poverty.”

In pursuit of these goals, our government has identified 10 priority areas, which form part of our Medium Term Strategic Framework for 2009 to 2014.
The programme is being introduced under difficult economic conditions. The past year has seen the global economy enter a period of crisis unprecedented in recent decades.
While South Africa has not been affected to the extent that a number of other countries have, its effects are now being clearly seen in our economy. We have entered a recession.
It is more important now than ever that we work in partnership on a common programme to respond to this crisis.

We take as our starting point the framework for South Africa’s response to the international economic crisis, concluded by government, labour and business in February this year. We must act now to minimise the impact of this downturn on those most vulnerable.

We have begun to act to reduce job losses. There is an agreement in principle between government and the social partners on the introduction of a training layoff.
Workers who would ordinarily be facing retrenchment due to economic difficulty would be kept in employment, for a period of time and re-skilled.
Discussion on the practical detail is continuing between the social partners and the institutions that would be affected by such an initiative, including the Sector Education and Training Authorities.

We will support the work of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to assist employers and workers to find alternatives to retrenchments through the relevant legal process. To date, CCMA commissioners have saved over four thousand jobs through facilitation processes, and provided ongoing advice and support to retrenched workers. The Industrial Development Corporation has developed a programme to fund companies in distress. We will also ensure that government buys more goods and services locally, without undermining our global competitiveness or pushing up costs beyond acceptable levels.Building on the successes of our industrial policy interventions, a scaled up Industrial Policy Action Plan will be developed. The lead sectors already identified are automobile, chemicals, metal fabrication, tourism, clothing and textiles as well as forestry. In addition, attention will also be paid to services, light manufacturing and construction amongst others, in the quest to create decent jobs.

As part of Phase 2 of the Expanded Public Works Programme, the Community Work Programme will be fast-tracked. It offers a minimum level of regular work to those who need it, while improving the quality of life in communities.

The economic downturn will affect the pace at which our country is able to address the social and economic challenges it faces. But it will not alter the direction of our development.
The policy priorities that we have identified, and the plans that we placed before the electorate, remain at the core of the programme of this government.
Laat ons mekaar se hande vat, en saam oplossings vind in die gees van ‘n Suid Afrikaanse gemeenskap. Die tyd het gekom om harder te werk. Ons regering gaan vorentoe kyk, nie agteruit nie!

The steps outlined in our Medium Term Strategic Framework had to take into account the constraints posed by the economic crisis. The downturn should not cause us to change these plans. Instead it should urge us to implement these with speed and determination.

The Framework focuses on 10 priorities.

We make a commitment that working together we will speed up economic growth and transform the economy to create decent work and sustainable livelihoods.
We will introduce a massive programme to build economic and social infrastructure. We will develop and implement a comprehensive rural development strategy linked to land and agrarian reform and food security.

We will strengthen the skills and human resource base. We will improve the health profile of all South Africans.
Working together with all South Africans, we will intensify the fight against crime and corruption. We will build cohesive, caring and sustainable communities.
Working with Africa and the rest of the world, we will pursue African advancement and enhanced international co-operation.
We will ensure sustainable resource management and use.
And, working with the people and supported by our public servants, we will build a developmental state, improve public services and strengthen democratic institutions.
It is my pleasure and honour to highlight the key elements of our programme of action.
The creation of decent work will be at the centre of our economic policies and will influence our investment attraction and job-creation initiatives.
In line with our undertakings, we have to forge ahead to promote a more inclusive economy.
In this regard, we will utilise state levers such as procurement, licensing and financial support to assist small medium enterprises as well as to promote the implementation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment and affirmative action policies.
The implementation will be done in recognition of the need to correct the imbalances of the past.
The transformation will be undertaken in support of women, youth and people with disabilities.
We will reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses. The matter of being stifled by regulations has been raised by the sector several times.
In another intervention to create an enabling environment for investment, government will move towards a single integrated business registration system.
This will improve customer service and reduce the cost of doing business in South Africa.

Another important element of our drive to create job opportunities is the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). The initial target of one million jobs has been achieved.
The second phase of the programme aims to create about four million job opportunities by 2014.Between now and December 2009, we plan to create about 500 000 job opportunities.

While creating an environment for jobs and business opportunities, government recognises that some citizens will continue to require state social assistance. Social grants remain the most effective form of poverty alleviation. As of 31 March 2009, more than 13 million people received social grants, more than 8 million of whom are children.
We are mindful of the need to link the social grants to jobs or economic activity in order to encourage self-reliance amongst the able-bodied.
Most importantly during this period, neighbours should assist each other.

Jwale ke nako yakopano. Are thusaneng jwale ka baahisane.
Are dumalaneng hore ho sebane le ngwana ya tla robalang ka tlala hobane batswadi bahae bafeletswe ke mosebetsi. Hare ka kopana ra sebetsa kaofela re ka etsa ho feta mo.

Distinguished guests, as part of the second strategic priority we will continue with our programme to build economic and social infrastructure.
The newly-formed Infrastructure Development Cluster of government will ensure that the planned R787 billion infrastructure expenditure as provided for in the budget earlier this year is properly planned for and executed.
This funding includes allocations for the school building programme, public transport including the bus rapid transit system, housing, water and sanitation.
One of the biggest infrastructure investment projects is in the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. We have, as government and the nation at large, pledged that the
World Cup will leave a proud legacy from which Our children and our communities will benefit for many years to come. We are on track to meet all our obligations and are determined to give the world the best World Cup ever.We are putting all systems in place to make the Confederations Cup, which kicks off on the 14th of June, a huge success.
In April this year, I gave an undertaking to the taxi industry leadership to defer negotiations relating to the operation of the Bus Integrated Rapid Transit system until after the elections.

We undertook to allow more time to deal properly with the concerns of the industry. On the 11th of June the Minister of Transport will resume discussions with the industry.
The meeting will kick-start a series of engagements with the stakeholders affected by the BRT system. We are confident that unresolved issues will be dealt with to the satisfaction of all parties. This will include the important issue of how all stakeholders will benefit from the initiative.

Honourable Members,Another development which should boost the World Cup is the roll-out of the digital broadcasting infrastructure and signal distribution transmitters.
Overall, we will ensure that the cost of telecommunications is reduced through the projects under way to expand broadband capacity.

We have to ensure that we do not leave rural areas behind in these exciting developments. As part of social infrastructure development we will provide suitably located and affordable housing and decent human settlements. We will proceed from the understanding that human settlement is not just about building houses.
It is about transforming our cities and towns and building cohesive, sustainable and caring communities with closer access to work and social amenities, including sports and recreation facilities. In this spirit, we will work with Parliament to speed up the processing of the Land Use Management Bill.
Working together with our people in the rural areas, we will ensure a comprehensive rural development strategy linked to land and agrarian reform and food security, as our third priority.

I would like to use this opportunity to extend our condolences to the family of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Dirk du Toit, who passed away this week. His contribution will be sorely missed.
Abantu basemakhaya nabo banelungelo lokuba nogesi namanzi, izindlu zangasese ezigijima amanzi, imigwaqo, izindawo zokuqeda isizungu nezemidlalo kanye nezindawo zokuthenga eziphucukile njengasemadolobheni. Nabo banelungelo lokusizwa kwezolimo ukuze bazitshalele imifino nokunye, bafuye nemfuyo bakwazi ukuziphilisa.
Sizimisele ukuwuqala lomkhankaso wokwakha izingqalasizinda ezindaweni zasemakhaya. Uma sibambisene nezakhamizi, amakhosi, amakhansela nezinduna siyokwazi ukuwusheshisa lomsebenzi. Sicela abahlala ezindaweni zasemakhaya baqale balungiselele ukutshela uhulumeni ukuthi yiziphi izinto abazidinga ngokushesha.
Uma sisebenza ngokubambisana sizokwenza okuningi.

Hon. Speaker and Chairperson, While having drawn the necessary lessons from earlier rural development initiatives, we have chosen the Greater Giyani Local Municipality in Limpopo as the first of the pilot projects for the campaign. Out of these projects will emerge lessons for the whole country.
In addition, we will work on the targeted renewal of rural towns, through grants such as the Neighbourhood Development Grant programme. In this way, areas around the towns will benefit from the economic boost. With all these interventions, we are poised to change the face of rural areas in our country.

Compatriots, Education will be a key priority for the next five years. We want our teachers, learners and parents to work with government to turn our schools into thriving centres of excellence. The Early Childhood Development programme will be stepped up, with the aim of ensuring universal access to Grade R and doubling the number of 0-4 year old children by 2014.

We reiterate our non-negotiables. Teachers should be in school, in class, on time, teaching, with no neglect of duty and no abuse of pupils! The children should be in class, on time, learning, be respectful of their teachers and each other, and do their homework.To improve school management, formal training will be a pre-condition for promoting teachers to become principals or heads of department. I will meet school principals to share our vision on the revival of our education system.

Fellow South Africans, We will increase our efforts to encourage all pupils to complete their secondary education.
The target is to increase enrolment rates in secondary schools to 95 per cent by 2014. We are also looking at innovative measures to bring back into the system pupils who dropped out of school, and to provide support. Honourable Members, we are very concerned about reports of teachers who sexually harass and abuse children, particularly girls.
We will ensure that the Guidelines on Sexual Harassment and Violence in Public Schools are widely disseminated, and that learners and teachers are familiar with and observe them.
We will take very serious, and very decisive, action against any teachers who abuse their authority and power by entering into sexual relationships with children.
To promote lifelong learning, the Adult Basic Education and Training Kha ri Gude programme will be intensified.

Compatriots, Honourable Members, We have to ensure that training and skills development initiatives in the country respond to the requirements of the economy.
The Further Education and Training sector with its 50 colleges and 160 campuses nationally will be the primary site for skills development training.
We will improve the access to higher education of children from poor families and ensure a sustainable funding structure for universities.

Fellow South Africans,We are seriously concerned about the deterioration of the quality of health care, aggravated by the steady increase in the burden of disease in the past decade and a half. We have set ourselves the goals of further reducing inequalities in health care provision, to boost human resource capacity, revitalise hospitals and clinics and step up the fight against the scourge of HIV and AIDS, TB and other diseases.

We must work together to improve the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for the Treatment, Management and Care of HIV and AIDS so as to reduce the rate of new HIV infections by 50% by the year 2011. We want to reach 80% of those in need of ARV treatment also by 2011.
We will introduce a National Health Insurance scheme in a phased and incremental manner. In order to initiate the NHI, the urgent rehabilitation of public hospitals will be undertaken through Public-Private Partnerships. We are also paying urgent attention to the issues of remuneration of health professionals to remove uncertainty in our health services.
Working together let us do more to promote quality health care, in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to halve poverty by 2014.

Fellow citizens, Together we must do more to fight crime. Our aim is to establish a transformed, integrated, modernised, properly-resourced and well-managed criminal justice system. It is also critically important to improve the efficiency of the courts and the performance of prosecutors and to enhance detective, forensic and intelligence services. This work has started in earnest, and it will be undertaken with new energy and vigour. Among the immediate targets is to ensure that we increase the number of prosecutors and Legal Aid Board personnel. We will do the same with police detectives. We changed the name of the relevant Ministry from Safety and Security to Police to emphasise that we want real operational energy in police work. This will contribute to the reduction of serious and violent crimes by the set target of 7% to 10% per annum.
The most serious attention will also be given to combating organised crime, as well as crimes against women and children.
Honourable Speaker and Chairperson, While appreciating the investment of the private sector in the security industry, we will improve the regulation of this industry.
Amongst other key initiatives, we will start the process of setting up a Border Management Agency; we shall intensify our efforts against cyber crime and identity theft, and improve systems in our jails to reduce repeat offending.

Compatriots, I wish to underline our support for the continued transformation of the judiciary.The transformation should address key issues such as the enhancement of judicial independence, entrenching internal systems of judicial accountability as well as ensuring full access to justice by all. The success of the democratic system as a whole depends on good relations of mutual respect and a spirit of partnership among the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. This is very important for our constitutional democracy.

Honourable Speaker and Chairperson,
We have repeatedly stated our commitment to fight corruption in the public service. We will pay particular attention to combating corruption and fraud in procurement and tender processes, application for drivers’ licences, social grants, IDs, and theft of police case dockets. Let me emphasise that we all have a role to play in this war against crime.
We must actively participate in Community Policing Forums. We must stop buying stolen goods, which encourages crime. We must report crime and assist the police with information to catch wrongdoers. In this way, we will move forward towards a crime-free society.

Honourable Members, since 1994 we have sought to create a united cohesive society out of our fragmented past. We are called upon to continue this mission of promoting unity in diversity and to develop a shared value system, based on the spirit of community solidarity and a caring society. Our shared value system should encourage us to become active citizens in the renewal of our country. We must build a common national identity and patriotism. We must develop a common attachment to our country, our Constitution and the national symbols. In this spirit, we will promote the National Anthem and our country’s flag and all other national symbols. Our children, from an early age, must be taught to pay allegiance to the Constitution and the national symbols, and know what it means to be South African citizens. We will ensure a common national approach to the changing of geographic and place names. This must provide an opportunity to involve all South Africans in forging an inclusive national identity, to deepen our understanding of our history and heritage.

Sport is a powerful nation-building tool. Working together we must support all our national teams from Bafana Bafana to the Proteas and the Springboks; from Banyana Banyana to Paralympians. Our teams can only do well with our support. Allow me to use this opportunity to congratulate our national teams for their performances in the past week, indeed in pulling off a hat trick. The country’s women’s netball team has done us proud by winning the Tri-Nations Netball Challenge. Congratulations to the Sevens Springboks who have become the IRB Sevens World Series Champions – and not forgetting the Blue Bulls who have won the Super 14 finals in a convincing fashion! We take this opportunity to wish the Springboks well in the upcoming series against the British and Irish Lions. It is clear that we need to invest on a large scale in sports development. We will speed up the revival of school sport and ensure that it forms part of the school curriculum. In addition we will ensure that the provision of sport facilities in poorer communities receives priority.

Hon. Speaker and Chairperson,
We have committed ourselves over the years to contribute to building a better Africa and a better world. The main goal of government for the medium term is to ensure that our foreign relations contribute to the creation of an environment conducive to sustainable economic growth and development. To this effect, we will continue to prioritise the African continent by strengthening the African Union and its structures, and give special focus to the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
Equally important, and closer to home, is the strengthening of regional integration with particular emphasis on improving the political and economic integration of SADC, towards the AU goal of a Union government. We will establish a South African Development Partnership Agency to promote developmental partnerships with other countries on the continent. South Africa will continue to assist in the reconstruction and development of the African continent especially in post-conflict situations. We will continue to encourage a peaceful and sustainable settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the two-state solution.

We will support the peace efforts of the African Union and the United Nations on the African continent, including in the Saharawi Arab Republic and Darfur in Sudan.
As the Chairperson of SADC and Facilitator, we will participate in promoting inclusive government until free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe.
The plight of the Zimbabwean people has had a negative impact on the SADC region, especially South Africa. We call upon all peace-loving countries in the world to support the inclusive government to achieve economic recovery. We will support efforts of the SADC region to resolve the situation in Madagascar.

Allow me, distinguished guests, to pay tribute to the SA National Defence Force for their sterling role in peace building in the continent. Through continental and regional bodies, we will work towards the entrenchment of democracy and the respect for human rights on the African continent. We will contribute to the strengthening of South-South relations and pursue mutually beneficial agreements with key countries of the South. We will continue to enhance relations with the developed North including the G8, and our strategic partnership with the European Union. We will continue to play an active role in ensuring the conclusion of the WTO Doha Development round of negotiations.

Honourable Speaker and Chairperson, South Africa, being a dry country requires urgent action to mitigate adverse environmental changes and to ensure the provision of water to citizens. Amongst various programmes, we will implement the Water for Growth and Development strategy, which will strengthen water management. We will continue to improve our energy efficiency and reliance on renewable energy.

Honourable Members, A developmental state requires the improvement of public services and strengthening of democratic institutions.
We have established two Ministries in the Presidency to strengthen both strategic planning as well as performance monitoring and evaluation.
To ensure delivery on our commitments, we will hold Cabinet Ministers accountable through performance instruments, using established targets and output measures, starting in July. We will also involve State-Owned Enterprises and Development Finance Institutions in the government planning processes and improve the monitoring and evaluation of their performance.

Honourable Members, fellow South Africans, To ensure that all three spheres – local, provincial and national – improve service delivery, we will speed up the establishment of a single Public Service. This administration will insist on putting people first in service delivery. We will ensure courteous and efficient service from front-counter staff in the provision of services in all government departments. In this era of renewal, we will move towards a more interactive government. To lead by example, work has begun on the establishment of a public liaison capacity in the Presidency. In addition to receiving letters and emails from the public, we will also establish a hotline for easier access. Staff will handle each public inquiry as if it was the only one, following it through all the channels until it receives the attention it deserves.

Honourable Speaker and Chairperson, The National Youth Development Agency, formed through the merger of Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the National Youth Commission will be launched on June 16 in Ekurhuleni. The institutions are being merged to enhance service and development opportunities provided to the youth. The Agency will link up unemployed young graduates with economic opportunities; strengthen efforts to expand the National Youth Service Programme and support young entrepreneurs.

Speaker and Chairperson, Distinguished Guests,
Next month our beloved Madiba will turn 91. People all over the world still continue to clamour for his presence and for him to address their crises. His values and his example of dedication to the service of humanity is a shining example in today’s troubled world. An international campaign has been initiated by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and related organisations, called Mandela Day, which sums up what Tata stands for. Mandela Day will be celebrated on the 18th of July each year. It will give people in South Africa and all over the world the opportunity to do something good to help others. Madiba was politically active for 67 years, and on Mandela Day people all over the world, in the workplace, at home and in schools, will be called upon to spend at least 67 minutes of their time doing something useful within their communities, especially among the less fortunate. Let us wholeheartedly support Mandela Day and encourage the world to join us in this wonderful campaign.

Honourable Speaker and Chairperson Fellow South Africans, We have presented to the nation our programme for the next five years. Attached to each commitment we make is a detailed project plan, with targets and critical milestones. This information will in due course be made public. Indeed as citizens we should at the same time ask ourselves what is it that we can do on our own to help promote this national programme. To be a citizen is not only about rights, it is also about responsibility, to make a contribution to make ours a better country.

We also expect to work well with opposition parties in Parliament, in the spirit of putting the country first.

In addition, Madiba taught us well that this country belongs to all, black and white. Working for reconciliation and unity will remain important as we move forward. Since the implementation of our programme will take place in the face of the economic downturn, we will have to act prudently – no wastage, no rollovers of funds – every cent must be spent wisely and fruitfully. We must cut our cloth according to our size.

Fellow South Africans, working together we can do more to realise our common vision of a better and more prosperous nation!
This is the partnership we are calling for.

I thank you!
Issued by: The Presidency
3 June 2009

Now that the election is over and the politicians have finished hunting for positions they are running away from the people. It is impossible for a poor community to get a meeting with a politician. They only send in the police to break the people’s homes and to beat and shoot and arrest the people. This is the reality of our so called democracy. This is what development really looks like – people’s houses broken down, people shot with rubber bullets, people in jail, people on the run.

Siyanda: More Illegal Evictions, Rumours of More Forced Removals and More Police Violence

Four people were shot with rubber bullets at close range after the police attacked protestors in C – Section of Siyanda <http://abahlali.org/node/4758> , Durban, this morning. The four people are all in hospital. The doctors say that one person is very badly injured.

The protest was aimed at halting construction of houses in the notoriously corrupt Khalula Housing Project. The C-Section community took the decision to halt the construction in protest against the ongoing unlawful demolition of people’s homes and rumours that people from C-Section will be forcibly removed to amatins (also known as government shacks or transit camps) in Red Hill.

All requests by the community for clear information and negotiation have been refused. After lots of pressure municipal official Bongi Hlengwa eventually agreed to meet the community to discuss their concerns about unlawful demolitions and the rumours of more forced removals at 3:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon. However he cancelled the meeting without explanation following which the decision to stop construction was taken.
More information on the crisis in Siyanda contact  Mama Kayiyaki 074 299 2898, Magama Makhanyi 074 756 6348 or Mama Nxumalo 076 579 6198

Mpola: Illegal Evictions

Four shacks were illegally demolished in Mpola, Marianhill (near Pinetown), this morning. The Municipality is knocking down shacks to build houses – but the houses are being given to outsiders. There is no consultation. There is no court order for these demolitions and they are, therefore, like the demolitions in Siyanda, illegal and criminal acts.

More information on the crisis in Mpola contact Lindiwe Ndlovu 078 994 0700

Macassar Village: Demolitions, Arrests and Shootings

Backyward dwellers occupied vacant government land in Macassar Village <http://www.abahlali.org/taxonomy/term/1255>  last night after being forced out of their backyard shacks due to extremely high and exploitative rents. Early this morning the police arrived in very large numbers to attack the occupation. While a meeting was being held to inform the new community that any police attack on it would be completely illegal the police went ahead and attacked the people.

One lady and her baby have been shot with rubber bullets. Three people have been arrested. So far we only have the name of one them – Professor Martin Legassick was arrested while taking pictures. The police are currently doing a door to door search in the area looking for Mzonke Poni.

More information on the crisis in Macassar Village contact Mzonke Poni
073 256 2036.

Update: Professor Martin Legassick is currently being released.  No word yet on the two other people who were arrested

For  more, please visit the website of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign at:
www.antieviction.org.za and follow us on www.twitter.com/antieviction

Visit Abahlali baseMjondolo at www.abahlali.org

The Poor People’s Alliance: Power to the Poor People!

Shack settlements are a poor people’s solution to a lack of affordable housing, especially in cities. In eThekwini municipality, a third of the population, and around half of the African population live in shacks. This is around 920,000 people. 16.4 per cent or about one in six of all South African households live in shacks. The number of South African households living in shacks is increasing at more than double the rate of population growth and is now nearly two million.

People live in shacks for many reasons. People move to the cities from rural areas in search of work, tertiary education, and health care. People also leave formal housing to live in shacks when they can no longer afford that housing after a breadwinner dies or loses a job. They may also come to live in the shacks because they wish to escape family violence or to have their own home independently of their parents. Some people came to avoid political violence in the 1980s. However, it is hard to find work in the cities, and when people find it, they often don’t get paid enough to afford rent in formal housing. 60.7% of people in eThekwini live on less than R427 a month. Rent might be R500 a month plus bills.

Shack communities are often referred to as ‘informal’, as ‘temporary’ and as ‘camps’, but a survey in 2001 found that “over half of the household heads with informal dwellings have lived in their homes for between five and ten years and a quarter have lived in them for over eleven years”. Shack communities are not temporary. But because they are not in places that city officials call ‘suitable’, they are refused basic services and prevented from taking their proper place in the city. The lack of services is seen as a deliberate attempt to force people to leave their homes and accept relocation.
CAUSES OF FIRES: LACK OF LAND

Shack settlements occupy unused land. Because the land is not legally theirs, people who live there live in fear of eviction. If they manage to stay on the land, the settlement is not allowed to expand and the shacks become very dense. Often people build very close together so that new shacks will not be noticed (and destroyed) by the Land Invasions Unit. Shack settlements in eThekwini are, on average, around six times more dense than the average for housing in the municipality as a whole. Crowded settlements may be up to 31 times the average density. In some communities the only space that is not for housing is the paths between the houses.

LACK OF HOUSING

Fires happen a lot in the shacks and not in rich areas because shacks burn easily. If a paraffin stove is knocked over in a shack, people inside have less than a minute before the fire will kill anyone inside. Shacks burn easily because they are made of wood and plastic and cardboard. People are not allowed to formalise their shacks themselves. If someone replaces a plastic wall with a brick wall the Land Invasions Unit can destroy the whole shack.

DENIAL OF ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY

Ask anyone from a shack settlement the causes of fires and they will tell you: candles and paraffin stoves. Open flames were the biggest single determined cause of fires in informal dwellings in 2006, and nearly half of the known causes. The eThekwini Municipality will not allow electricity in shacks. This is despite the fact that paraffin is more expensive than electricity, and hard to afford for many people. Paraffin is also a danger to health. Many shack dwellers note that paraffin fumes cause chest problems. Children in the shacks are poisoned after drinking it by accident.

Since 2001, when eThekwini’s Slums Clearance Programme was announced, the municipality has refused to extend electricity to shacks as they are now considered ‘temporary’. The policy states that ‘lack of funding’ as the reason that electrification of informal settlements has been discontinued. However, the Municipality has continued to spend public money on non-essential projects like the theme-park and casino. The refusal to allow electrify shacks sends a clear message to shack dwellers, whose children must grow up without electricity while seeing electricity in the houses around them. How long will shack dwellers have to remain at the risk of fires while waiting for their settlements to be upgraded or developed?

Instead of electricity, the Municipality pays for Disaster Management to provide blankets and food after fires. Sometimes they pay to put shack dwellers in tents or transit camps. Sometimes they pay for funerals.

It is the duty of authorities and government to make cities safe through the provision of basic services, such as electricity. We would like to ask for a review of the decision to suspend electrification of informal settlements. If the issue is saving money; does disaster response and burials use the same money? We would like to balance the money used to respond to fires. We would like to hear them say “we are saving ten per cent at least when you die, when your shack gets burnt”. If it’s not that, we will see what it is. – S’bu Zikode, Kennedy Road, Durban

Abahlali baseMjondolo acknowledges that there is a national electricity shortage in South Africa but asks why the poor must be blamed and forced to pay the price. The big corporations run their businesses day and night using electricity for profit while the shack dwellers use it just to light and cook. The refusal to electrify shacks cannot be justified by the Municipality using the technocratic language of available resources. The refusal of electricity is a political choice that hurts the poor.

WATER

Water provision in informal settlements is inadequate. At Kennedy Road in Durban there are 8,000 people sharing five communal standpipes. At Foreman Road there are a similar number of people sharing an ablution block with one standpipe and five sinks for washing. As shack settlements do not have piped water, when there is a fire, unless it is close to the taps, it is hard for people to put it out themselves.

EMERGENCY SERVICES

Shack fires are a big problem for the Fire Service; over a quarter of fires in South Africa are shack fires. They are the biggest single type of fire after bush fires. The Fire Department now comes to shack settlements. Before, shack dwellers would have to ask their neighbours in formal housing to phone the Fire Department for them. They seem to come quicker to settlements that are known for the struggle, and in some places, not so well known for the struggle, they are still much too slow.

The Fire Service is not the only Municipal service that fails to respond properly to shack communities. Ambulance and Police are also slow to respond if they know calls are from shack settlements. People die waiting for an ambulance.

REFUSE COLLECTION

Refuse collection in shack settlements is frequently poor or non-existent. This leads to unsanitary conditions that are often blamed on the residents. On 26 January this year a four month old baby Nkosi Cwaka died after being bitten by a rat at Kennedy Road. In July a three month old baby was also bitten. As uncollected refuse that leads to vermin is often burnt, the problems of fires and rats are related. Fires, and rats, are a result of the policy of local government to refuse life saving basic services to shack settlements.

EFFECTS OF SHACK FIRES:

INJURY AND DEATH

In 2006, 141 people died in shack fires, nearly 60% of all deaths in fires and more than deaths in all other types of fires combined. Data from the Medical Research Council suggests that the number of deaths is higher still. Between 2001 and 2005, a total of 1003 people died in shack fires in South Africa’s five largest cities; an average of 200 deaths a year in these cities alone.

The Kennedy Road settlement has been badly affected by fires, causing a number of deaths. Mhlengi Khumalo, who was one year old, died in a fire in October 2005, the third fire that month. In August 2006 Zithulele Dhlomo was killed in a fire when the plastic sheeting roof of his shack melted. In April 2007 three people, Ephraime Phulungula, Nobuhle’s sister Ntombi and Ben Mhlakwana, a mother of two, died in a fire that left 100 families homeless. In October 2007 Mamu-Khuzwayo died in a fire that destroyed the shack where she lived with 12 other people.

HOMELESSNESS AND DESTITUTION

Thousands of people are made homeless every year after shack fires. For many of them it will not be the first time. Often people will stay with friends or family in the area, or in other areas. They may also stay at their work places. If a fire happens at night when people are sleeping, or they are not in the area, many people are left with only the clothes they are wearing. When people store money in jondolos, years of savings may be wiped out by a fire. A recent fire in Motala Heights destroyed one woman’s savings of over R15,000. Personal items (such as photos) are also lost and can never be replaced by second-hand clothes, blankets and tinned food.

LOSS OF LIVELIHOOD

Shack dwellers’ livelihoods are often precarious. When fires burn peoples’ homes and belongings they are less able to earn a living. Time at work will be lost. Tools or stock are destroyed. Informal businesses are lost. Matric, diplomas and training certificates, as well as ID books (needed to access state healthcare and grants) are also burnt, requiring a lengthy and expensive process of replacement. Student’s books and uniforms have also been destroyed – affecting attendance and grades.

TRAUMA

Fires terrorise communities in the shacks. Shack dwellers go to sleep every night knowing that they may be woken by shouting and need to flee for their lives. People may leave their houses everyday wondering whether their home will still be there when they come back.

MUNICIPAL RESPONSES TO FIRES:

DE-ELECTRIFICATION

We ask them who told them to come here and disconnect the lights and so. [...] They never tell us where they came from or full information. The security had guns and they stop us from asking. If we ask them what they doing or who told them to come they say they going to shoot us or going to kick us – Bongo Dlamini, Motala Heights

Since 2001, electrification has not only been discontinued – the municipality has pursued a dangerous campaign of armed de-electrification against shack settlements. This is often accompanied by police violence and theft. In some cases this tactic seems to be a response to mobilisation by Abahlali. The day after Abahlali announced that they would be challenging the legality of the KwaZulu Natal Slums Act in court the Municipality arrived with ‘heavily armed’ police and a dog unit at Kennedy Road. They made over 300 disconnections and destroyed the cables. In November 2007 when Abahlali marched on Mayor Mlaba demanding electrification to stop fires, peaceful protesters were attacked and beaten by police and 14 people arrested. At the eMagwaveni settlement in Tongaat, electricity connections have led to police violence, including ‘a police shooting at a meeting held by residents to address the issue of electricity’. Pemary Ridge also faces tension with police over electricity. Philani Zungu, an Abahlali activist who lives at Pemary Ridge has been arrested and charged for unlawful connections. He has not denied the charges, but points out that Pemary Ridge has not burnt and demands to be judged on that fact. When access to electricity is criminalised, the very poor have to break the law to keep their communities safe. People that take these risks on behalf of their communities are considered heroes. It is the eThekwini Municipality’s policy to deny electricity to people living in shacks that is considered criminal.

NEGLECT

When a shack burns down in some areas, nothing happens. After years of struggle the Fire Department has started to attend shack fires. The media has also started to attend. However, people denied adequate services and emergency response also complain of neglect by the politicians who are supposed to represent them. In many areas, people in shacks frequently complain that their councillors are not interested in them, and only come to the settlements at election time, with more empty promises. Many shack dwellers feel betrayed and discriminated against by local government and politicians who have exploited their votes and naturalised their poverty.

‘They promise so many times to build the houses, but they failed to do that. I don’t trust the municipality or Department of Housing. I think they don’t care about the people in shacks. They think if you staying in shacks you not same like others. They think we are short-minded because we are staying in this place. They think it our right to stay here, we think it’s our right to stay in rooms like others, like whites, like coloureds, like Indians, but the municipality don’t think like us. They think we deserve to stay like this. They think we deserve to die like this.’ – Lungile Mgube, Kennedy Road, Durban

BLAME/EDUCATION

When there is a fire the victims of that fire are frequently blamed for the fire. Alcohol is often also mentioned as a contributory factor. However, people who live in middle class houses also drink alcohol, also knock things over and also have accidents. eThekwini Municipality’s refusal to electrify shacks, or provide adequate housing,is the reason why a small accident in a house just a small accident, while a small accident in a shack leaves hundreds of people homeless. It is insulting to assume people need to be educated to use candles and stoves while the causes of fires are lack of electricity and lack of housing.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Shack fires are usually treated as ‘natural disasters’ and eThekwini Disaster Management is directed to provide short-term relief; basic blankets and food. However, many shack dwellers are very critical of the Municipality responding to shack fires as disasters but not taking any steps to mitigate the problem and prevent them from happening.

At Ash Road, Pietermaritzburg, after a fire on 9 June, where 20 shacks were burnt, the Municipality has refused to let those left homeless rebuild their shacks. They are still sleeping in cold, wet, overcrowded tents. One person has already died of pneumonia. They are forced to remain in the tents while emergency accommodation is being built. In this situation, the provision of supplies from Disaster Management is regarded as an insult.

They just provided tent, 10kg rice, no stove – how can you cook it with no stove? Rice without stove is useless! Tents, mattress, food, no stove. They are just decorating material. – Flo, Ash Road, Pietermaritzburg

TENTS AND TRANSIT CAMPS

Since the Slums Clearance Programme was adopted in 2001 the municipality has prohibited the rebuilding of shacks after fires. Although residents at Kennedy Road started clearing the debris and rebuilding before the ground had cooled, it was only to watch as their partially rebuilt houses were bulldozed by the Land Invasions Unit under armed police protection two days later.

Currently Msunduzi Municipality is spending R4.3m building temporary accommodation for residents of Ash Road settlement displaced by fire and floods. 200 people were made homeless by flooding at the beginning of the year. They were refused permission to rebuild their shacks and were forced to stay in tents for six months while the Municipality arranged tin shacks. Residents are worried that the Municipality is using disasters to remove people, now or later, by forcing them into purpose built temporary accommodation. The Municipality’s response to residents expressing their concerns over this accommodation has been removal of the community’s toilets and taps.

At Jadhu Place on April 20 2008, 300 shacks burnt down, leaving 1,500 people homeless. The municipality refused to allow people to rebuild and instead provided tents. People in the settlement were forced to stay in tents, or with friends or family in the area (or elsewhere) for weeks while the municipality began building standardised tin shacks, known by residents as a ‘transit camp’. The municipality is still building the transit camp at Jadhu Place and has reportedly said that they are going to place all the people there in tin shacks. However, residents are now unhappy because the lack of communication from the municipality leads them to fear that there are no plans to move them out of their new (inadequate) temporary accommodation. They note that residents at Mayville who were also moved into tin shacks after a fire and told that it was a temporary measure but have now been there about two years.

REBUILDING MATERIALS

At Kennedy Road, people decided to refuse the transit camp and to rebuild themselves. After a while the City supported them with building materials and the rebuild has been fully completed in around a week. The provision of materials to Kennedy Road may be a response to Abahlali’s mobilisation, but rebuilding on site is also now identified by municipal officials as the preferred option after a shack fire. There may also now be a move towards provision of materials for shack settlements after fires. Provision of materials for rebuilding is something that the Municipality should now replicate for all communities after fires. The gain won by Kennedy Road should now be claimed by all settlements.

DEMANDS: In response to the fires, Abahlali is demanding:

- Immediate provision of taps, hoses and fire extinguishers;

- Electrification by the city and support for electrification by residents;

- Democratic upgrading of all settlements;

- Good service from the fire brigade and adequate supply of building materials after fires;

- Compensation from the City for all the people that have suffered in the fires from 2001 until now.

* This article was written by Matt Birkinshaw did his MA on Abahlali baseMjondolo at the University of London and then worked, living in a squat to save money, to be able to come and spend some months doing solidarity work with Abahlali baseMjondolo in Durban. He has lived in the Kennedy Road settlement (where his first shack was lost in a fire) and the Foreman Road settlement. After he had been living in Kennedy Road for two weeks a meeting was held to see how Matt could best contribute and he was asked to produce a report on shack fires. In two weeks time he will be leaving for Cape Town to do solidarity work with Abahlali baseMjondolo’s sister organisation, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign.

A more comprehensive report, written by Matt Birkinshaw on behalf of Abahlali baseMjondolo, is available online here.

(Source: Pambazuka News)

The 30th anniversary of Steve Biko’s murder in police custody (on September 12 1977) comes almost 15 years after the formal ending of apartheid in South Africa. This fact alone raises several fundamental questions: how do we remember Biko? What contributions did the black consciousness movement make to the course of black liberation in South Africa and the world? How does the conception of black liberation, as enunciated by Biko and his colleagues, square up against the realities of post-apartheid South Africa?

Indeed, Biko lives today in South Africa, but so do the material outcomes of colonialism, segregation, apartheid and – most recently – neo-liberal economic policies. South Africa continues to be characterised by sharply contrasting realities.

Under the terms of the negotiated settlement of the early 1990s, the ANC won political – but not economic – power. Less than 5 percent of the country’s land has changed hands from white to black since 1994 and four white-owned conglomerates continue to control 80 percent of the Johannesburg stock exchange.

Black economic empowerment (BEE) schemes have created black millionaires in the thousands, making South Africa the fourth-fastest growing location for millionaires after South Korea, India and Russia.

But the vast majority of South Africans remain at the other extreme – these are the 45 percent of South Africans who are unemployed; the one in four who live in shacks located in shantytowns without running water or electricity. This is the country Biko continues to haunt, and to inspire …

Rather than a stage of psychological liberation, Biko considered “real needs” – the experience of “our common plight and struggle” – the challenge for black consciousness philosophy. At the same time, he insisted that radical intellectuals not only reject the racist regime and its invention of “Bantustan” politics but play an important role by using what they have learnt in the apartheid schools and colleges against the regime itself.

Biko’s concept of black liberation anticipates the post-apartheid reality of black poverty and exclusion alongside white wealth, legitimised by a black presence in government.

It has often proven difficult to describe this phenomenon, especially since the 1994 “miracle” destabilised discourses and ways of seeing which were rooted in the black experience such as black consciousness. How do we name a social political formation that is managed by former liberation fighters, but remains in the service of the apartheid status quo?

When black consciousness appeared on the scene [in the mid-1960s] it loudly proclaimed its own name in its own language and created a new black whose raison d’être was the audacity to be, particularly, in the face of white supremacist power. When young activists of the black consciousness movement entered prison on Robben Island, they confronted the old political leaders who had been sitting in jail for decades with little hope and little fire for rebellion.

The new blacks appeared like a whirlwind, confounding the old leaders. Listen to Nelson Mandela recall the shock of this defiant quest to claim one’s right to be:

“These fellows refused to conform to even basic prison regulations. One day I was at head office conferring with the commanding officer. As I was walking out with the major, we came upon a young prisoner being interviewed by a prison official. The young man, who was no more than 18, was wearing his prison cap in the presence of senior officers, a violation of regulations. Nor did he stand up when the major entered the room, another violation. The major looked at him and said, ‘Please take off your cap.’ The prisoner ignored him. Then in an irritated tone, the major said, ‘Take off your cap.’ The prisoner turned and looked at the major and said, ‘What for?’ I could hardly believe what I had just heard. It was a revolutionary question: What for?”

There are at least three main memories of Biko contending in South Africa today. The first finds expression in the black business class, through its claim to be entitled to the white wealth created from the exploitation of colonialism and apartheid. The BEE programme mobilises the common historical experience of oppression and exclusion by black South Africans to carve for itself a slice in the white world. The 1994 political settlement made it possible for those blacks most prepared to occupy the position of the whites in society to do so in the name of transformation without transforming the very structures of accumulation, production and redistribution created by colonialism and apartheid.

Biko advocated the rejection of such a scheme: “We believe that we have to reject their economic system, their political system and values that govern human relationships … We are not really fighting against the government; we are fighting the entire system.”

Biko had foreseen that an economic model which integrates blacks into the very structures of colonialism and apartheid would create an unhealthy and self-defeating competition among blacks: “It is an integration in which black will compete with black, using each other as rungs up a stepladder leading them to white values. It is an integration in which the black man will have to prove himself in terms of these values before meriting acceptance and ultimate assimilation, and in which the poor will grow poorer and rich richer in a country where the poor have always been black.”

The second contestation of Biko’s memory comes from the state-linked political and bureaucratic classes. Their ascendance into the higher echelons of the post-apartheid bureaucracy has in practice also mobilised a version of black consciousness which, on the face of it, privileges blackness. The discourse of “transformation”, “representivity” “and reflecting the demographics” of society are the concepts employed in the process …

As a bureaucracy, this confronts the majority of blacks as a cold, arrogant, often violent and indifferent system. The Biko who these two main post-apartheid black classes have appropriated is a Biko who is mute in the face of continued black suffering, exclusion and humiliation.

The business and political classes have nothing to say to the multitudes who live in the shacks and the RDP [reconstruction and development programme] houses that have been described as dog kennels; who continue to suffer unacceptable infant mortality rates; whose hospitals are less than places of abandonment and death; who continue to die from Aids. In a sense, Biko’s thought has been reduced to slogans on T-shirts weaned of all its radical content as a philosophy of black liberation, and images of Biko have come to adorn glossy magazines.

The third contestation of Biko is the shout of the black majority for whom the formal ending of apartheid has not yet altered circumstances in any meaningful way.

This living Biko finds expression in the everyday struggles of the black masses for dignity and freedom. As Imraan Buccus writes, “Since 2004 an unprecedented wave of popular protest has ebbed and flowed across the country … This makes South Africa ‘the most protest-rich country in the world’.”

It is the explicit contention of the editors that Biko lives in these spaces of resistance which now appear and disappear and are revived in different forms and different parts of the post-apartheid society. The legacy carriers of the black consciousness philosophy are the excluded majority who continue to make life under extreme conditions and who, as Frantz Fanon once put it, cannot conceive of life otherwise than in the form of a battle against exploitation, misery and hunger.

An array of movements and organisations are demanding a dignity and a recognition that fundamentally challenges neoliberal post-apartheid South Africa. Every election cycle since the 2004 national election has seen movements across the country lift cries of “No Land! No Vote!” or “No Housing! No Jobs! No Vote!” signalling their refusal to participate in an unsatisfying “ballot box democracy”.

Instead, they demand a genuine reciprocity, a different notion of politics, “a true humanity”, as Biko puts it “where power politics will have no place”.

If a politics that transcends the current reality is to emerge, it would in all likelihood emerge as these new movements and forms of self-activity continue to develop their own voice.

• Taken from “Biko Lives! Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko”, edited by Andile Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander and Nigel C Gibson and published by Palgrave Macmillan.

(Source: Sunday Independent, September 07, 2008)

September 10
Housing: Grootboom Case
Speakers: Judge Dennis Davis,
Peter Roman, student from the SSLJ

September 17
Accountability: Metrorail – Public Transport
Speakers: Judith February, Mr Van Minnen

September 24
Health: TAC Case
Speakers: Nonkosi Khumalo, Louis Reynolds

October 01
Education: 14 years and still no case
Speakers: Mamphela Ramphele
Representative of Equal Education Khayelitsha

October 08
Equality: Refugee Rights and Hate Crimes
Speakers: Mahmoed, Fatima Hassan, Phumi Mtetwa

October 15
Safety and Security: K vs. Minister of Safety and Security
Speakers: Zackie Achmat, Lorna Martin

Abahlali baseMjondolo: ‘a home for all’

QQ Section Press Statement and AGM Invitation

For Immediate Release – 2nd July, 2008

Event: QQ Section Annual General Meeting
Date: 5 July, 2008, 12 noon
Time: 12h00-16h00
Venue: QQ Section Community Crèche
RSVP and directions: 073-256-2036

At 12h00 on Saturday, 5th of July, 2008, the abahlali of QQ Section in Khayelitsha will hold an Annual General Meeting to approve the launch of Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape. The event will be held at the new QQ Community Crèche that was built and funded by abahlali.

QQ Section residents have been living under appalling conditions for more than 20 years. Even the advent of our so-called democracy has been meaningless to abahlali (residents) of QQ. For us, all the rights to basic services, land, and safety which are stipulated in our country’s constitution, signify a democracy on paper but not in our everyday lives. In QQ Section, we are 620 families who have no access to electricity, no toilets except a nearby field, no sanitation system, and only 8 water taps to share between over 3,000 abahlali.

But because we have been ignored for too long, QQ Section will soon vote to officially join Abahlali baseMjondolo (the South African Shackdwellers Movement). The purpose of joining AbM, a movement that began in the Durban jondolos, is to ensure that all the rights of people living in informal settlements are being recognised, respected, and listened to by those in positions of authority (the government, NGOs, and the private sector). In short, AbM exists to ensure that no one but ourselves speak for ourselves and no one but ourselves govern ourselves.

An additional aim of this shackdweller’s movement is to build relationships between informal settlements and to explore alternatives to the current developmental approach to government. We will appose the forced removals of our communities and top-down housing policies of government officials.

Abahlali baseMjondolo, which has been working with QQ Section for four years now, was originally launched in 2004 from Kennedy Road in Durban, has now become one of the leading social movements in the country. AbM is not a political party and does not have any working relationship or affiliation with any political party or vanguard organisation.

For this landmark event, representatives from Abahlali baseMjondolo will be coming all the way from Durban to support residents. Other social movements such as AbM’s alliance partner, the Anti-Eviction Campaign, will be attending and bringing the support of their respective communities.

The Mayor Helen Zille has been invited to attend along with the local ward councillor and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi. Their authority to speak for the poor will be challenged by abahlali. Also, all government officials who attend will be handed memorandums about the issues affecting our community. Dan Plato, Mayoral Committee Member for Housing has been asked to engage on the following issues raised by abahlali:

∑ Relocation of QQ Section residents
∑ Time-lines regarding housing issues
∑ Declaring QQ Section as ‘in-situ upgradeable’
∑ The city’s immediate intervention plans for this years winter floods

In addition to government officials, a number of NGOs, academics and well-wishers will be invited to attend, listen to and learn from abahlali. They will not be permitted to speak; the AGM is a space for the community to speak and teach. In the next few months, QQ Section is planning on building more crèches, youth centres and toilets to improve the lives of residents. For this purpose, the community requests that each individual whose attendance is accepted, make a donation to the community as well as bring along one of their favorite books to help us with our new community library.

For further details, directions and donation instructions, please contact Mzonke Poni, QQ Section Community Committee Chairperson @ 073-256-2036

For more information on QQ Section, click here.