Marikana land occupation (Durban)

Marikana Land Occupation (Durban)

Marikana Land Occupation (Durban) in Cato Crest, South Africa

In March 2013 around a thousand people occupied a piece of land in Cato Crest, Durban and named it Marikana after the Marikana miners' strike.^[4][5][6] Mayor James Nxumulo blamed the occupation on migrants from the Eastern Cape.^[7][8] He was strongly criticised for this by the shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo who said that "The City Hall is red with blood".^[9][10]

Conflict

The land occupation resulted in considerable conflict.^[11] On 13 March the occupiers chased ANC councillor Mzimuni Ngiba out of his house and the general area.^[12] Later on a community leader, Thembinkosi Qumbelo, was assassinated.^[13] His murder was believed to be linked to the land occupation.^[14] A second man, unnamed in media reports, was killed in the same attack.^[15] On 25 June 2013 another activist involved in the occupation, Nkululeko Gwala, a member of the social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo was assassinated.^[16][17][18] On 30 September 2013 Nqobile Nzuza, a seventeen-year-old girl, also linked to Abahlali baseMjondolo, was shot dead (two shots in the back) by the police during a protest.^{[19] [20]}

Evictions

The municipality illegally evicted the occupiers on a number of occasions^[21] despite court orders interdicting them from evicting.^[22] The evictions by eThekwini's Land Invasion Unit backed up by police have been violent with police shooting residents with rubber bullets. One resident of Marikana named Mngomezulu was shot in the stomach with live ammunition by the Land Invasion Unit^[23] and remained in ICU for weeks.^[24] Friends of Mngomezulu reported that they feared that we would poisoned by supporters of the local ANC councillor while in hospital.^[25]

The illegal evictions have been condemned by the South African General Council of the Bar.^[26][27] It has been reported that as a result of defying the courts, eThekwini municipal officials, including municipal manager Sibusiso Sithole, could face imprisonment.^[28] The Socio-Economic Rights Institute called the actions of the eThekwini municipality "criminal" saying that it "tears the fabric of our constitutional democracy."^[29]

The occupation was destroyed by the City for the 9th time on 23 December 2013.^[30][31]

Arrests

There were a number of arrests of Abahlali baseMjondolo members during the conflict. The most prominent arrest was that of the movement's then General Secretary Bandile Mdlalose on the charge of public violence. The arrest caused a lot of controversy with commentators labeling the arrest "politically motivated" and being based on "trumped up charges".^[32][33]

Response

Abahlali baseMjondolo organised a response to the evictions and marched in the thousands on the Durban City Hall on 15 September 2013. One of the main demands of the march was for the evictions in Cato Crest to cease.^[34]

After receiving no response to their memorandum, the movement began blocking roads and burning tyres in Cato Crest and other shack settlements claiming to be demanding "answers to all our unanswered memoranda."^[35]

Court Cases

Abahlali baseMjondolo won cases against the provincial Minister for Human Settlements, Ravi Pillay, and the eThekwini Municipality, in both the Constitutional Court and the Durban High Court. These judgments showed the repeated evictions of the occupation to have been unlawful.^[36]

Online News Reports

• Shack dwellers claim land, ENCA, 2013 (Television)
• Rights Group Wins Major Victory Limiting Evictions, ENCA, 2015 (Television)

See also

• Marikana Land Occupation (Cape Town)
• Abahlali baseMjondolo
• Political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa

Notes and references

Political history of South Africa Defunct polities Kingdom of Mapungubwe (c. 1075–c. 1220) Dutch Cape Colony (1652–1806) Mthethwa Paramountcy (c. 1780–1817) Ndwandwe Kingdom (c. 1780–1819) Cape Colony (1795–1910) Zulu Kingdom (1816–97) Natalia Republic (1839–43) Natal Colony (1843–1910) Orange Free State (1854–1902) South African Republic (1856–1902) Griqualand East (1861–79) Griqualand West (1870–73) Goshen (1882–83) Stellaland (1882–85) Nieuwe Republiek (1884–88) Upingtonia (1885–87) Klein Vrystaat (1886–91) Orange River Colony (1902–10) Transvaal Colony (1902–10) Union of South Africa (1910–61) Transkei (1976–94) Bophuthatswana (1977–94) Venda (1979–94) Ciskei (1981–94) Events 1652–1815 Dutch settlement French Huguenot settlement Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars Xhosa Wars Battle of Muizenberg Battle of Blaauwberg Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 1815–1910 Mfecane 1820 Settlers Great Trek Boer Republics Mineral Revolution Witwatersrand Gold Rush South African Wars South Africa Act 1909 1910–1948 Maritz Rebellion Rand Rebellion Great Depression 1946 African Mine Workers' Union strike Bantustans Apartheid era 1948 general election Apartheid legislation Internal resistance Coloured-vote constitutional crisis Defiance Campaign Congress of the People Freedom Charter Women's March 1956 1957 Alexandra bus boycott Sharpeville massacre 1960 republic referendum International isolation Academic boycott Disinvestment Sporting boycott Rivonia Trial Tar Baby Option Durban Moment Border War Israeli alliance Israel–South Africa Agreement Soweto Uprising Weapons of mass destruction Project Coast Constructive engagement Church Street bombing 1983 constitutional reform referendum Rubicon speech Third Force CODESA 1992 apartheid referendum Saint James Church massacre Bophuthatswana conflict Shell House massacre Post-apartheid 1994 general election Government of National Unity Reconstruction and Development Programme Truth and Reconciliation Commission Arms Deal African Renaissance Xenophobia Marikana massacre 2012 Western Cape farm workers' strike Nkandlagate 2014 platinum strike #RhodesMustFall protests #FeesMustFall student protests Political culture Afrikaner Calvinism Baasskap Boerehaat Day of the Vow Greater South Africa Honorary whites Rooi gevaar Slavery Swart gevaar Uitlander Volkstaat Defunct organisations Civic and political organisations Afrikaner Bond Afrikaner Broederbond Afrikaner Party AITUP APO AVF BPC Black Sash CDA CTEG COD Congress Alliance COSG CP Dominion Party DP (1973–1977) DP (1989–2000) DPP ECC FA FD Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners GNP Het Volk HNP ID IP ISL Jeugkrag Johannesburg Reform Committee Labour Party (1910–1958) Labour Party (1969–1994) Liberal Party NA NCP NIC NLP NNP NP NPP NRP NUSAS PFP Progressive Party (Cape Colony) Progressive Party PRP Radio Freedom Reform Party SABP SADECO SAIC SASO SAYCO SAYRCO South African Party (Cape Colony) South African Party (1911–1934) South African Party (1977–1980) TNIP Torch Commando UFP United Party Unionist Party Volksparty Workers Party WOSA Trade unions and social movements APF BCM FOSATU ICU MUSA NEUM PAWE SAAPAWU UDF Umkosi Wezintaba Paramilitary and terrorist organisations APLA ARM BBB Boeremag Greyshirts MK Ossewabrandwag Orde van die Dood SANF Histories of political parties African National Congress Democratic Alliance Pan Africanist Congress of Azania Category