STEVEN FRIEDMAN: Abahlali murders show that your right to speaks still depends on where you live
Will those of us who are free to speak ever hear those who are not? Last weekend, the shack dweller movement Abahlali baseMjondolo buried S’fiso Ngcobo, who was chair of its branch at eKukhayeni outside Durban. Ngcobo was shot dead a week ago. Another Abahlali member, Ndumiso Mnguni, was shot and wounded. Five Abahlali activists have been murdered in the past eight months. Abahlali is clearly the victim of a sustained attempt to use violence to suppress it. It is a target because it is not a friend of local power-holders in the Durban region. It has called for vote boycotts, makes it clear that it rejects the current government (it controversially endorsed the DA in the last election) and has successfully taken the authorities to court on behalf of people living in shacks. The dominant ANC faction in the province has signalled clearly that it sees the organisation as a threat — Abahlali activists are, from time to time, hauled before the courts only for the cases to be dropped becau...
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