Abahlali BaseMjondolo, a grassroots organisation that fights for the poor and marginalised, emerged in the post-apartheid era more than 17 years ago and now has a paid-up membership of over 100,000 in five provinces. Its leaders have triggered the alarm many times that its members are under siege. This week 30-year old activist Ayanda Ngila was gunned down while tending to a communal garden in Cato Crest.
A group of men and women sat in sombre silence at eKhenana Commune hall in the Durban informal settlement of Cato Crest at noon on Wednesday as it dawned that Ayanda Ngila, a 30-year-old community leader, has gone forever.
Ngila, for example, spent more than six months in jail — between March and September 2021 — facing charges of murder.citing weak evidence and saying that key state witnesses recanted their statements and that there was no prospect of a successful prosecution. According to Statistics SA, the eThekwini Municipality, which spans an area of approximately 2,297km², is home to some 3.5 million people.
Thapelo Mohapi, secretary-general of Abahlali BaseMjondolo, concurs, saying his movement is a “grassroots democratic social movement of the poor”. He said eKhenana Commune had come under sustained attacks from the eThekwini Municipality, the local ANC leadership, the police and the justice system because it is a model “socialist commune” where poor, marginalised and unemployed community members are “pooling together” to start a communal vegetable garden, poultry farm and community tuck-shop and kitchen to feed and sustain each other.
In September 2014 Nqobile Nzuza, an Abahlali student who was 17 years old, was shot dead by the police during a peaceful protest in Cato Crest. Addressing the gathering, S’bu Zikode, Abahlali BaseMjondolo president, said the organisation’s members must know that they are at war and they are on their own.“In November I spoke to Bheki Cele to tell him about the situation we are facing here in eKhenana. He said he will speak to the provincial commissioner but up to now, nothing has been done.
Mbali Kubheka, a lawyer who represented Ngila and others in their trial, said she “will make sure that Ngila’s family and community members get justice” and those responsible for his killing are arrested and prosecuted. She said she is suing the State on behalf of her clients for unlawful arrest and prosecution.
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