Kennedy Road, Durban
Encyclopedia
Kennedy Road is a shack settlement, in the suburb of Clare Estate in Durban
, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal
in South Africa
. It was founded by a Mr. Mzobe in the late 1970s. The land on which the settlement was founded is steep and runs down between the Municipal Dump and the 6 lane Umgeni Road. At the time of the occupation, the suburb of Clare Estate was reserved, under apartheid legislation, for the exclusive use of people of Indian descent.
The initial occupation was covert with shacks hidden in the bush and people being careful not to be seen entering or exiting the bush on the land. But the early 1980s, the settlement had attained critical mass and the occupation became overt.
Various attempts to force people off the land were resisted and by the late 1980s the City accepted the permanency of the settlement. A development NGO linked to big capital, the Urban Foundation, began the upgrade and installed electricity and toilets and built a hall.
However, in 1995, a year after the end of apartheid, the decision to allow the settlement to become permanent was withdrawn. Since then, there has been constant pressure for people to accept relocation to the rural periphery of the city. Thus far, this pressure has been successfully resisted.
On 19 March 2005, around 800 people from Kennedy Road blocked Umgeni Road and held it against the police for four hours, resulting in 14 arrests. In October that year, the Kennedy Road Development Committee, together with Committees from 11 other settlements, announced the formation of a city wide movement of shack dwellers known as Abahlali baseMjondolo
. By the end of 2007 the movement had members in 40 settlements in the cities of Durban, Pinetown
, and Pietermaritzburg
and smaller towns like Port Shepstone and Tongaat. 14 of these settlements are affiliated to the movement and are known as the autonomous settlements. In the other settlements the movement has branches with a minimum size of 50.
The settlement is now home to approximately 7000 people. Many marches and other protests have been organized against the City Council by residents of the Kennedy Road settlement and it has often been occupied by the police and the army. S'bu Zikode
, the head of the shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo
, lives in the settlement. It is also home to the famous isicathamiya
choir the Dlamini King Brothers
, 3 churches, a resident run crèche, a resident run library and a football team.
Bishop Dladla of the Zion Christian Church
lives in the settlement.
and that the attack was carefully planned and sanctioned by the local police. However this has been denied by the ANC and the police who blame a 'forum' associated with Abahlali baseMjondolo for the violence. The attacks have garnered national and international condemnation with some people labelling the events a 'coup'. Churches also issued statements of condemnation.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Safety and Security held meetings for stakeholders however these were condemned as unrepresentative by church leaders and AbM representatives. AbM said that they are victims of a 'purge' and that they refused to sit side by side with attackers and have called for an independent investigation into the attacks. A number of well known intellectuals, including Noam Chomsky
, have expressed concern about the attacks and Human Rights Watch
, the Centre for the Study of Democracy, The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights and Amnesty International
supported the call for an independent commission of inquiry into the attacks. The government ignored this call.
Abahlali baseMjondolo claimed that violence and intimidation of its members in the settlement continued for many months after the initial attacks. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions in Geneva issued a statement that expressed "grave concern about reports of organized intimidation and threats to members of advocacy group, Abahlali baseMjondolo."
On 18 July 2011, the case against the 12 accused members of Abahlali baseMjondolo collapsed. The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa issued a statement saying that the "charges were based on evidence which now appears almost
certainly to have been manufactured" and that the Magistrate had described the state witnesses as "“belligerent”, “unreliable” and “dishonest”.
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It was founded by a Mr. Mzobe in the late 1970s. The land on which the settlement was founded is steep and runs down between the Municipal Dump and the 6 lane Umgeni Road. At the time of the occupation, the suburb of Clare Estate was reserved, under apartheid legislation, for the exclusive use of people of Indian descent.
The initial occupation was covert with shacks hidden in the bush and people being careful not to be seen entering or exiting the bush on the land. But the early 1980s, the settlement had attained critical mass and the occupation became overt.
Various attempts to force people off the land were resisted and by the late 1980s the City accepted the permanency of the settlement. A development NGO linked to big capital, the Urban Foundation, began the upgrade and installed electricity and toilets and built a hall.
However, in 1995, a year after the end of apartheid, the decision to allow the settlement to become permanent was withdrawn. Since then, there has been constant pressure for people to accept relocation to the rural periphery of the city. Thus far, this pressure has been successfully resisted.
On 19 March 2005, around 800 people from Kennedy Road blocked Umgeni Road and held it against the police for four hours, resulting in 14 arrests. In October that year, the Kennedy Road Development Committee, together with Committees from 11 other settlements, announced the formation of a city wide movement of shack dwellers known as Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo , also known as AbM or the red shirts is a shack-dwellers' movement in South Africa which is well known for its campaigning for public housing. The movement grew out of a road blockade organized from the Kennedy Road shack settlement in the city of Durban in early 2005 and now...
. By the end of 2007 the movement had members in 40 settlements in the cities of Durban, Pinetown
Pinetown
Pinetown is a small city just inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Pinetown is situated 16 km west of Durban at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet . It was established in 1850 around the Wayside Hotel, itself built the year before along the main wagon route between Durban and...
, and Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...
and smaller towns like Port Shepstone and Tongaat. 14 of these settlements are affiliated to the movement and are known as the autonomous settlements. In the other settlements the movement has branches with a minimum size of 50.
The settlement is now home to approximately 7000 people. Many marches and other protests have been organized against the City Council by residents of the Kennedy Road settlement and it has often been occupied by the police and the army. S'bu Zikode
S'bu Zikode
Sibusiso Innocent Zikode is the president of the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo. According to the Mail & Guardian "Under his stewardship, ABM has made steady gains for housing rights." -Biography:...
, the head of the shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo , also known as AbM or the red shirts is a shack-dwellers' movement in South Africa which is well known for its campaigning for public housing. The movement grew out of a road blockade organized from the Kennedy Road shack settlement in the city of Durban in early 2005 and now...
, lives in the settlement. It is also home to the famous isicathamiya
Isicathamiya
Isicathamiya is a singing style that originated from the South African Zulus. In European understanding, a cappella is also used to describe this form of singing.-Background:...
choir the Dlamini King Brothers
Dlamini King Brothers
The Dlamini King Brothers are an isicathamiya choir from the Kennedy Road shack settlement in Durban, South Africa. They were formed in 1999.On 27 September 2007, they beat 108 other choirs to win the 11th Annual Isicathimiya Competition held at the Playhouse Theatre in Durban...
, 3 churches, a resident run crèche, a resident run library and a football team.
Bishop Dladla of the Zion Christian Church
Zion Christian Church
The Zion Christian Church is one of the largest African initiated churches in southern Africa, with members belonging to ZCC star and members belonging to the saint Engenas ZCC...
lives in the settlement.
Violence at the Kennedy Road settlement from September 2009
On 26 September 2009, it was reported that a group of about 40 people wielding guns and knives and attacked a Abahlali baseMjondolo youth meeting. The attackers allegedly demolished residents' homes and 2 people were killed in the resulting violence. The attacks continued through Tuesday 28 September 2009. It was reported by independent local and international academics as well as members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement that the attackers were affiliated with the local branch of the African National CongressAfrican National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
and that the attack was carefully planned and sanctioned by the local police. However this has been denied by the ANC and the police who blame a 'forum' associated with Abahlali baseMjondolo for the violence. The attacks have garnered national and international condemnation with some people labelling the events a 'coup'. Churches also issued statements of condemnation.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Safety and Security held meetings for stakeholders however these were condemned as unrepresentative by church leaders and AbM representatives. AbM said that they are victims of a 'purge' and that they refused to sit side by side with attackers and have called for an independent investigation into the attacks. A number of well known intellectuals, including Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, have expressed concern about the attacks and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, the Centre for the Study of Democracy, The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights and Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
supported the call for an independent commission of inquiry into the attacks. The government ignored this call.
Abahlali baseMjondolo claimed that violence and intimidation of its members in the settlement continued for many months after the initial attacks. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions in Geneva issued a statement that expressed "grave concern about reports of organized intimidation and threats to members of advocacy group, Abahlali baseMjondolo."
On 18 July 2011, the case against the 12 accused members of Abahlali baseMjondolo collapsed. The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa issued a statement saying that the "charges were based on evidence which now appears almost
certainly to have been manufactured" and that the Magistrate had described the state witnesses as "“belligerent”, “unreliable” and “dishonest”.
External links
- Bryant, J. 2008, 'Towards delivery and dignity: Community struggle from Kennedy Road', Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 41-61.
- The Work of Violence:a timeline of armed attacks at Kennedy Road, Kerry Chance, School of Development Studies Research Report, July 2010
- The Work of Violence: Armed Attacks at the Kennedy Road Shack Settlement, Kerry Chance, Rhodes University, March 2011
- Report on the Attack on Abahlali baseMjondolo in the Kennedy Road settlement by Malavika Vartak, Development Planning Unit of University College London, 2009