Landless Peoples Movement
Encyclopedia
The Landless People's Movement (LPM) is an independent social movement
in South Africa
. It represents rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The LPM boycotts parliamentary elections and has a history of conflict with the African National Congress
. The LPM is affiliated to Via Campesina
internationally and its Johannesburg
branches to the The Poor People's Alliance in South Africa.
Its stated aims were to:
The movement was initially formed and support by an NGO, the National Land Committee (NLC), but in 2003 it broke with the NLC and has since operated autonomously.
On 13 November 2003 the movement issues a Memorandum to then President Thabo Mbeki
asking "why is development brought to us through guns and the terror" and demanding an immediate halt to all evictions on farms and from urban squatter camps.
In 2008 the Protea South branch in Johannesburg
won a landmark court order against the city of Johannesburg.
The Landless People's Movement currently is building its infrastructure, leadership and credibility.
It has been successful in linking the commonalities between both rural and urban land dispossession.
In April 2004 57 members of the movement were arrested on election day for marching under the banner of 'No Land! No Vote!'. Some of the arrested activists were subject to torture and this was later taken up in court action against the police.
In September 2007 the Freedom of Expression Institute reported that at a peaceful protest by the Landless People's Movement:
"SAPS members fired at random towards the protesters, leaving the pavement covered with the blue casings of rubber bullets. Police also deployed a helicopter and water cannon, and we saw at least two officers using live ammunition. One Protea South resident, Mandisa Msewu, was shot in the mouth by a rubber bullet, and several other residents were attended to by paramedics due to police violence."
In February 2009 the movement reported that eight LPM activists from Protea South were arrested following a peaceful protest.
, together with Abahlali baseMjondolo
, the Johannesburg branches of the Landless People's Movement and the Rural Network (Abahlali basePlasini) in KwaZulu-Natal formed the Poor People's Alliance
. The poor people's alliance refuses electoral politics under the banner 'No Land! No House! No Vote!
'.
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
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 represents rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The LPM boycotts parliamentary elections and has a history of conflict with the African National Congress
African 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...
. The LPM is affiliated to Via Campesina
Via Campesina
Via Campesina describes itself as "an international movement which coordinates peasant organizations of small and middle-scale producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia, Africa, America, and Europe"...
internationally and its Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
branches to the The Poor People's Alliance in South Africa.
History
On 24 July 2001 provincial representatives of local landless formations met with regional organisations to unite their grievances and collectively seek change in order to relieve their struggles. The LPM was formed out of this meetingIts stated aims were to:
|
The movement was initially formed and support by an NGO, the National Land Committee (NLC), but in 2003 it broke with the NLC and has since operated autonomously.
On 13 November 2003 the movement issues a Memorandum to then President Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
asking "why is development brought to us through guns and the terror" and demanding an immediate halt to all evictions on farms and from urban squatter camps.
In 2008 the Protea South branch in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
won a landmark court order against the city of Johannesburg.
The Landless People's Movement currently is building its infrastructure, leadership and credibility.
It has been successful in linking the commonalities between both rural and urban land dispossession.
Branches in Johannesburg
The Johannesburg Landless Peoples' Movement currently has branches in the following shack settlements:- Protea South
- Harry Gwala
- Freedom Park
- Tembalihle
- Precast
- Lawley
- Protea Glen
State repression
The movement claims to have been subject to severe repression in Johannesburg in 2010, including arrest, arson and murder.In April 2004 57 members of the movement were arrested on election day for marching under the banner of 'No Land! No Vote!'. Some of the arrested activists were subject to torture and this was later taken up in court action against the police.
In September 2007 the Freedom of Expression Institute reported that at a peaceful protest by the Landless People's Movement:
"SAPS members fired at random towards the protesters, leaving the pavement covered with the blue casings of rubber bullets. Police also deployed a helicopter and water cannon, and we saw at least two officers using live ammunition. One Protea South resident, Mandisa Msewu, was shot in the mouth by a rubber bullet, and several other residents were attended to by paramedics due to police violence."
In February 2009 the movement reported that eight LPM activists from Protea South were arrested following a peaceful protest.
Hate Speech
The Landless People's movement was found guilty in 2004 of hate speech by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). Mangaliso Kubheka, at that point the National Organizer of LPM, was found guilty of having uttered the slogan "kill the farmer, kill the boer" during a speech. Kubheka is now a land owner and an ANC councillor.Poor People's Alliance
In September 2008 the Western Cape Anti-Eviction CampaignWestern Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign is a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa...
, together with 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...
, the Johannesburg branches of the Landless People's Movement and the Rural Network (Abahlali basePlasini) in KwaZulu-Natal formed the Poor People's Alliance
Poor People's Alliance
The Poor People's Alliance is a network of radical grassroots movements in South Africa. It was formed in 2008 after the Action Alliance, formed in December 2006, was expanded to include two more organisations....
. The poor people's alliance refuses electoral politics under the banner 'No Land! No House! No Vote!
No Land! No House! No Vote!
No Land! No House! No Vote! is the name of a campaign by a number of poor people's movements in South Africa that calls for the boycotting of the vote and a general rejection of party politics and vote banking...
'.
See also
- Abahlali baseMjondoloAbahlali baseMjondoloAbahlali 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...
- Homeless Workers' MovementHomeless Workers' MovementThe Homeless Workers Movement is a shack-dwellers' movement in Brazil. It originated from the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra in 1997...
- Landless Workers' MovementLandless Workers' MovementLandless Workers' Movement is a social movement in Brazil; it is the second largest social movement in Latin America with an estimated 1.5 million landless members in 23 out of Brazil's 26 states. The MST states it carries out land reform in a country it sees as mired by unjust land distribution...
- Mandela Park BackyardersMandela Park BackyardersThe Mandela Park Backyarders or just Backyarders is an unfunded Khayelitsha-based South African social movement made up of poor and marginalised residents of Mandela Park that is working for housing rights and against evictions....
- Naxalites
- Sikhula SonkeSikhula SonkeSikhula Sonke farmworkers union is a Western Cape based independent social movement.Its focus include issues such as labour rights, domestic violence, food insecurity and alcohol abuse...
- Via CampesinaVia CampesinaVia Campesina describes itself as "an international movement which coordinates peasant organizations of small and middle-scale producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia, Africa, America, and Europe"...
- Zapatista Army of National LiberationZapatista Army of National LiberationThe Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....