Durban — Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) has been vindicated by a recently released scathing report that found law enforcement had failed to protect its members, who have been brazenly gunned down over the past 19 years.
The report, titled South Africa: The state has failed to ensure justice and protection for human rights defenders – new report, was recently released by Amnesty International South Africa.
It said Abahlali baseMjondolo members had been threatened and killed owing to their activism in the fight for proper housing. The tally of members killed was 25 since 2005 in KwaZulu-Natal’s eKhenana informal settlement.
The movement’s president, Sbu Zikode, said: “We have been vindicated by the report. We have been saying over the years that our lives are threatened, with many of our members gunned down. The report proves what we have been saying, that the authorities have failed us.”
Zikode said their pleas for security had fallen on “uneager eyes”, leaving them exposed to would-be killers.
Among members of the movement who had been killed were Nqobile Nzuza, who was murdered in Cato Crest in 2013, and Thuli Ndlovu, gunned down the following year in 2014 in KwaNdengezi, west of Durban.
In 2022, Nokuthula Mabaso was also dramatically murdered in Cato Crest. While still reeling from her death, another activist, Ayanda Ngila, was murdered in Cato Crest in the same year.
Amnesty International South Africa executive director Shenilla Mohamed said: “The authorities are failing to protect members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement who play a crucial role in ensuring accountability and advancing human rights and social justice.”
The organisation examined a pattern of threats and attacks, including killings, against Abahlali baseMjondolo members in eKhenana, an informal settlement founded in 2018 in eThekwini, formally known as Durban.
The report detailed the state’s failure to respond “to the various forms of harassment, intimidation and violence, including almost complete impunity for perpetrators”.
On the alleged failures by police, Mohamed said: “Death threats directed at members of the eKhenana commune and AbM’s leadership are commonplace, but all AbM interviewees told Amnesty International of a pattern of police refusing to open and conduct thorough and effective investigations, collect evidence, or make arrests following threats and attacks.”
The movement’s members reported a general lack of trust in law enforcement, which has also led to a decline in reporting cases to police, said Mohamed.
Violence monitor and author Mary de Haas also weighed in, blaming the police for the lack of swift response to curb the killings of activists from Abahlali baseMjondolo.
“The police are not adequately trained to deal with investigations. In most cases, people get away with murder due to this. The police must be trained to sharpen their investigating skills,” she said.
The police were approached for comment but had not responded by the time of going to print.
WhatsApp your views on this story to 071 485 7995.
Daily News