S'bu Zikode

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S'bu Zikode
Sibusiso Innocent Zikode
Sbu Zikode Constiutional Court 14 May 2009.JPG
S'bu Zikode at the Constitutional Court, Johannesburg, 14 May 2009
Born
Sibusiso Innocent Zikode

1975
South Africa, Loskop
Nationality South African
Alma mater
  1. Completed Matric at Bonokuhle High School where he joined the Boy Scouts Movement. [1]
  2. University of Durban-Westville and is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Known forCurrent president of the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo.
Notable workOn 16 December 2009 he was presented with the Order of the Holy Nativity by Bishop Rubin Phillip. [2] [3] [4]

Sibusiso Innocent Zikode is the president of the South African shack dwellers' movement, which he co-founded with others in 2005. [5] Abahlali baseMjondolo [6] [7] claims to have an audited paid up membership of over 115 000 across South Africa. [8] His politics have been described as 'anti-capitalist'. [9] According to the Mail & Guardian "Under his stewardship, ABM has made steady gains for housing rights." [10]

Contents

Biography

Zikode was born in the village of Loskop in 1975 and grew up in the town of Estcourt, in the midlands of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. [11] [12] He was raised by a single mother working as a domestic worker. [13] He completed Matric at Bonokuhle High School where he joined the Boy Scouts Movement. [14]

A few years later he enrolled as a law student at what was formerly known as The University of Durban-Westville and is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. However he was unable to pay fees or rent and in 1997 had to abandon his studies and move to the Kennedy Road shack settlement. [15] He found work at a nearby petrol station as a pump attendant. [16] [17] [18] South Africa's Enduring UnFreedom, Boston Review, 24 April 2024</ref>

Activism

Zikode has served a number of terms as the elected head of the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo since October 2005. Before that he was the Chairperson of the Kennedy Road Development Committee. Although the movement campaigns for basic services, like water [19] and electricity, [20] as well as land and housing, [21] Zikode is clear that its demands go beyond immediate material needs. [22] He has said that ""The house on its own cannot solve the problem. It's not only money that creates dignity. All governments should accept that our communities are part of the greater society." [23] He argues for an immediate assertion of equality [24] and for meaningful engagement with the poor by saying that, "The government and academics speak about the poor all the time, but so few want to speak to the poor". [25]

Commenting in response to Zikode's newspaper article 'We are the Third Force' veteran South African journalist Max du Preez commented that "I have never read anything as compelling, real and disturbing as the piece written in The Star last week by S'bu Zikode". [26]

Academic Mark Hunter argues that Zikode evokes a conception of housing rooted in an idea of dignity rather than a technical, numbers driven approach to the housing crisis. [27]

Zikode's writing has been anthologised in the Verso Book of Dissent [28] and published in newspapers like The Guardian [29] and Libération. [30]

Awards and recognition

On 16 December 2009 he was presented with the Order of the Holy Nativity by Bishop Rubin Phillip. [31] [32] [33]

In 2012 the Mail & Guardian newspaper declared him to be one of the two hundred most important young South Africans. [34]

In 2018 a new land occupation in Germiston in the East Rand, outside of Johannesburg, was named after Zikode. [35]

In 2019 a new land occupation in Tembisa outside of Johannesburg was named after Zikode [36]

On 25 March 2021 he was announced as the 2021 recipient of the Per Anger Prize, awarded by the Swedish government for humanitarian work and initiatives in the name of democracy. [37]

Repression

In February 2006 Zikode was prevented by the police from taking up an invitation to appear on a television talk show. [38] In September 2006 Zikode, and the then Deputy Chair of the movement Philani Zungu, were arrested on trumped up charges and tortured by Superintendent Glen Nayager in the Sydenham Police Station. [39] [40]

In September 2009, Kennedy Road was attacked by a mob reportedly affiliated with the African National Congress. [41] Violence continued for days. [42] [43] [44] Zikode's home was destroyed during the violence and he and his family fled. [45] Zikode, who went underground for some months [46] [47] because he feared for his life, considered himself a political refugee. [48] [49]

In its 2012 South Africa report Amnesty International reported that Zikode had been publicly threatened with violence by a senior ANC official. [50]

In April 2013 Zikode, along with two others, successfully sued the Minister of Police for violence against his person. [51]

In July 2018, following the assassination of a number of its members, Abahlali baseMjondolo issued a statement claiming that Zikode's life was "in grave danger". [52] It was later reported that Zikode was living underground. [53]

Political commitments

Zikode supports building radical democracy from below and has called for 'a living communism'. [54] [55] [56] He has stressed that land is fundamental to his politics. [57] He is an advocate of land occupations. [58] and supports the occupation of unused land. [59] He is also an advocate of what he terms 'living politics', [60] a form of politics that speaks directly to lived experience and is expressed in plain language.

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abahlali baseMjondolo</span> Shack dwellers movement in South Africa

Abahlali baseMjondolo is a socialist shack dwellers' movement in South Africa which primarily campaigns for land, housing and dignity, to democratise society from below and against xenophobia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Force (South Africa)</span> Term used by leaders of the ANC

The "Third Force" was a term used by leaders of the ANC during the late 1980s and early 1990s to refer to a clandestine force believed to be responsible for a surge in violence in KwaZulu-Natal, and townships around and south of the Witwatersrand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennedy Road, Durban</span> Informal settlement in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Kennedy Road is an informal settlement in Durban (eThekwini), in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Formed in the late 1970s or early 1980s, the settlement was mentioned by the African National Congress (ANC) after the end of apartheid but amenities were not improved. The site is mostly not connected to sanitation or electricity. Dissatisfaction with local councillors led to 2005 protests including a road blockade, out of which the shack dwellers movemment Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) formed. In 2009, an AbM meeting was attacked resulting in two deaths and a court case. More recently, the municipality has improved facilities and promised to relocate inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign</span> Movement in Cape Town, South Africa

The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign was a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa. It was formed in November 2000 with the aim of fighting evictions, water cut-offs and poor health services, obtaining free electricity, securing decent housing, and opposing police brutality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landless People's Movement</span> Social movement in South Africa

The Landless People's Movement is an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a history of conflict with the African National Congress. The Landless People's Movement was affiliated to Via Campesina internationally and its Johannesburg branches to the Poor People's Alliance in South Africa.

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The Poor People's Alliance was 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. It become defunct following the collapse of two of its affiliated movements, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and the Landless People's Movement.

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. The name is meant to imply that if government does not deliver on issues important to affected communities these movements will not vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mzonke Poni</span>

Mzonke Poni is an activist in Cape Town. He is the former chairperson of Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape and was previously a leader of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign. The Sunday Times has described him as "the face of an ANC nightmare - an angry activist mobilising the township masses to protest at what he calls the government's failure to create a better life for the poor."

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act, 2007</span> South African provincial law

The KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act, 2007 was a provincial law dealing with land tenure and evictions in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

Mnikelo Ndabankulu lives in Durban, South Africa. He was the spokesperson for Abahlali baseMjondolo up until May 2014 and appears in the film Dear Mandela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zodwa Nsibande</span> South African activist and former General Secretary of the Abahlali baseMjondolo youth league

Zodwa Nsibande was the General Secretary of the Abahlali baseMjondolo youth league in 2009. She was critical of the impact of the FIFA 2010 World Cup on shack dwellers in Durban.

The attack on Kennedy Road in Durban, South Africa, occurred on 26 September 2009. A mob of men armed with bush knives, guns and bottles entered the Kennedy Road informal settlement searching for leaders of the shackdwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM). They looted shacks and threatened residents, before attacking a hall where a youth meeting was happening. Two people were killed and around a thousand were displaced. In the aftermath, AbM representatives such as S'bu Zikode went into hiding and thirteen AbM members were arrested.

Michael Sutcliffe is the former municipal manager of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes the city of Durban, South Africa. During his time in the position he was widely reported to be a controversial figure amongst Durbanites and was the target of popular protest in the city.

The Constitution of South Africa protects all basic political freedoms. However, there have been many incidents of political repression, dating back to at least 2002, as well as threats of future repression in violation of this constitution leading some analysts, civil society organisations and popular movements to conclude that there is a new climate of political repression or a decline in political tolerance.

There have been many political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa. In 2013 it was reported that there had been more than 450 political assassinations in the province of KwaZulu-Natal since the end of apartheid in 1994. In July 2013 the Daily Maverick reported that there had been "59 political murders in the last five years". In August 2016 it was reported that there had been at least twenty political assassinations in the run up to the local government elections on the 3rd of August that year, most of them in KwaZulu-Natal.

In March 2013 around a thousand people occupied a piece of land in Cato Crest, Durban and named it Marikana after the Marikana miners' strike. Mayor James Nxumalo blamed the occupation on migrants from the Eastern Cape. He was strongly criticised for this by the shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo who said that "The City Hall is red with blood".

References

  1. ↑ Is this Man the Next Nelson Mandela? Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine , by Raj Patel, OZY, 19 September 2013
  2. ↑ "Order of Service for the Presentation of the Order of the Holy Nativity to S'bu Zikode". 16 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Shack Dweller's Leader Honoured, SABC". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  4. ↑ Anglican Church honours Abahlali leader Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Paul Trewhela, Politicsweb, 18 December 2009
  5. ↑ Has South Africa Truly Defeated Apartheid?, New York Times, 26 April 2024
  6. ↑ "Freedom's prisoners, Mail & Guardian". 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  7. ↑ South Africa's new apartheid? Archived 25 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine . Riz Khan, Al Jazeera, 23 November 2010
  8. ↑ Abahlali baseMjondolo demands justice for its members lost to “the politics of blood”, Peoples' Dispatch, 3 October 2023
  9. ↑ The Politics of Grieving & the Ubuntu Electricians Archived 21 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine , Drucilla Cornell, Social Text, 2011
  10. ↑ "200 Young South Africans in Civil Society, Mail & Guardian". 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "200 Young South Africans in Civil Society, Mail & Guardian". 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  12. ↑ "Order of the Holy Nativity Awarded to S'bu Zikode". Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  13. ↑ To Be Betrayed By Your Brother, Rosaleen Ortiz, City University of New York, 2010
  14. ↑ Is this Man the Next Nelson Mandela? Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine , by Raj Patel, OZY, 19 September 2013
  15. ↑ Has South Africa Truly Defeated Apartheid?, New York Times, 26 April 2024
  16. ↑ 'Unrest in South African shanty towns – ready to host the World Cup?' Archived 25 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine , The Observers, 23 July 2009
  17. ↑ "When Choices Can No Longer be Choices". 28 February 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
  18. ↑ []
  19. ↑ Report Details Toll Taken by Lack of Water, Sanitation Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Moyiga Nduru, IPS, 2006
  20. ↑ Economies Go Underground Archived 13 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine , Robert Neuwirth, Forbes, 2010
  21. ↑ Abahlali baseMjondolo March on Jacob Zuma, Durban, South Africa, 22 March 2010 Archived 7 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine , UK IndyMedia
  22. ↑ Bob Catterall (2007). "In the country of the blind…". City.
  23. ↑ Economies Go Underground Archived 13 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine Robert Neuwirth, Forbes, 09.09.10,
  24. ↑ "The Will of the People: Notes Towards a Dialectical Voluntarism" Archived 1 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine , by Peter Hallward, Radical Philosophy , 2009
  25. ↑ "The real winners and losers: of the beautiful game" Archived 10 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine , Sunday Herald, 9 August 2009
  26. ↑ "Shacks of Fear", Max Du Preez, Daily News, 17 November 2005
  27. ↑ Love in a Time of AIDS, Mark Hunter, UKZN Press, 2010
  28. ↑ Archived 13 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine The Verso Book of Dissent
  29. ↑ Despite the state's violence, our fight to escape the mud and fire of South Africa's slums will continue Archived 25 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine , The Guardian, 11 November 2013
  30. ↑ Les promesses non tenues de Nelson Mandela Archived 13 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine , Libération, 10 December 2013
  31. ↑ "Order of Service for the Presentation of the Order of the Holy Nativity to S'bu Zikode". 16 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  32. ↑ "Shack Dweller's Leader Honoured, SABC". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  33. ↑ Anglican Church honours Abahlali leader Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Paul Trewhela, Politicsweb, 18 December 2009
  34. ↑ "200 Young South Africans in Civil Society, Mail & Guardian". 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  35. ↑ When homes are built in the dark and demolished in daylight Archived 14 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine , Dennis Webster, The Daily Maverick, 14 May 2018
  36. ↑ Housing activists under threat in Thembisa, Maru Attwood, New Frame, 2022
  37. ↑ Per Anger-priset till rättighetskämpe i Sydafrikas kåkstäder
  38. ↑ BATTLE TO BE HEARD, by Carol Paton, Financial Mail, 16 February 2006
  39. ↑ "Shack Dwellers on the Move" Archived 4 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine , Radical Philosophy, January 2007
  40. ↑ 'I was punched, beaten' Archived 21 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Niren Tolsi, Mail & Guardian, 16 September 2006,
  41. ↑ South Africa's shack-dwellers fight back Archived 22 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine , by Patrick Kingsely, The Guardian, 24 September 2012
  42. ↑ "Attackers associated with ANC". News24. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  43. ↑ "The Attacks Continue in the Presence of the Police and Senior ANC Leaders". Abahlali baseMjondolo. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  44. ↑ "Joint Statement on the attacks on the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement in Durban". Professor John Dugard SC, et al. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013.
  45. ↑ "S'bu Zikode's House after the attack". Abahlali baseMjondolo. Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  46. ↑ SOUTH AFRICA: Poor people's movement draws government wrath Archived 19 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine , IRIN, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 22 April 2010
  47. ↑ "Freedom's prisoners, Mail & Guardian". 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  48. ↑ "The ANC has invaded Kennedy Road". PambazukaNews. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  49. ↑ "Call for solidarity among shack dwellers". Mercury.
  50. ↑ Amnesty International South Africa Report Archived 31 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine , 2012
  51. ↑ Minister of Police to pay damages to Abahlali members for police brutality Archived 18 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine , Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa
  52. ↑ Abahlali baseMjondolo leader S’bu Zikode’s life is ‘in grave danger’ Archived 9 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine , Musawenkosi Cabe, Magnificent Mndebele and Dennis Webster, The Daily Maverick, 8 July 2018
  53. ↑ Abahlali civic leader in hiding from hitmen… again Archived 25 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine , Eric Naki, The Citizen, 23 August 2018
  54. ↑ To resist all degradations and divisions: an interview with S’bu Zikode Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine , Interface, 2009
  55. ↑ Politics of Grieving Archived 26 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine , by Drucilla Cornell, Social Text, 2011
  56. ↑ South Africa's shack-dwellers fight back Archived 22 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine , by Patrick Kingsely, The Guardian, 24 September 2012
  57. ↑ No freedom without land Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine , The Daily Vox, 2013
  58. ↑ No freedom without land Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine , The Daily Vox, 2013
  59. ↑ Despite the state's violence, our fight to escape the mud and fire of South Africa's slums will continue Archived 25 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine , S'bu Zikode, The Guardian, 11 November 2013
  60. ↑ S'bu Zikode on Living Politics, 'Sleeping Giant', 2007

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