Kennedy Road.

Last Wednesday, the leader of Abahlali baseMjondolo came and talked to us about his community organization in the Kennedy Road settlement. The Kennedy Road settlement is one of the poorest shack areas in South Africa. Currently, the government is making efforts to kick out the people occupying the land. They say that the houses are near a trash dump, on the side of a hill, and not fit for humans to live on. The fact that the people don’t own the land is also something that is used against them. While these seem like somewhat relevant points, there are some major problems with how the government is acting which I will get to in a bit. One note: The government just went into the settlement and dug up all the power lines, as a way to move people out, so people have to use different methods of cooking and lighting which many times cause fires which spread like wild fire in the shacks.

After the talk we actually went to the settlement to see it for ourselves. The leader, S’pu, kept going back to a story of a baby whose brains were eaten by a rat as she slept with her mother. My initial thoughts: I thought Bonella, my neighborhood was poor, then I saw Cato Crest shacks, where the KZN Youth group works, and thought that was poor. I didn’t think it could see worse until I saw Kennedy and thought to myself, “how much worse can it get?” The air was filled with the smell of the trash dump not too far from the township. Adding to the smell were piles of trash which the government has neglected to pick up. The shacks were on an extremely steep hill and some were held up by lines. Kids were out playing with deflated soccer balls and many babies didn’t have diapers.

Now, about the government’s claims. Well, standing in the settlement and looking across the road above me at large houses separated only by a road makes one wonder why those houses are fit to live in. They are near the same trash dump and are on a hill. Or what makes the college at the bottom of the hill, securely guarded from the settlement, fit to have classes in? Maybe the fact that the area is near downtown has more to do with the government’s motives? It became clear, in a discussion with the members of the movement, that the government has not made any effort to talk with the people of Kennedy Road about possibilities of reforming the area, and relocating those who wouldn’t be able to fit with the new development proposal.

After a good meal in the community center, using candles, a concert was put on for us. It was an amazing isicathamiya performance. Many people know this style from the group LadySmith Black Mambazo who also come from KZN. We ended the night signing the South African National Anthem and thanking the group and Abahali for quite a day.

Check out the website which has a movie and some pictures.

http://www.abahlali.org/