EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu. | Timothy Bernard Independent Newspapers
Deputy president of the EFF, Floyd Shivambu, has welcomed the endorsement of the party by the shack dwellers and social housing movement, Abahlali Basemjondolo Movement (AbM).
On Sunday, the movement, which has been at the forefront of fighting for the rights of shack dwellers, indicated that it will be voting with the Red Berets in the upcoming elections following a rally called Unfreedom Day held in Durban.
The event came shortly after the movement held a general assembly just more than two weeks ago in a bid to consolidate its demands to some of the political parties contesting the elections.
AbM president S’bu Zikode said the organisation will not be contesting the elections as a political party but will endorse the EFF in the elections even though its support can be revoked at any time.
“As AbM, we have agreed to lend our vote to the EFF come the May 29 elections ... We agreed that whatever party we pick, we are just lending them our votes, we can revoke our decision at any time, it’s not a permanent arrangement and there is no guarantee that we will vote for you again,” Zikode said.
Taking to social media following this statement, Shivambu said the EFF welcomed the trust bestowed by the movement on to the Red Berets.
“We welcome the endorsement and support from Abahlali Basemjondolo with humility and utmost sincerity. We will never disappoint informal settlement dwellers and we have always been at the forefront of their battles! It is empowering and encouraging to be supported and endorsed by our people,” Shivambu said.
During its address on Sunday, Zikode said there was no freedom for the poor in South Africa, who continue to suffer while leaders line their own pockets.
“Thirty years after Nelson Mandela became president and we were told freedom had come but the poor and marginalised in shack settlements, hostels, white farms and former Bantustans have nothing to celebrate.
“The rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer. Far more people live in shacks than in 1994. We remain landless and without work.
“Millions are without even the most basic services, such as water, sanitation and refuse removal. Millions are hungry.
“We continue to live in terrible violence. We continue to be violently repressed by the politicians, the police and private security companies.
“For 30 years, our humanity has been vandalised in the name of freedom. The lives and dignity of the poor mean nothing in the eyes of the ANC,“ he said.
On the issue of crime and violence which has affected AbM after some of its activists have been killed, Zikode said it was a crime to be poor while South Africans remain landless.
“Under the ANC it has become a crime to be poor. We are taken as beneath the law, as people who can be robbed, assaulted, dispossessed and murdered with impunity.
“We regularly face illegal evictions at gunpoint and armed raids on our settlements. Rubbish is regularly dumped in our communities sending a clear message that we ourselves are seen as less than human -- as rubbish,” he added.
The Star
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