Violent Attacks on South African Shanty Towns - perpetrated by ANC

This from the Abhalali website which has more information about this disgusting attack on shackdwellers on the edge of Durban; below a piece form a S. African paper which hints at the ANC complicity:

http://abahlali.org/

New video has been put together from the scene at Kennedy Road. Eyewitnesses to the menacing mob on Saturday night directly contradict both the official ANC story that 'Abahlali-connected people' perpetrated the attack and the ridiculous comment by Ward Councilor Yakoob Baig that the community is 'terrified of Abahlali'. The slightest scrutiny reveals that in fact Abahlali was the target of the vicious 36 hours plus of deadly mob violence. In the 3 days since at least 4 people have been killed, many injured and over 1,000 have been displaced from the settlement under threats of violence. Their safe return has no secure guarantee and has not even been addressed by the ANC or police. The ANC's persistent support and connection to the actual attackers proves that the government is at a minimum complicit in the violence. At the moment no member of the armed mob these witnesses were threatened by has been arrested while 8 unarmed members of the Kennedy Road safety committee, which was protecting Abahlali members that night, are in police custody facing possible murder charges. Abahlali President S'bu Zikode and Vice President Lindela Figlan remain refugees, unable to return to their homes at Kennedy Road while the armed mob holding death threats over their heads roams free to terrorize the remaining residents at the settlement. In fact anyone with even the most cursory connection to Abahlali, for example the ladies who cook for children in the crèche near the Abahlali office are being threatened and forced to leave. Please watch this video as it is an important counter to the blatant lies being peddled by the ANC and swallowed whole by much of the South African media. You can watch on YouTube here.

» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8gQv19cD4Y

< Go BackKennedy Road attack: ANC and police in the spotlight30 Sep 2009Witness Reporter

THE violence linked to tribalism between the Mpondos from the Eastern Cape and Zulus in Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban has been widely condemned, even abroad.

However, speculation exists that the violence is linked to political intolerance, and police ineptitude has been blamed for not stopping the attacks.

The signatures of more than 100 academics, professionals, students, activists, members of civil society organisations, and authors based in South Africa and abroad, have been collected expressing condemnation for the violent attacks.

According to Abahlali baseMjondolo, the attacks started after a group of men, allegedly carrying weapons, attacked a youth camp saying that “Kennedy is for Zulus, not Mpondos”. Abahlali baseMjondolo said that the attacks led to several deaths, shacks being burnt and many people fleeing and hiding in the bush.

Bishop Rubin Philip, who conducted some ecumenical work in the informal settlement, also raised concerns.

“There are credible claims that this militia has acted with the support of the local ANC structures.

“This also is cause for the most profound concern. Once again there is just cause for deep concern about the role of the police,” said Philip, who extended condolences to the families of those who died in the violent attacks.