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.‘Migrants’ are fuelling Durban’s housing backlog, By Arthi Sanpath and Sihle Mthembu, Independent on Saturday, 16 March 2013Shack dwellers invade Durban, Lee Rondganger and Nkululeko Nene, Daily News, 14 March 2013"Poor people can think for themselves", Workers' Liberty, 27 March 2015 Mayor James Nxumalo blamed the occupation on migrants from the Eastern Cape.There will be blood, Daily Maverick, 27 September 2013‘Migrants’ are fuelling Durban’s housing backlog, By Arthi Sanpath and Sihle Mthembu, Independent on Saturday, 16 March 2013 He was strongly criticised for this by the shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo who said that "The City Hall is red with blood".Nigel Gumede Must Go, Abahlali baseMjondolo, 19 March 2013

Conflict

The land occupation resulted in considerable conflict.'Black Boers' clear townships by force by Ruth Maclean, The Times, London, 22 November 2013 On 13 March the occupiers chased ANC councillor Mzimuni Ngiba out of his house and the general area.Councillor flees from land invaders, by Bongani Hans, The Mercury, 14 March 2013 Later on a community leader, Thembinkosi Qumbelo, was assassinated."From Lusaka to Marikana, Richard Pithouse, SACSIS", 2013 His murder was believed to be linked to the land occupation.Cato Crest community leader gunned down, by Nkuleleko Nene, The Daily News, 18 March 2013 A second man, unnamed in media reports, was killed in the same attack.2 die in Durban land grab area, Sapa, 19 March 2013 On 25 June 2013 another activist involved in the occupation, Nkululeko Gwala, a member of the social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo was assassinated.Cato Crest: Land hunger of 'Marikana' proportions, Manqoba Nxumalo, Mail & Guardian, 6 September 2013A Provincial Concern? Political Killings in South Africa, David Bruce, SA Crime Quarterly (45), 2013Why Are Political Killings Increasing in South Africa?, James Bullock, Think Africa Press, 21 October 2013 On 30 September 2013 Nqobile Nzuza, a seventeen-year-old girl, also linked to Abahlali baseMjondolo, was shot dead (two shots in the back) by the police during a protest.In Durban's Cato Manor: Death by protest, death by dissent, Khadija Patel, Daily maverick, 1 October 2013Sacrifice After Mandela: Liberation and Liberalization Among South Africa’s First Post-Apartheid Generation , Kerry Chance, Anthropological Quarterly, 2015

Evictions

The municipality illegally evicted the occupiers on a number of occasionsMarikana and the Contemporary Moment , New York Law School Review, 2014 despite repeated court orders interdicting them from evicting.Durban officials face imprisonment for Cato Crest evictions, Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, 9 September 2013Theoretical Criminology 19 November 2014 1362480614557306, Olly Owen & Sarah-Jane Cooper Knock The evictions by eThekwini's Land Invasion Unit backed up by police have been violent with police shooting residents with rubber bullets. One resident of Marikana named Mngomezulu was shot in the stomach with live ammunition by the Land Invasion UnitCato Manor's struggle against state repression, GroundUp,. Ndabo Mzimela, 8 September 2015 and remained in ICU for weeks.ANC 1 Shack Dwellers 0, Mail & Guardian, 27 September 2013 Friends of Mngomezulu reported that they feared that he would poisoned by supporters of the local ANC councillor while in hospital.There will be blood, Daily Maverick, 27 September 2013

The illegal evictions have been condemned by the South African General Council of the Bar.Advocates slam council demolitions, Daily News, 26 September 2013General Council of the Bar Statement on Cato Crest, Abahlali baseMjondolo, 23 September 2013 It has been reported that as a result of defying the courts, eThekwini municipal officials, including municipal manager Sibusiso Sithole, could face imprisonment.Duban officials face imprisonment for Cato Crest evictions, Mail & Guardian, 11 September 2013 The Socio-Economic Rights Institute called the actions of the eThekwini municipality "criminal" saying that it "tears the fabric of our constitutional democracy."Duban officials face imprisonment for Cato Crest evictions, Mail & Guardian, 11 September 2013

The occupation was destroyed by the city for the 9th time on 23 December 2013.Bleak Christmas as dwellers are left homeless. By Rizwana Sheik Umar and Sihle Mlambo, The Daily News, 24 December 2013.City destroys shacks. By Noelene Barbeau, The Daily News, 24 December 2013.

Arrests

There were a number of arrests of Abahlali baseMjondolo members during the conflict. The most prominent arrest was that of the movement's then General Secretary Bandile Mdlalose on the charge of public violence. The arrest caused a lot of controversy with commentators labeling the arrest "politically motivated" and being based on "trumped up charges".SAPS violence shackes the foundation of democracy,Daily Maverick

Response Abahlali baseMjondolo organised a response to the evictions and marched in the thousands on the Durban City Hall on 15 September 2013. One of the main demands of the march was for the evictions in Cato Crest to cease.Shack dwellers take the fight to eThekwini – and the ANC takes note, Khadija Patel,. Daily Maverick, 16 September 2013

After receiving no response to their memorandum, the movement began blocking roads and burning tyres in Cato Crest and adjacent to other shack settlements across the city of Durban claiming to be demanding "answers to all our unanswered memoranda."Road Blockades Around the City, Abahlali baseMjondolo, 26 September 2013 During one of these road blockades an unarmed 17-year-old girl, Nqobile Nzuza, was shot dead by the police.Sacrifice After Mandela: Liberation and Liberalization Among South Africa’s First Post-Apartheid Generation , Kerry Chance, Anthropological Quarterly, 2015Nqobile Nzuza, a 17 Year Old School Girl, Shot Dead with Live Ammunition by the Cato Manor SAPS, Abahlali baseMjondolo, 30 September 2013

Court Cases

Abahlali baseMjondolo won cases against the provincial Minister for Human Settlements, Ravi Pillay, and the eThekwini Municipality, in both the Constitutional Court and the Durban High Court. These judgments showed the repeated evictions of the occupation to have been unlawful.Court victory vindicates shack dwellers' rights, Daneel Knoetze, 27 August 2015 Following the Constitutional Court judgment the evictions ceased.

Online News Reports Shack dwellers claim land , ENCA, 2013 (Television) Rights Group Wins Major Victory Limiting Evictions , ENCA, 2015 (Television)

See also Marikana Land Occupation (Cape Town) Abahlali baseMjondolo Political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa

Notes and references