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The Landless People's Movement was an independent
social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...
in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
. 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 African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
. The Landless People's Movement was affiliated to
Via Campesina La Vía Campesina (from es, la vía campesina, ) is an international farmers organization founded in 1993 in Mons, Belgium, formed by 182 organisations in 81 countries, and describing itself as "an international movement which coordinates peasan ...
internationally and its
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
branches to
the Poor People's Alliance The Poor People's Alliance is a 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. The following organisations are ...
in South Africa.


History

On 24 July 2001 provincial representatives of local landless formations met with regional organisations to unite their grievances and collectively seek change to relieve their struggles. The Landless People's Movement was formed out of this meeting Its stated aims were to: : The movement was initially formed and support by an NGO, the National Land Committee (NLC), but in 2003 it broke with the NLC after which it operated autonomously. On 13 November 2003 the movement issued a Memorandum to then President
Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...
asking "why is development brought to us through guns and the terror" and demanding an immediate halt to all evictions on farms and from urban squatter camps. In 2008 the Protea South branch in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
won a landmark court order against the city of Johannesburg. The Landless People's Movement has been described as being successful in linking the commonalities between both rural and urban land dispossession.


Branches in Johannesburg

The Johannesburg Landless Peoples' Movement had branches in the following shack settlements: * Protea South * Harry Gwala * Freedom Park * Thembelihle * Precast * Lawley * Protea Glen


State repression

In April 2004 57 members of the movement were arrested on election day for marching under the banner of 'No Land! No Vote!'. Some of the arrested activists were subject to torture and this was later taken up in court action against the police. In September 2007 the Freedom of Expression Institute reported that at a peaceful protest by the Landless People's Movement: "SAPS members fired at random towards the protesters, leaving the pavement covered with the blue casings of rubber bullets. Police also deployed a helicopter and water cannon, and we saw at least two officers using live ammunition. One Protea South resident, Mandisa Msewu, was shot in the mouth by a rubber bullet, and several other residents were attended to by paramedics due to police violence." In February 2009 the movement reported that eight Landless People's Movement activists from Protea South were arrested following a peaceful protest. The movement claims to have been subject to severe repression in Johannesburg in 2010, including arrest, arson and murder. Also in 2010 one of the movement's activists, Terrance Mbuleo (33), was murdered by middle class vigilantes in
Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a ...
.


Poor People's Alliance

In September 2008 the
Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign was a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa.
, together with
Abahlali baseMjondolo Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM, , in English: "the residents of the shacks") is a socialist shack dwellers' movement in South Africa which organises land occupations, builds communes
, the Johannesburg branches of the Landless People's Movement and the Rural Network (Abahlali basePlasini) in KwaZulu-Natal formed the
Poor People's Alliance The Poor People's Alliance is a 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. The following organisations are ...
. The poor people's alliance refused electoral politics under the banner ' No Land! No House! No Vote!'.The alliance, and its position on electoral politics, is mentioned in the speech by S'bu Zikode at http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/415682.html


See also

*
Abahlali baseMjondolo Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM, , in English: "the residents of the shacks") is a socialist shack dwellers' movement in South Africa which organises land occupations, builds communes
in South Africa *
Homeless Workers' Movement The Homeless Workers Movement ( pt, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto. MTST) is a social movement in Brazil. It originated from the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra ( en, Landless Rural Workers' Movement). Although the MTST can t ...
in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
*
Landless Workers' Movement Landless Workers' Movement ( pt, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, MST) is a social movement in Brazil, inspired by Marxism, generally regarded as one of the largest in Latin America with an estimated informal membership of 1.5 millio ...
in Brazil * Landless People's Movement (Namibia) *
Movement for Justice in el Barrio Movement for Justice in El Barrio is a community organization based in East Harlem, New York City that is a reaction to, and organizes against, gentrification in the neighborhood. Organisational profile The Movement defines itself as follows: : ...
in the
United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
(USA) *
Narmada Bachao Andolan ''Narmada Bachao Andolan'' (NBA) is an Indian social movement spearheaded by native tribals ('' adivasis''), farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against a number of large dam projects across the Narmada River, which flow ...
in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
*
Take Back the Land Take Back the Land is an American organization based in Miami, Florida, devoted to blocking evictions, and rehousing homeless people in foreclosed houses. Take Back the Land was formed in October 2006 to build the Umoja Village shantytown on ...
in the USA *
Zapatista Army of National Liberation The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (, EZLN), often referred to as the Zapatistas (Mexican ), is a far-left political and militant group that controls a substantial amount of territory in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. Since ...
in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
*
Via Campesina La Vía Campesina (from es, la vía campesina, ) is an international farmers organization founded in 1993 in Mons, Belgium, formed by 182 organisations in 81 countries, and describing itself as "an international movement which coordinates peasan ...


References

{{Authority control Social movements in South Africa Land rights movements Social movements based in Johannesburg Housing in South Africa Squatters' movements