No Land! No House! No Vote! is the name of a campaign by a number of poor people's movements 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 countri ...

that calls for the boycotting of the vote and a general rejection of party politics and vote banking. The name is meant to imply that if government does not deliver on issues important to affected communities (such as land and housing) these movements will not vote.

History

The Poor People's Alliance Outside the Constitutional Court 14 May 2009

The ''No Land! No House! No Vote!'' campaign began as a national campaign by the South African

Landless Peoples Movement The Landless People's Movement was an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a histor ...

(LPM) in 2004. Originally called the ''No Land! No Vote!'' campaign, the Landless People's Movement and the National Land Committee argued that voters have to be registered in their home ward to vote and that it would be impossible to vote if families were under threat of eviction or had no secure tenure.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

has reported that LPM activists were tortured during the 2004 national government elections after taking on a 'No Land! No Vote' position. In 2006, 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.

and

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

movements boycotted the municipal elections under the banner of this campaign. The AEC held an election day march in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

saying they would abstain from voting. A march by Abahlali baseMjondolo under the banner of the ''No Land! No House! No Vote!'' campaign was illegally banned by the

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

Municipality and was met with police repression. In 2008, the Landless Peoples Movement, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and Abahlali baseMjondolo and the Rural Network joined to form 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 2009, the Alliance voted to boycott the national elections under the ''No Land! No House! No Vote!'' banner. During the 2009 national election campaign, the ''No Vote!'' campaign suffered severe repression by political parties and police. On 8 February 2009, the

South African Police The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the ''de facto'' police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Afr ...

allegedly beat and tear-gassed

Gugulethu Gugulethu is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa and is 15 km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is Xhosa for ''our pride''. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s. History The ...

residents who were holding a meeting about housing because the

ANC 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 installe ...

provincial chairperson

Mcebisi Skwatsha Mcebisi Skwatsha (born 31 July 1964) is a politician and currently the Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform in South Africa, along with Candith Mashego-Dlamini. He is a former ANC secretary in the Western Cape. See also *Africa ...

claimed they were disrupting voters registration. Eight members of the Landless Peoples Movement were also arrested in March 2009 and some claim that this is related to the ''No Vote!'' campaign by the Poor Peoples Alliance. In the 2009 elections 39% of potential voters supported the ANC. Abahlali baseMjondolo called for a boycott of the 2011 local government elections. They were joined by a range of other social movements including 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.

, the

Mandela Park Backyarders The Mandela Park Backyarders or just Backyarders is an unfunded Khayelitsha-based South African social movement made up of poor and marginalised residents of Mandela Park that is working for housing rights and against evictions. The focus of the ...

Sikhula Sonke Sikhula Sonke farmworkers union is a women led Western Cape based independent trade union. Its focus include issues such as labour rights, domestic violence, food insecurity and alcohol abuse. The union has over 4000 employed and unemployed member ...

, the

South African Unemployed Peoples' Movement The South African Unemployed Peoples' Movement is a social movement with branches in Durban, Grahamstown and Limpopo Province in South Africa. It is often referred to as the Unemployed People's Movement or UPM. The organisation is strongly critical ...

and the

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement was an independent social movement in South Africa. 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 ...

. Local community organisations also organised vote strikes in a number of towns around the country including, for instance,

King William's Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...

Ficksburg Ficksburg is a town situated at the foot of the 1,750 meter high Imperani Mountain in Free State province, South Africa. The town was founded by General Johan Fick in 1867 who won the territory in the Basotho Wars. He laid out many erven and p ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

and Cato Ridge. A total of 42% of registered voters did not vote in the elections. It has been reported that "Nearly 75% of South Africans aged 20–29 did not vote in the 2011 ocal governmentelections" and that "South Africans in that age group were more likely to have taken part in violent (sic) street protests against the local ANC than to have voted for the ruling party".

Reasoning behind the campaign

Proponents of the ''No Land! No House! No Vote!'' campaign have explained the reasons behind their campaign. There are a variety of reasons for boycotting elections but most people who take this position say that they have been voting since 1994 but have seen no positive result from voting. They also often claim that politicians are all corrupt and that there are no political parties that represent the poor. Proponents also make the structural argument that the electoral process itself is undemocratic, that poor people must speak for themselves, and that the movements should be unaligned and pressure whichever political party comes into power.

Variations on the campaign

Proponents of the ''No Land! No House! No Vote!'' Campaign have come up with similar slogans which have included the statements 'No Jobs!', 'No Electricity!', 'No Water!', 'No Respect!', 'No Freedom!' as part of the 'No Vote!' boycott campaign.

International connections

The Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign has used the slogan 'No House No Vote'.

Criticisms of the campaign

According to South African President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

"If you do not vote, you are depriving yourself of a freedom we have fought for and given you. You are deciding to oppress yourself...you are failing yourself and the nation.Zuma, Malema gun for votes
, Paddy Harper, ''City Press'', 8 May 2011

References

External links

No Land! No House! No Vote! VideoNo Land! No House! No Vote! Archive
{{Abahlali baseMjondolo Society of South Africa Political campaigns South African political slogans Housing in South Africa Housing protests Squatters' movements