The Landless People's Movement is an independent
social movement
A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. 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 political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
. The Landless People's Movement was affiliated to
Via Campesina
La Vía Campesina (from , meaning the peasant way) 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 pea ...
internationally and its
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
branches to
the Poor People's Alliance 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 (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...
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 Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
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 (South Africa), 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 T ...
.
Poor People's Alliance
In September 2008 the
Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, together with
Abahlali baseMjondolo
Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM, , in English: "the residents of the shacks") is a socialist shack dwellers' movement in South Africa which primarily campaigns for land, housing and dignity, to democratise society from below and against xenophobia.
...
, 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 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 primarily campaigns for land, housing and dignity, to democratise society from below and against xenophobia.
...
in South Africa
*
Homeless Workers' Movement
The Homeless Workers Movement (, MTST) is a social movement in Brazil. It originated from the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (). Although the MTST can trace its first urban activism efforts to the occupation of Campinas in São P ...
in
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
*
Landless Workers' Movement
The Landless Workers' Movement (, MST) is a social movement in Brazil aimed at land reform. Inspired by Marxism, it is the largest such movement in Latin America, with an estimated informal membership of 1.5 million across 23 of Brazil's 26 sta ...
in Brazil
*
Landless People's Movement (Namibia)
*
Movement for Justice in el Barrio in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
*
Narmada Bachao Andolan
''Narmada Bachao Andolan'' (NBA, , 'Save the Narmada River Movement') is an Indian social movement spearheaded by native tribals (''adivasis''), farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against a number of large dam projects across ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
*
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 foreclosure, foreclosed houses. Take Back the Land was formed in October 2006 to build the Umoja Village sha ...
in the US
*
Zapatista Army of National Liberation in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
*
Via Campesina
La Vía Campesina (from , meaning the peasant way) 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 pea ...
References
{{Authority control
Social movements in South Africa
Land rights movements
Social movements based in Johannesburg
Housing in South Africa
Squatters' movements