S'bu Zikode

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S'bu Zikode
Sibusiso Innocent Zikode
S'bu Zikode at the Constitutional Court, Johannesburg, 14 May 2009
Born
Sibusiso Innocent Zikode

1975
South Africa, Loskop
NationalitySouth African
Alma mater
  1. Completed Matric at Bonokuhle High School where he joined the Boy Scouts Movement.[1]
  2. University of Durban-Westville and is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Known forCurrent president of the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo.
Notable workOn 16 December 2009 he was presented with the Order of the Holy Nativity by Bishop Rubin Phillip.[2][3][4]

Sibusiso Innocent Zikode is the president of the South African shack dwellers' movement, which he co-founded with others in 2005.[5] Abahlali baseMjondolo[6][7] claims to have an audited paid up membership of over 115 000 across South Africa.[8] His politics have been described as 'anti-capitalist'.[9] According to the Mail & Guardian "Under his stewardship, ABM has made steady gains for housing rights."[10]

Biography

Zikode was born in the village of Loskop in 1975 and grew up in the town of Estcourt, in the midlands of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.[11][12] He was raised by a single mother working as a domestic worker.[13] He completed Matric at Bonokuhle High School where he joined the Boy Scouts Movement.[14]

A few years later he enrolled as a law student at what was formerly known as The University of Durban-Westville and is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. However he was unable to pay fees or rent and in 1997 had to abandon his studies and move to the Kennedy Road shack settlement.[15] He found work at a nearby petrol station as a pump attendant.[16][17][18]South Africa's Enduring UnFreedom, Boston Review, 24 April 2024</ref>

Activism

Zikode has served a number of terms as the elected head of the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo since October 2005. Before that he was the Chairperson of the Kennedy Road Development Committee. Although the movement campaigns for basic services, like water[19] and electricity,[20] as well as land and housing,[21] Zikode is clear that its demands go beyond immediate material needs.[22] He has said that ""The house on its own cannot solve the problem. It's not only money that creates dignity. All governments should accept that our communities are part of the greater society."[23] He argues for an immediate assertion of equality[24] and for meaningful engagement with the poor by saying that, "The government and academics speak about the poor all the time, but so few want to speak to the poor".[25]

Commenting in response to Zikode's newspaper article 'We are the Third Force' veteran South African journalist Max du Preez commented that "I have never read anything as compelling, real and disturbing as the piece written in The Star last week by S'bu Zikode".[26]

Academic Mark Hunter argues that Zikode evokes a conception of housing rooted in an idea of dignity rather than a technical, numbers driven approach to the housing crisis.[27]

Zikode's writing has been anthologised in the Verso Book of Dissent[28] and published in newspapers like The Guardian[29] and Libération.[30]

Awards and recognition

On 16 December 2009 he was presented with the Order of the Holy Nativity by Bishop Rubin Phillip.[31][32][33]

In 2012 the Mail & Guardian newspaper declared him to be one of the two hundred most important young South Africans.[34]

In 2018 a new land occupation in Germiston in the East Rand, outside of Johannesburg, was named after Zikode.[35]

In 2019 a new land occupation in Tembisa outside of Johannesburg was named after Zikode[36]

On 25 March 2021 he was announced as the 2021 recipient of the Per Anger Prize, awarded by the Swedish government for humanitarian work and initiatives in the name of democracy.[37]

Repression

In February 2006 Zikode was prevented by the police from taking up an invitation to appear on a television talk show.[38] In September 2006 Zikode, and the then Deputy Chair of the movement Philani Zungu, were arrested on trumped up charges and tortured by Superintendent Glen Nayager in the Sydenham Police Station.[39][40]

In September 2009, Kennedy Road was attacked by a mob reportedly affiliated with the African National Congress.[41] Violence continued for days.[42][43][44] Zikode's home was destroyed during the violence and he and his family fled.[45] Zikode, who went underground for some months[46][47] because he feared for his life, considered himself a political refugee.[48][49]

In its 2012 South Africa report Amnesty International reported that Zikode had been publicly threatened with violence by a senior ANC official.[50]

In April 2013 Zikode, along with two others, successfully sued the Minister of Police for violence against his person.[51]

In July 2018, following the assassination of a number of its members, Abahlali baseMjondolo issued a statement claiming that Zikode's life was "in grave danger".[52] It was later reported that Zikode was living underground.[53]

Political commitments

Zikode supports building radical democracy from below and has called for 'a living communism'.[54][55][56] He has stressed that land is fundamental to his politics.[57] He is an advocate of land occupations.[58] and supports the occupation of unused land.[59] He is also an advocate of what he terms 'living politics',[60] a form of politics that speaks directly to lived experience and is expressed in plain language.

References

  1. ^ Is this Man the Next Nelson Mandela? Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine, by Raj Patel, OZY, 19 September 2013
  2. ^ "Order of Service for the Presentation of the Order of the Holy Nativity to S'bu Zikode". 16 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  3. ^ "Shack Dweller's Leader Honoured, SABC". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  4. ^ Anglican Church honours Abahlali leader Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Paul Trewhela, Politicsweb, 18 December 2009
  5. ^ Has South Africa Truly Defeated Apartheid?, New York Times, 26 April 2024
  6. ^ "Freedom's prisoners, Mail & Guardian". 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  7. ^ South Africa's new apartheid? Archived 25 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Riz Khan, Al Jazeera, 23 November 2010
  8. ^ Abahlali baseMjondolo demands justice for its members lost to “the politics of blood”, Peoples' Dispatch, 3 October 2023
  9. ^ The Politics of Grieving & the Ubuntu Electricians Archived 21 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Drucilla Cornell, Social Text, 2011
  10. ^ "200 Young South Africans in Civil Society, Mail & Guardian". 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  11. ^ "200 Young South Africans in Civil Society, Mail & Guardian". 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  12. ^ "Order of the Holy Nativity Awarded to S'bu Zikode". Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  13. ^ To Be Betrayed By Your Brother, Rosaleen Ortiz, City University of New York, 2010
  14. ^ Is this Man the Next Nelson Mandela? Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine, by Raj Patel, OZY, 19 September 2013
  15. ^ Has South Africa Truly Defeated Apartheid?, New York Times, 26 April 2024
  16. ^ 'Unrest in South African shanty towns – ready to host the World Cup?' Archived 25 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Observers, 23 July 2009
  17. ^ "When Choices Can No Longer be Choices". 28 February 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
  18. ^ []
  19. ^ Report Details Toll Taken by Lack of Water, Sanitation Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Moyiga Nduru, IPS, 2006
  20. ^ Economies Go Underground Archived 13 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Robert Neuwirth, Forbes, 2010
  21. ^ Abahlali baseMjondolo March on Jacob Zuma, Durban, South Africa, 22 March 2010 Archived 7 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, UK IndyMedia
  22. ^ Bob Catterall (2007). "In the country of the blind…". City.
  23. ^ Economies Go Underground Archived 13 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine Robert Neuwirth, Forbes, 09.09.10,
  24. ^ "The Will of the People: Notes Towards a Dialectical Voluntarism" Archived 1 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, by Peter Hallward, Radical Philosophy, 2009
  25. ^ "The real winners and losers: of the beautiful game" Archived 10 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Sunday Herald, 9 August 2009
  26. ^ "Shacks of Fear", Max Du Preez, Daily News, 17 November 2005
  27. ^ Love in a Time of AIDS, Mark Hunter, UKZN Press, 2010
  28. ^ [1] Archived 13 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine The Verso Book of Dissent
  29. ^ Despite the state's violence, our fight to escape the mud and fire of South Africa's slums will continue Archived 25 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 11 November 2013
  30. ^ Les promesses non tenues de Nelson Mandela Archived 13 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Libération, 10 December 2013
  31. ^ "Order of Service for the Presentation of the Order of the Holy Nativity to S'bu Zikode". 16 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  32. ^ "Shack Dweller's Leader Honoured, SABC". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  33. ^ Anglican Church honours Abahlali leader Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Paul Trewhela, Politicsweb, 18 December 2009
  34. ^ "200 Young South Africans in Civil Society, Mail & Guardian". 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  35. ^ When homes are built in the dark and demolished in daylight Archived 14 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Dennis Webster, The Daily Maverick, 14 May 2018
  36. ^ Housing activists under threat in Thembisa, Maru Attwood, New Frame, 2022
  37. ^ Per Anger-priset till rättighetskämpe i Sydafrikas kåkstäder
  38. ^ BATTLE TO BE HEARD, by Carol Paton, Financial Mail, 16 February 2006
  39. ^ "Shack Dwellers on the Move" Archived 4 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Radical Philosophy, January 2007
  40. ^ 'I was punched, beaten' Archived 21 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Niren Tolsi, Mail & Guardian, 16 September 2006,
  41. ^ South Africa's shack-dwellers fight back Archived 22 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, by Patrick Kingsely, The Guardian, 24 September 2012
  42. ^ "Attackers associated with ANC". News24. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  43. ^ "The Attacks Continue in the Presence of the Police and Senior ANC Leaders". Abahlali baseMjondolo. Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  44. ^ "Joint Statement on the attacks on the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement in Durban". Professor John Dugard SC, et al. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013.
  45. ^ "S'bu Zikode's House after the attack". Abahlali baseMjondolo. Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
  46. ^ SOUTH AFRICA: Poor people's movement draws government wrath Archived 19 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, IRIN,UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 22 April 2010
  47. ^ "Freedom's prisoners, Mail & Guardian". 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  48. ^ "The ANC has invaded Kennedy Road". PambazukaNews. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  49. ^ "Call for solidarity among shack dwellers". Mercury.
  50. ^ Amnesty International South Africa Report Archived 31 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 2012
  51. ^ Minister of Police to pay damages to Abahlali members for police brutality Archived 18 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa
  52. ^ Abahlali baseMjondolo leader S’bu Zikode’s life is ‘in grave danger’ Archived 9 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Musawenkosi Cabe, Magnificent Mndebele and Dennis Webster, The Daily Maverick, 8 July 2018
  53. ^ Abahlali civic leader in hiding from hitmen… again Archived 25 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Eric Naki, The Citizen, 23 August 2018
  54. ^ To resist all degradations and divisions: an interview with S’bu Zikode Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Interface, 2009
  55. ^ Politics of Grieving Archived 26 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine, by Drucilla Cornell, Social Text, 2011
  56. ^ South Africa's shack-dwellers fight back Archived 22 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine, by Patrick Kingsely, The Guardian, 24 September 2012
  57. ^ No freedom without land Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Vox, 2013
  58. ^ No freedom without land Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Vox, 2013
  59. ^ Despite the state's violence, our fight to escape the mud and fire of South Africa's slums will continue Archived 25 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, S'bu Zikode, The Guardian, 11 November 2013
  60. ^ S'bu Zikode on Living Politics, 'Sleeping Giant', 2007

External links

Online articles and speeches

Interviews

Online films

Talks

Poems and songs

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