{"id":27548,"date":"2025-10-10T15:28:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T19:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/?post_type=product&p=27548"},"modified":"2025-12-15T09:53:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T14:53:25","slug":"we-are-still-not-counted-as-human","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/publication\/we-are-still-not-counted-as-human\/","title":{"rendered":"We Are Still Not Counted As Human"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

S\u2019bu Zikode’s reflections chronicle the profound struggle of Abahlali baseMjondolo<\/strong> (residents of the shacks), the largest popular movement to emerge in South Africa since apartheid. Founded in Durban in 2005, the movement now boasts over 180,000 members organised into more than 100 branches across four provinces (as of September 2025).<\/p>\n

The movement arose from a deep disappointment following the initial promise of democracy, realizing that “freedom and the African National Congress (ANC) were two different things”. The poor were immediately excluded from public life and discussions about their own lives, often treated as “criminals” or “rubbish”. This systematic dehumanisation\u2014where their very presence was deemed criminal\u2014showed that democracy, in practice, referred primarily to the middle class and the rich.<\/p>\n

At the heart of Abahlali baseMjondolo\u2019s organizing is the non-negotiable demand for the recognition of their humanity and dignity<\/strong>. They built their foundation on the principles and values of ubuntu<\/strong>, viewing dignity as requiring respectful engagement and full participation in decision-making\u2014not merely accepting \u2018service delivery\u2019. They insist on thinking and speaking for themselves, adopting the slogan ‘nothing for us, without us’.<\/p>\n

AbM developed a unique ‘politics of the poor’ to create a space for the impoverished to think together, build power, and advance their interests outside of political parties or trade unions. The goal is establishing a democratic socialism built from below<\/strong>\u2014a “living communism”\u2014grounded in community praxis.<\/p>\n

This struggle has been met with intense repression, including police violence, torture, criminalisation, and assassinations, with more than twenty lives lost. The state\u2019s actions, intended to teach the poor to “know their place,” instead taught them that democracy was not for them, reinforcing the need to organize and be strong together. The movement continues to fight for the destruction of the capitalist system and the reconstruction of a new system centred on the humanity and dignity of all people.<\/p>\n

STOP PRESS: Citation of Honour to S\u2019bu Zikode.<\/h2>\n

29 October 2025<\/p>\n

Human Rights Commission Presents a Citation of Honour to S\u2019bu Zikode<\/b><\/h3>\n

Today the South African Human Rights Commission presented a Citation of Honour to S\u2019bu Zikode.<\/p>\n

Professor Tshepo Madlingozi, who presented the citation, specifically noted our movement\u2019s work for land reparation, spatial justice and food sovereignty, and our commitment to oppose xenophobia and gender-based violence. He praised our movement as \u201ctrue advocates of human rights, the restoration of dignity, and full liberation\u201d and said that Zikode\u2019s \u201clegacy will forever guide and inspire future generations\u201d.<\/p>\n

In his acceptance speech Zikode accepted the Citation of Honour on behalf of the movement saying that \u201cAn award for me is also an award for the movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, and for the determination and courage of all the people of South Africa \u2014 and all those who have kept our movement going for twenty years despite the challenges we continue to face.\u201d He dedicated the award to the 25 comrades who have lost their lives in the course of our struggle.<\/p>\n

Later, speaking to the leadership of the movement he said that \u201cI am forever grateful to the red sea that has carried me over and over. I deeply appreciate you all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our movement welcomes this award of a Citation of Honour to our president. It is an important recognition of the justice and power of our struggle, and the determination and courage of our members. In a time in which human rights are coming under sustained attack from right-wing forces, in and out of the ANC, we reaffirm our solidarity with the Commission, with the Socio-Economic Rights Institute and with all other human rights organisations under attack from the right.<\/p>\n

The rights and dignity of every person must be respected \u2013 without exception \u2013 and we need to build a united front in support of this principle.<\/p>\n

Contact:<\/p>\n

Thapelo Mohapi 084 576 5117
\nSnenhlanhla Mcanyana 073 832 331
\nS\u2019bu Zikode 083 547 0474<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
https:\/\/abahlali.org\/node\/18539\/<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[141,249,541],"product_tag":[],"authors":[741],"publisher":[],"class_list":["post-27548","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-african","product_cat-autobiography","product_cat-south-africa","authors-sbu-zikode","first","instock","featured","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-variable","has-default-attributes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/27548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=27548"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=27548"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=27548"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=27548"},{"taxonomy":"publisher","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darajapress.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publisher?post=27548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}