Shack dwellers reject ‘false freedom’
The Durban protest was mirrored by similar demonstrations in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, reinforcing the national scope of the movement’s message: freedom remains incomplete as long as millions remain shackled by poverty and inequality.
The streets of Durban were flooded with a sea of red as Abahlali BaseMjondolo, the shack dwellers’ movement, led a powerful protest march to mark Freedom Day 2025, not in celebration, but in condemnation of the continued suffering of South Africa’s poor.
Clad in red T-shirts and waving placards, thousands of members and supporters marched from Currie’s Fountain Sports Ground to the Durban City Hall, where they intended to deliver a memorandum to the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) minister, Velenkosini Hlabisa and the Minister of Human Settlements, Thembisile Simelane, calling for dignified housing and accountability.
Thapelo Mohapi, general secretary of Abahlali BaseMjondolo, said the march was a rejection of the narrative that true freedom was achieved in 1994.
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“Today, we are here to say we denounce the freedom that we gained in 1994. There are more people living in informal settlements today than there were then, and these are the very people who continue to suffer the most,” he declared.
Mohapi highlighted the deepening inequality, unemployment, and unsafe living conditions endured by shack dwellers. He pointed to the recent floods in Durban that claimed six lives, with one elderly woman still unaccounted for, as stark evidence of the government’s neglect.
“People are dying like flies. That shows the indignity of the conditions we live under and a government that does not care about the poor,” he said.
He accused political elites of using Freedom Day as a platform for self-celebration, while millions continue to live without access to basic needs.
“We will not escort politicians to stadiums while 10, 000 children go to sleep without food each month. Twenty million people in this country do not eat healthy food – not by choice, but because they simply cannot afford it,” he added.
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Abahlali’s memorandum called for urgent housing reform, an end to corruption in municipalities, and better protection against natural disasters that disproportionately affect informal settlements.
The Durban protest was mirrored by similar demonstrations in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, reinforcing the national scope of the movement’s message: freedom remains incomplete as long as millions remain shackled by poverty and inequality.
