The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign was a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

.Fighting Foreclosure in South Africa
by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, ''The Nation Magazine'' It was formed in November 2000 with the aim of fighting

eviction Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgag ...

s, water cut-offs and poor health services, obtaining free electricity, securing decent housing, and opposing police brutality.On the Other Side of the Mountain
Niren Tolsi, ''Mail & Guardian'', 23 December 2010 The movement was the first of the first generation of so-called '

new social movements The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy) which are cl ...

' to spring up after the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and was known for its direct action style militancy, its refusal of all forms of

vanguardism Vanguardism in the context of Leninist revolutionary struggle, relates to a strategy whereby the most class-conscious and politically "advanced" sections of the proletariat or working class, described as the revolutionary vanguard, form orga ...

, including NGO (

Non-Governmental Organisations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

)

authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voti ...

.South Africa: A Revolution in Progress
''Ceasefire'', 9 January 2009 The movement sought to retain its autonomy from NGOs and publicly refused to work with some local NGOs and insisted that the middle class left respect the autonomy of grassroots movements. The AEC was a founding member of 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 ...

and, along with the other members of the alliance, refused all electoral politics and encouraged the development of popular power rather than voting for political parties. The AEC mobilised against the 2008 xenophobic attacks in the areas where it was strong. The AEC opposed evictions related to the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

Communities

The AEC is currently an umbrella body for over 10 community organisations,About Us: Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
/ref> crisis committees, and concerned residents movements who have come together to organise and demand their rights to basic services.Anti-eviction in South Africa
/ref> The organisations that make up the AEC include but are not limited to: * Tafelsig

Mitchell's Plain Mitchells Plain is a large Township (South Africa), township located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains ...

Blikkiesdorp Symphony Way Temporary Relocation Area in Delft, Cape Town, better known by its nickname Blikkiesdorp, is a relocation camp made-up of corrugated iron shacks.

Informal Committee ( Delft) * The Crossroads Anti-Eviction Campaign ( Nyanga) * The Delft Integrated Network ( Delft) * The Eastridge Anti-Eviction Campaign (

) * The Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign (

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 ...

) * The Hanover Park Anti-Eviction Campaign ( Hanover Park) * The Mandela Park Backyarders (

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to be the largest

) * Newfields Village Community Representative Committee ( Hanover Park) * Nyanga East Anti-Eviction Campaign ( Nyanga) *

The Symphony Way Anti-Eviction Campaign ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

( Delft) * The Woodridge Anti-Eviction Campaign (

) * Zille-Raine Heights (Parkwood) Affiliated movements and committees in the Western Cape: *

QQ Section QQ Section also known as Tambo Park, was founded in 1989 and is an Informal Settlement in the Site B sub-division of Khayelitsha in South Africa. Structure and location There are about 650 families living in QQ Section, which is occupied mostly ...

Concerned Residents (

) *

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

of the Western Cape *

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 ...

Women Farmworkers Union *

Joe Slovo Liberative Residents Joe Slovo is an informal settlement in Langa, Cape Town. Like many other informal settlements, it was named after former housing minister and anti-Apartheid activist, Joe Slovo. With over 20,000 residents, Joe Slovo is one of the largest informa ...

( Langa) * Hangberg Solution Seekers Association (

Hout Bay Hout Bay ( af, Houtbaai, meaning "Wood Bay") is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of Cape Town. The name "Hout Bay" can ...

) * KTC Concerned Residents Movement ( Nyanga) * Mitchell’s Plain Concerned Hawkers and Traders Association (

) * Gugulethu Informal Traders (

) * Gatesville Informal Traders Association (Athlone)

Coordinators

The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign is an umbrella structure with an executive committee of a chairperson, a vice chairperson, a secretary, a vice secretary, a treasurer, and five regional coordinators.

Activities

The AEC opposes evictions and water and electricity cut-offs on many different levels. Activities range from legal actions that challenge the constitutionality of evictions, to mass mobilisation and popular education initiatives, to organisation and capacity building programs. The movement has also confronted local gangs and in July 2012 one of its leading activists, Soraya Nordien, was murdered following threats from gang members.

Campaigns

Since its inception, the Anti-Eviction Campaign (AEC) has called for an end to all evictions and cut-offs of basic services in the Western Cape. In 2001, the AEC achieved a 6-month moratorium on all evictions in the Cape Town Unicity. Even though the DA had declared the moratorium, illegal evictions continued. The movement strongly supported the struggle for the

Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers Symphony Way Informal Settlement was a small community of pavement dwellers (shack dwellers who live on the pavement) that lived on Symphony Way, a main road in Delft, South Africa, from February 2008 until late 2009. They were a group of famili ...

to resist forced removal to the notorious

Blikkiesdorp Symphony Way Temporary Relocation Area in Delft, Cape Town, better known by its nickname Blikkiesdorp, is a relocation camp made-up of corrugated iron shacks.

transit camp and to demand access to decent housing.

No Land! No House! No Vote! No Land! No House! No Vote! is the name of a campaign by a number of poor people's movements in South Africa 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 i ...

is the name of a campaign by autonomous grassroots movements to boycott elections and reject party politics and vote banking in South Africa. In 2009, the

voted to boycott the national elections under the No Land! No House! No Vote! Banner. The 2010 FIFA World Cup was connected to a large number of evictions in South Africa which many claimed were meant to 'beautify the city'.South Africa's poor complain of evictions as country prepares to host World Cup
Sudarsan Raghavan,

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

, 20 June 2010 The WC-AEC campaigned against all evictions caused by the event. The campaign's hotspots included the anti-gentrification issues in Gympie Street and other parts of Woodstock, the national

N2 Gateway The N2 Gateway Housing Pilot Project is a large housebuilding project under construction in Cape Town, South Africa. It has been labelled by the national government's former Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu as "the biggest housing project ever unde ...

housing project and its evictions in

Joe Slovo Joe Slovo (born Yossel Mashel Slovo; 23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995) was a South African politician, and an opponent of the apartheid system. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Pa ...

and Delft, Sea Point evictions, and evictions in Q-Town next to Athlone Stadium. The movement is committed to opposing xenophobia and has been particularly active in this regard in

where it has set up a forum for these issues to be discussed. According to both the media and the local police the forum has had considerable success in reducing xenophobic hostility. However the movement's anti-xenophobic work has cost it some popular support and resulted in an arson attack on one of the movement's leaders. The movement produces its own media.

Poor People's Alliance

In September 2008 the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, together with

, 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 histor ...

and the Rural Network (Abahlali baseplasini) formed the

. The poor people's alliance refused electoral politics under the banner '

'. 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 (sic) violent street protests against the local ANC than to have voted for the ruling party".

Influence

Take Back the Land in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

and the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign have both stated that their work is inspired by that of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign. The Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign has used the slogan 'No House No Vote'.Chicago Communities Demand Eviction Moratorium
by MILES KAMPF-LASSIN, ''In these Times'', 10 August 2012

Notes

Films and Books

* Kleider, Alexander (Director) and Michel, Daniela (Director). (2009). When the Mountain Meets its Shadow ocumentary Germany: DOK-WERK film cooperative. * No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way, by the Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers (2011)
Tin Town – Documentary

External links

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign Twitter page

Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign Facebook Page

Khayelitsha Struggles

Oukloof forced removals in the Western Cape of South Africa
– A community web site documenting the known history of the forced removal of the residents of Oukloof in the 1960s {{Authority control Cape Town Social movements in South Africa Shack dwellers' movements Affordable housing advocacy organizations Indigenous rights organizations in Africa Human habitats Rebellions in Africa Slums in South Africa Land rights movements Urban planning organizations Housing in South Africa Squatters' movements