Abahlali baseMjondolo

Abahlali baseMjondolo (Zulu pronunciation: [aɓaˈɬali ɓasɛm̩dʒɔˈndɔːlo], Shack Dwellers), also known as AbM or the red shirts, is a shack-dwellers' movement in South Africa which is well known for its campaigning against evictions and for public housing. The movement grew out of a road blockade organised from the Kennedy Road shack settlement in the city of Durban in early 2005 and now also operates in the cities of Pietermaritzburg and in Cape Town. It is the largest shack dweller's organisation in South Africa and campaigns to improve the living conditions of poor people and to democratise society from below.

The movement historically refused party politics, and has boycotted elections and has a history of conflict with both the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance. (Despite this, it announced its support for the Democratic Alliance in the 2014 elections.) Its key demand is that the social value of urban land should take priority over its commercial value and it campaigns for the public expropriation of large privately owned landholdings. The key organising strategy is to try "to recreate Commons" from below by trying to create a series of linked communes.

According to The Times, the movement "has shaken the political landscape of South Africa." According to Professor Peter Vale, Abahlali baseMjondolo is "along with the Treatment Action Campaign the most effective grouping in South African civil society." Khadija Patel has written that the movement "is at the forefront of a new wave of mass political mobilisation". However the movement has faced sustained, and at times violent, repression.

...
Wikipedia