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 if government does not deliver on issues important to affected communities (such as land and housing) these movements will not vote.

The No Land! No House! No Vote! campaign began as a national campaign by the South African Landless Peoples Movement (LPM) in 2004. Originally called the No Land! No Vote! campaign, the Landless People's Movement and the National Land Committee argued that voters have to be registered in their home ward to vote and that it would be impossible to vote if families were under threat of eviction or had no secure tenure.Amnesty International has reported that LPM activists were tortured during the 2004 national government elections after taking on a ‘No Land! No Vote’ position.

In 2006, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and Abahlali baseMjondolo movements boycotted the municipal elections under the banner of this campaign. The AEC held an election day march in Cape Town saying they would abstain from voting. A march by Abahlali baseMjondolo under the banner of the No Land! No House! No Vote! campaign was illegally banned by the Durban Municipality and was met with police repression.

In 2008, the Landless Peoples Movement, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and Abahlali baseMjondolo and the Rural Network joined to form the Poor People's Alliance. In 2009, the Alliance voted to boycott the national elections under the No Land! No House! No Vote! banner.

During the 2009 national election campaign, the No Vote! campaign suffered severe repression by political parties and police. On 8 February 2009, the South African Police allegedly beat and tear-gassed Gugulethu residents who were holding a meeting about housing because the ANC provincial chairperson Mcebisi Skwatsha claimed they were disrupting voters registration. Eight members of the Landless Peoples Movement were also arrested in March 2009 and some claim that this is related to the No Vote! campaign by the Poor Peoples Alliance.

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