War on Want partners celebrate UnFreedom Day

27 April is Freedom Day in South Africa, commemorating the country's first non-racial elections in 1994, when South Africans came out in droves to exercise their constitutional right to vote for the first time. Yet, sixteen years on, what has changed?

For the majority – nothing. They are still poor, living in the same shacks. This is the view of War on Want's partners – Abahlali baseMjondolo KwaZulu-Natal, Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape and the Anti-Eviction Campaign. South Africans may have the freedom to vote, but their concerns are still not recognised or addressed. Given these issues our partners renamed 27 April UnFreedom Day.

Events in the past week support this renaming. Shacks are being demolished in Cape Town. Mobs of thugs branded the Red Ants have flattened hundreds of shacks in the Johannesburg region. In Kennedy Road, Durban, the intimidation following the brutal attacks of last September has continued, with shacks being damaged or demolished, whilst an unexplained fire on UnFreedom Day left 400 people homeless.

Our partners believe that the reason underlying this destruction is the World Cup, and a campaign to 'beautify' South Africa by clearing its informal shack settlements. Many believe that the freedom of organisation, association and expression are being quashed. The long term goal behind this is a destabilisation of opposition and these social movements like Abahlali baseMjondolo and the Anti-Eviction Campaign.

However, War on Want's partners refuse to be cowed. Despite the attacks on their Kennedy Road headquarters, Abahlali baseMjondolo continues to fight for the rights of the poor, a testimony of their determination and strength. War on Want stands in solidarity with them in their struggle for freedom.

- War on Want