The Pietermaritzburg High Court halts forced evictions in KwaDukuza in a case involving Abahlali baseMjondolo's and the KwaDukuza Municipality, supported by Dolphin Coast Residents' Association.
In a landmark decision for South Africa's shack dwellers' movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo has won a legal battle against the KwaDukuza Municipality, after the High Court in Pietermaritzburg ruled in its favor on Friday, October 17, halting the forced eviction of hundreds of residents from ERF 1410 in Shaka's Head, on the Dolphin Coast.
The ruling comes after Abahlali baseMjondolo, representing residents of the informal settlement, opposed an eviction attempt brought by the municipality and supported by the Dolphin Coast Residents' Association, a group of affluent homeowners who have described the area as "prime land".
Court rules in favor of the poor
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The High Court determined that the KwaDukuza Municipality cannot proceed with the eviction unless it satisfies a number of conditions ensuring justice and equity. Among these, the court ordered that:
- The municipality must provide basic services such as roads, sanitation, waste removal, water, and temporary electricity.
- It must demarcate stands for each household and relocate residents to an area with access to schools, healthcare, and public transport.
- The municipality must also supply building materials and transport, and engage with affected residents and relevant government departments.
- Before any relocation can take place, the municipality is required to report to the court on progress made to meet these conditions.
The court ultimately adopted the draft order prepared by Abahlali's legal team rather than the municipality's, effectively suspending any eviction until the municipality demonstrates full compliance.
"This is a victory for the poor," Abahlali baseMjondolo declared in a statement following the ruling. "Either the municipality cannot move ahead to evict, or it must meet the demands that the community developed to accept moving to a new site. Either way, this is a victory."
A struggle rooted in dignity and resistance
Friday's decision follows years of tension between poor Black communities and authorities seeking to clear informal settlements along the lucrative North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. In their earlier statement issued on October 17, Abahlali baseMjondolo condemned the eviction attempt as "an alliance between the rich residents and the ANC-led municipality" designed to push poor people away from "prime land" and into what they called "human dumping grounds."
"It is clear that they do not see poor Black people as human beings, as human beings who have the same right to live where they live," the statement read. "They want us to build, clean, and secure their homes, but they do not want us to live near them."
The movement likened the municipality's actions to a continuation of apartheid-era spatial segregation, where Black South Africans were denied the right to live in urban centers. "We were displaced by colonialism and denied the right to live in cities by the apartheid regime," the group's latest statement adds. "Now, this government and the rich are actively trying to prevent us from living near the new nodes of wealth and power."
Read More: Abahlali baseMjondolo marks 20 years of struggle for land, dignity, and socialism
Municipality's response and movement's rebuttal
In response to the ruling, the KwaDukuza Municipality issued a statement claiming that it had won the case. However, Abahlali baseMjondolo swiftly dismissed that assertion, calling it "misleading and dishonest".
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"They were denied what they asked for while we were granted what we asked for," the movement clarified. "Their statement implies that they now have the right to move to evict. They do not."
A broader struggle for justice
Abahlali baseMjondolo, founded in 2005, has long been at the forefront of the struggle for land, housing, and dignity for the urban poor, representing thousands of shack dwellers across KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, and the Western Cape. Over the past two decades, the movement has faced repeated evictions, police repression, and targeted violence against its members, yet continues to mobilize through grassroots organizing and legal advocacy.
"This judgement ensures that the rich do not treat the poor like trash that needs to be removed into human dumping areas," Abahlali's statement read. "It recognizes that human beings must be treated with dignity no matter their social conditions."
