Human rights defenders are people who peacefully act to defend and promote human rights. Their work can be paid or volunteered. They include people from every walk of life, including journalists, lawyers, health professionals, whistleblowers, teachers, trade unionists, farmers or ordinary everyday individuals who care about justice. Irrespective of age, nationality, or occupation, anyone can be considered a human rights defender – whether someone has spent their whole life protecting human rights, or in some cases just once.
These individuals in South Africa face a range of challenges to their work, including threats, intimidation, killings, unjust prosecution, and cyberbullying, from both state and non-state actors.Â
Such actions, with little to no accountability, often go underreported due to fear of reprisals. South Africa does not have in place specific domestic legislation or public policy for the protection of human rights defenders at risk, and the authorities have not created a specific registry to keep track of the number of threats and attacks against them.
Abahlali baseMjondolo, which loosely translates to ‘shack dwellers’ in isiZulu, is a movement of more than 115,000 people living in informal settlements in South Africa fighting for land, housing, and dignity. Individually, and in association with the Abahlali movement, members of Abahlali advocate for and promote human rights at the local level in the communities and settlements in which they live. From its inception, Abahlali has faced resistance from individuals who are challenged by its activism. This resistance, and the situation of vulnerability of its members, has created an environment prone to threats, attacks, unlawful evictions, trumped-up legal charges, harassment, attempted murders, and killings in response to their activism over the past 18 years.
Leaders of Abahlali baseMjondolo from the eKhenana informal settlement in KwaZulu-Natal, were killed within the space of six months in 2022.
Is the number of Abahlali baseMjondolo activists, supporters, members, and leaders the movement have reported have been killed, some of them directly because of their human rights work. This number includes eight people from eKhenana that have been killed since the settlement was established in 2018. Only two convictions have been secured for two killings, that of Thuli Ndlovu in 2014 and Ayanda Ngila in 2022.
The South African Police Services’ ability to solve murders has also declined by 60% since 2011/12 according to the Human Sciences Research Council and Afrobarometer’s Annual Reports.
Read the full report detailing threats, attacks, and killings of members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo movement in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.
The ultimate responsibility to prevent the repression of human rights defenders, like members of Abahlali baseMjondolo, lies with the state. Not only must it react swiftly and effectively to threats, harassment, and killings of human rights defenders, but it must also proactively create a safe and enabling environment for them to carry out their important work without fear of reprisals.
– Recognising, publicly and at the highest levels the legitimate work of Abahlali baseMjondolo and human rights defenders more broadly, and the need for their protection.
– Publicly condemning threats and attacks against human rights defenders including against Abahlali baseMjondolo.
Develop and adopt domestic legislation for the protection of HRDs at risk, using the Model Law for the Recognition of Human Rights Defenders and the Southern African Model Law on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights Defenders as bases for this.
Provide greater oversight and ensure accountability of the South African Police Service officials tasked with investigating cases of threats, harassment, and killings of human rights defenders, including Abahlali baseMjondolo members, to ensure that they bring those responsible for attacks to justice.
Add your voice, and hold the government to account.
