South Africa: The state has failed to ensure justice and protection for human rights defenders – new report  

South African authorities have failed to protect members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) movement who have been threatened and attacked in KwaZulu-Natal’s eKhenana informal settlement and have not ensured justice for members of the group killed in relation to their activism, Amnesty International South Africa said in a new report released Wednesday.

“Our lives count for nothing:” Threats, attacks and killings of members of Abahlali baseMjondolo (shack dwellers) movement in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, examines a pattern of threats and attacks, including killings, against AbM members in eKhenana, an informal settlement founded in 2018 in eThekwini, formally known as Durban. The report details the state’s failure to adequately respond to the various forms of harassment, intimidation and violence, including almost complete impunity for perpetrators.

“The authorities are failing to protect members of the Abalhlali baseMjondolo movement who play a crucial role in ensuring accountability and advancing human rights and social justice. Tragically, many of these brave individuals face intimidation, harassment, threats and attacks, sometimes even deadly, simply for their efforts to defend human rights,” Amnesty International South Africa Executive Director Shenilla Mohamed said.

“For over a decade, AbM members who are human rights defenders, often become the targets of those wishing to silence and suppress their struggle. This is exactly what we have seen happening in eKhenana, which is bearing the brunt in the worst way possible,” Shenilla Mohamed said.

“No individual should ever be threatened or harmed in any way, let alone killed, for standing up for human rights. In a society that values justice and equality, the protection of those who advocate for human rights must be paramount,” Shenilla Mohamed said.

While AbM members across South Africa have been targeted, with 25 killings reported since the movement began in 2005, the report focuses on eKhenana because the most recent killings occurred there and because the commune’s struggles represent the risks and challenges experienced by the wider movement.

Eight AbM members from eKhenana have been killed, including three in a span of six months in 2022. Amnesty International South Africa’s investigation found that all three—Nokuthula Mabaso, Ayanda Ngila and Lindokuhle Mnguni—were either key witnesses in cases of killings of fellow AbM members or the subject of baseless, trumped-up charges such as murder or assault. AbM members told Amnesty International South Africa that at least five of the eight killed in eKhenana were killed due to their activism.

Failures of the police

Death threats directed at members of the eKhenana commune and AbM’s leadership are commonplace, but all AbM interviewees told Amnesty International of a pattern of police refusing to open and conduct thorough and effective investigations, collect evidence, or make arrests following threats and attacks. The three members killed in 2022 all received threats ahead of their killing, but police did not take any measures to provide effective protection to them, according to AbM members interviewed. While some South African Police Service (SAPS) officers have supported AbM, the movement’s members reported a general lack of trust in law enforcement, which has also led to a decline in reporting cases to police.

The state has the ultimate responsibility to protect human rights defenders, and to prevent and effectively address allegations of violations committed against them. This requires reacting swiftly and effectively to threats, harassment and attacks, as well as proactively creating a safe and enabling environment in which they are able to carry out their vital work safely and without fear of reprisals.

“AbM is a critical movement, highlighting serious human rights concerns that millions of people in South Africa face daily and enacting positive and sustainable change. The authorities must take urgent action to ensure that their leaders and members no longer suffer from violence or fear for their lives simply for defending human rights,” Shenilla Mohamed said.

“It is time for the South African government to publicly acknowledge—at the highest levels of local and national authorities—the threats, attacks and intimidation faced by AbM members as they carry out their important human rights work. The authorities must also ensure impartial, timely and effective investigations into all threats and attacks, hold the perpetrators accountable in fair trials and provide the necessary protection of AbM members,” Shenilla Mohamed said.

Amnesty International South Africa also launched its Justice for Abahlali campaign #HandsOffAbahlali on Wednesday. The campaign calls for lawmakers to introduce new legislation to recognize and implement protection mechanisms for human rights defenders. The campaign further calls on SAPS to impartially, swiftly and effectively investigate threats, and attacks against human rights defenders, including the killing of AbM members with a view to bringing all those responsible to justice in fair trials.

Background

AbM is a movement of more than 150,000 people living in informal settlements in South Africa. For almost two decades, they have advocated for the right to adequate housing, an end to forced evictions, and access to education, water, electricity, sanitation, healthcare and refuse removal. 

UN experts, civil society, academic and research organizations, journalists and AbM members themselves have well documented a pattern of harassment, threats and attacks against them. AbM reports that 25 members have been killed over the past 18 years since the movement’s formation in 2005, with the first killings reported in 2009. There have only been two convictions. According to AbM, some of these killings occurred during protests, police raids or evictions, while others were targeted.