SOUTH AFRICA – Kurdistan Youth Diplomacy Committee (Komîteya Diplomasi ya Ciwanên Kurdistan) started a one-month delegation journey to South Africa on the 10th of May. Members of the delegation will travel to different cities, visit democratic organizations and discuss with them the history of South Africa’s struggle, and introduce the philosophy of Rêber APO and the Rojava Revolution.
Kurdistan Youth Diplomacy Committee meets Abahlali BaseMjondolo in Durban, South Africa
Today, the youth delegation traveled to Durban, on the east coast of South Africa to meet the largest social organization in the country, Abahlali BaseMjondolo. Abahlali BaseMjondolo comprises 100,000 members and organizes land occupations and collective management of these in communal structures.
With the communal way of life, the organization defends itself against the repression of the state and the lack of basic services in the poor areas of South Africa, the townships, which are mainly inhabited by the black population of the country. Township residents face eviction and demolition of their shacks at any time, and in many cases lack access to electricity and water.
The communities of Abahlali BaseMjondolo in particular are in the crosshairs of the authorities. Security forces regularly storm the communities and destroy self-managed gardens, chicken farms and other infrastructure. In its repression, the state does not stop at human life. Already 23 activists have been killed by security forces and contract killers. Most recently, leading figures in the youth and women’s movements of Abahlali BaseMjondolo were killed.
After receiving the Kurdish delegation at the organization’s office, with both sides expressing respect for those killed in their respective struggles, the South African comrades took them to the eKhenana commune, where Nokuthula Mabaso, the leader of the women’s movement, was brutally murdered in front of her children on April 5. After she left a meeting at the community center in the evening to take care of her 2 children, a contract killer was already waiting outside her house to shoot her a total of 5 times.
The 60 members of the community, especially the children of Nokuthula, are still in shock. Nevertheless, they emphasize that they will continue the struggle of their fallen comrade and will continue to resist.
They will continue to realize alternatives to the state system, such as through collective self-sufficiency and the self-governing Franz Fanon School for Political Education. All participants of this day agree that the common struggle against the capitalist system can only be overcome if the oppressed peoples of the world stand together, shoulder to shoulder in the spirit of international solidarity against the common enemy.From eKhenana to Rojava – another world is possible!
