A prominent South African activist is to address a meeting in Edinburgh tonight. Lindela Figlan, vice president of the Shack Dwellers Movement in South Africa, will speak on “Land and Housing in the City”.
The speaker will describe the struggle of some of the poorest people in South Africa to win access to land and to basic rights such as provision of water, electricity, sanitation, healthcare and refuse removal.
The Shack Dwellers hit the international headlines through their resistance to forced evictions. When the government has wished to use land occupied by shanty towns for commercial developments the residents in the movement have refused to move, insisting on the right to a home and to land.
Lindela insists: “Land has to be distributed according to social need and not according to who has money. … Every land occupation is a small step towards making this a country for all who live in it and breaking the power of money over land.”
The meeting, at Out of the Blue Arts Centre in Dalmeny Street, starts at 7pm. Admission free.
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It has similarities to the Highland Clearances where poor people had to stand together just for the right to survive and bring up their families with some hope and dignity.