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Shack-dwellers’ Abahlali baseMjondolo Choir to record their first CD

The choir of shack-dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo‚ which campaigns against evictions and for public housing‚ will record its first CD.

The choir’s 27 women and two sing mainly about the journey of Abahlali baseMjondolo and mention those comrades who lost their lives in the struggle such as Nqobile Nzuza‚ Nkululeko Gwala and Thuli Ndlovu‚ the movement said in a statement.

The choir members are all from Cato Crest‚ Durban‚ and have faced eviction more than 12 times since March 2013 when about a thousand people occupied a piece of land and named it Marikana.

“Music‚ poetry‚ dance and theatre have always been important in our movement. Some of the artists that have grown in our movement have been well recognised outside of the movement. In 2007 the Dlamini King Brothers beat 108 other choirs to win the 11th Annual Isicathimiya Competition held at the Playhouse Theatre in Durban. This is the biggest and most important isicathimiya competition in South Africa. In January 2009 they released their debut album Hlis’uMoya‚” the statement read.

Yet people in shack settlements are seen as not having a purpose in life‚ as a burden to the state and that they live in a place of crime‚ it continued. The recording of the choir is very rare for such people.

 “This sends a message to those who think that people living in shack settlement are people who cannot think‚ are criminals or people who do not want to do things themselves. This sends a message that we are also human being who count in society and that we do have talents like any other people.”

The choir will record their CD at the Fort Hare University. Elton Rahanana‚ one of the poets in the movement‚ will also record his poems.

“We all know that Fort Hare University is one the institutions where many of our prominent political leaders in the Southern African region have been graduated. So we are very proud that our choir‚ which sings of the struggles of impoverished people‚ will now have this prestigious opportunity to also become part of the history of Fort Hare‚” the movement said.