Attack on Kennedy Road

rdf:langString Attack on Kennedy Road

rdf:langString The attack on Kennedy Road in Durban, South Africa, occurred on 26 September 2009. A mob of men armed with bush knives, guns and bottles entered the Kennedy Road informal settlement searching for leaders of the shackdwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM). They looted shacks and threatened residents, before attacking a hall where a youth meeting was happening. Two people were killed and around a thousand were displaced. In the aftermath, AbM representatives such as S'bu Zikode went into hiding and thirteen AbM members were arrested. The attack was immediately condemned by academics and church leaders, and Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International later expressed concerns. The trial of the Kennedy 12 experienced delays, leading the Centre for Constitutional Rights and Amnesty to raise questions about the process. In 2011, all the charges were dropped; AbM then sued the local police and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. The incident is regarded as an attack by the police and the local branch of the African National Congress (ANC) against the AbM movement.