Philani Zungu

Philani Zungu was the Deputy–President of the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo in 2006 and 2007. He was also the chairperson of the Pemary Ridge Development Committee in Reservoir Hills in Durban.

Repression

He was arrested on 3 occasions for his political activism and in 2007 was very badly assaulted on one occasion suffering permanent damage to his left ear. He successfully sued the South African police for assault with the support of Amnesty International. The police were ordered to pay Zungu and S'bu Zikode R165,000 in damages, seven years after the event. In 2009 the police were reported to have fired live ammunition into his shack.

Writing

He wrote a number of important articles about democracy and the poor and in late 2007 his work was discussed at a special meeting at Harvard University.

Online Articles by Philani Zungu

• From Party Politics to Service Delivery to the Politics of the Poor, November, 2006
• The Strong Poor and the Police, January, 2007
• Democracy in My Experience, August, 2007