No Land! No House! No Vote! is a campaign by a number of poor people's movements inSouth Africa that calls for theboycotting of thevote and a general rejection ofparty politics andvote banking.[1] The name is meant to imply that if government does not deliver on issues important to affected communities (such as land and housing) these movements will not vote.
TheNo Land! No House! No Vote! campaign began as a national campaign by the South AfricanLandless Peoples Movement (LPM) in 2004.[2] Originally called theNo Land! No Vote! campaign, the Landless People's Movement and the National Land Committee argued that voters have to be registered in their home ward to vote and that it would be impossible to vote if families were under threat of eviction or had no secure tenure.[3]Amnesty International has reported that LPM activists were tortured during the 2004 national government elections after taking on a 'No Land! No Vote' position.[4]
In 2006, theWestern Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign andAbahlali baseMjondolo[5] movements boycotted the municipal elections under the banner of this campaign. The AEC held an election day march inCape Town saying they would abstain from voting. A march by Abahlali baseMjondolo under the banner of theNo Land! No House! No Vote! campaign was illegally banned by theDurban Municipality and was met with police repression.[6][7]
In 2008, the Landless Peoples Movement, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and Abahlali baseMjondolo and the Rural Network joined to form thePoor People's Alliance. In 2009, the Alliance voted to boycott the national elections under theNo Land! No House! No Vote! banner.[8]
During the 2009 national election campaign, theNo Vote! campaign suffered severe repression by political parties and police. On 8 February 2009, theSouth African Police allegedly beat and tear-gassedGugulethu residents who were holding a meeting about housing because theANC provincial chairpersonMcebisi Skwatsha claimed they were disrupting voters registration.[9][10] Eight members of the Landless Peoples Movement were also arrested in March 2009 and some claim that this is related to theNo Vote! campaign by the Poor Peoples Alliance.[11]
In the 2009 elections 39% of potential voters supported the ANC.[12]
Abahlali baseMjondolo called for a boycott of the2011 local government elections.[13][14][15] They were joined by a range of other social movements including theWestern Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, theMandela Park Backyarders,Sikhula Sonke, theSouth African Unemployed Peoples' Movement and theLandless People's Movement.[16] Local community organisations also organised vote strikes in a number of towns around the country including, for instance,King William's Town,[17]Ficksburg,[18]Grahamstown[19] and Cato Ridge.[20] A total of 42% of registered voters did not vote in the elections.[21] It has been reported that "Nearly 75% of South Africans aged 20–29 did not vote in the 2011 [local government] elections" and that "South Africans in that age group were more likely to have taken part in violent (sic) street protests against the local ANC than to have voted for the ruling party".[22]
Proponents of theNo Land! No House! No Vote! campaign have explained the reasons behind their campaign. There are a variety of reasons for boycotting elections[23] but most people who take this position say that they have been voting since 1994 but have seen no positive result from voting.[24][25] They also often claim that politicians are all corrupt and that there are no political parties that represent the poor.[26] Proponents also make the structural argument that the electoral process itself is undemocratic, that poor people must speak for themselves, and that the movements should be unaligned and pressure whichever political party comes into power.[27][28][29][30][31]
Proponents of theNo Land! No House! No Vote! Campaign have come up with similar slogans which have included the statements 'No Jobs!', 'No Electricity!', 'No Water!', 'No Respect!', 'No Freedom!' as part of the 'No Vote!' boycott campaign.[32][33][34][35]
The Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign has used the slogan 'No House No Vote'.[36]
According to South African PresidentJacob Zuma "If you do not vote, you are depriving yourself of a freedom we have fought for and given you. You are deciding to oppress yourself...you are failing yourself and the nation.[37]
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