Dear Mandela

To learn more about the feature-length version of the film due to be completed in April 2011 go to: www.dearmandela.com

Dear Mandela is a documentary short film about South Africa's "new apartheid", where forced evictions and dire poverty are too clearly a reminder of days past. Abahlali baseMjondolo, a new social movement of shack dwellers is challenging the conditions as well as the state of democracy itself in the country.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• South
• Africa
• Abahlali
• shack
• dwellers
• poverty
• constitution
• housing
• rights

[Jonafets]

I'm a white South African and I do not want the poor to suffer. I pay my tax and I want the government to use it to help the poor. Stop the corruption and use my money to build my black friends in the townships houses, help their children to afford the same schools as mine. They take 42% of my salary, it should be enough, if someone can stop the corruption in the current government.

[redjack27]

This film gives a good feel for the movement. I was lucky enough to be able to visit Abahlali in late 2007. Clearly one of the most committed and important movements around. I've never encountered anything quite like that very gentle but very militant strength. Deeply inspiring in fact. Qina!

[sphinxart]

I'm also a white South African. I've been doing charity work for just over 15 years, and I can tell you the government has done nothing. In some cases they have in fact done more harm than good. Sometimes I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle!

[AfroSunGoddess]

@Jonafets Status qua in Africa as a whole does not empower the powerless. There is an elite group of people that struggle to hold on to power and oppress everyone else. I am a black Zimbabwean, and many times white Zimbabweans believe that us blacks have gained from the situation in Zimbabwe. But of course we have not at all, so really its not about race anymore its about this elite continue to try and gain power. 42% thats almost too much ... probably buying people cars

[swdcek]

@Jonafets

42% is alot of money taken out to pay taxes to ANC.

[expatleanie]

At first the new government blamed apartheid - I ask for how long can they really when the new government has been in power for 16 years? It seems that the government wants to fight this problem using old tactics. You can't fight a new problem using old tactics. It seems the people in power have forgotten what their initial cause was and they too have become big headed.Not to mention wasting tax payers money on changing town names ,places unecessarily -no one really cares about that.

[ashken79]

ANC was always undemocratic and cruel!..look up the "Quatro"jails they ran in angola!

[88motho]

very sad indeed.

[MicheleCitoni]

And I don't catch, at min. 2:48-2:50, "We feel like (...?...) in another world". Could anyone help me?

[MicheleCitoni]

Please, what does the last man say at the end? "It's not a matter of f...."'

[PassionRiverFilms]

nice video!