The South African government has failed to bring significant change to rural communities. Instead, countless people living in South Africa are in a state of hopelessness, anger, facing violent crimes, and increasingly resorting to substance abuse.

The Makukhanye Rural Movement is a landless movement which advocates for the landless, the poor, the marginalised, the oppressed and the exploited which includes farm workers, farm dwellers, women, young people and the unemployed.

The movement is active in the Kouga Municipality, the Sunday River Municipality and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The general demands of the movement includes land for the rural poor; a living wage; better working conditions for farm workers and dwellers as well as quality basic services for all. A key objective is to pressure municipalities into releasing commonage land to emerging stock farmers.

The movement has engaged Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality officials from different local government departments of Human Settlements as well as the department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. The Makukhanye Rural Movement also fights against unlawful stock impounding and the huge amount of money charged by the facilities which impounds stock. The movement regularly identifies land for emerging black stock farmers to occupy. Makukhanye also plays a vital role in supporting the survivors of gender based violence.

The movement is also trying to address the lack of access to water in parts of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The lack of water for domestic and agricultural use has made life a misery for the affected areas. The Makukhanye Rural Movement is the voice of the poor and through organising and mobilising the movement can apply pressure to influence policy changes which works for the benefit for the rural poor. The Makukhanye Rural Movement is about hope AND resistance!

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