EKhenana Commune
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The eKhenana Commune (English: Canaan Commune) is a prominent land occupation in the historic working-class area of Cato Manor in Durban, South Africa.[1] According to the Socio-Economic Rights Institute "The eKhenana settlement is organised as a cooperative in which residents collectively run a communal kitchen and tuck shop, theatre, poetry and music projects,[2] and care for a vegetable garden named after the late Nkululeko Gwala [assassinated in 2013] as well as a poultry farm named in honour of the late S’fiso Ngcobo [assassinated in 2018]. The Commune has solar power[3] and is also home to a political school that residents named the Frantz Fanon School, as well as the Thuli Ndlovu Community Hall [Ndlovu was assassinated in 2014].[4] The Commune has suffered sustained political repression, including multiple arrests and three assassinations in 2022.[5]
The land on which the settlement is located is in a small valley between formal houses[6] with a stream running through the middle. The land was first cleared and then settled in 2018.[7][8][9] It is one of many land occupations in the Cato Manor and Cato Crest area which lay vacant for many years after apartheid-era forced removals. The forced removals from Cato Manor are considered the Durban equivalent of the internationally better known forced removals from District Six in Cape Town and Sofiatown in Johannesburg.[10] Like many occupations in Durban, eKhenana has been subject to a number of attempted evictions by municipal Law Enforcement as well as government-hired private security services. This continued despite an interdict being secured against the demolitions.[11][12][13]
Political Affiliation
In April 2019, residents of the settlement became members of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the largest independent social movement in South Africa,[14] and set up a branch of the movement at the occupation.[8]
Commune
Inspired by a visit by Brazil's Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers Movement)[citation needed], the community decided to turn the settlement into a productive commune where they collectively produce and share food. They began a communal vegetable garden, a collectively run chicken farm and build a community hall and communal kitchen. They also set up a collectively run spaza shop where they sold basic items for everyday use as well as produce from the garden.[15][16][17][18][19]
The Frantz Fanon School, a political school, was founded in 2019.[20]
The commune and its communal garden was hard hit by the 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods and many homes were washed away.[21][22][23]
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