Shack dweller wins major award

The Swedish government’s international prize for human rights and democracy, the Per Anger Prize, for 2021 is awarded to South Africa’s S’bu Innocent Zikode of the shackdwellers’ movement Abahlali basemjondolo. As a human rights activist, Zikode places the spotlight on the most vulnerable in our society — people without access to water, electricity and sanitation. Zikode “fights for the right to home and land for society’s most marginalised members, highlighting the difficult living conditions for shack dwellers,” reads a statement by the Living History Forum, which will hand over the award to Zikode on 21 April. The annual prize was established in 2004 in recognition of the Swedish diplomat Per Anger, for his efforts during World War II when he saved Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust.