Formed in the late 1970s or early 1980s, the settlement was mentioned by the African National Congress (ANC) after the end of apartheid but amenities were not improved.

Dissatisfaction with local councillors led to 2005 protests including a road blockade, out of which the shack dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) formed.

The Kennedy Road informal settlement is located on a steep hillside between a large rubbish dump and the Clare Estate, a suburb of Durban (eThekwini).

[6] After the end of apartheid, the African National Congress (ANC) mentioned Kennedy Road by name as it pledged to improve informal settlements across the country.

[4][7] By 2005, the Kennedy Road Development Committee (KRDC) was pressuring local councillors to improve living conditions and believed it had secured a promise from the director of housing of eThekwini Municipality of extra land.

[16][17] The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) in Geneva issued a statement that expressed "grave concern about reports of organized intimidation and threats to members of advocacy group, Abahlali baseMjondolo".

[20] Sociologist Marie Huchzermeyer has argued that the attack on Abahlali baseMjondolo at the Kennedy Road settlement was linked to the movement's successful challenge to the so-called 'Slums Act' in the Constitutional Court.

[21] In 2020, as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, eThekwini Municipality planned to relocate inhabitants of Kennedy Road to alleviate overcrowding.