This article seeks to give an outline of the key events in the unfolding struggle in Mandela Park, Cape Town, South Africa, against evictions and disconnections from water and electricity. It also seeks to situate this sketch of the emergence and trajectory of these struggles in a broader narrative about the Post-Apartheid State's turn to neo-liberalism. We argue that, in certain instances, the increased political legitimacy of the State, consequent to the elite transition from apartheid to neo-liberalism, has enabled it to step-up attacks on the poor. Furthermore, we also argue that some of the new movements that have emerged to oppose neo-liberalism mark a new stage in the South African struggles: against the elitism of the ANC tradition, they believe that, in Fanon's famous phrase, 'the only magic hands are the hands of the people'. However we caution that, largely as a result of the strains and difficulties of organizing under growing state repression, there is a danger that new forms of authoritarianism could emerge and pose a serious risk to the growth and development of the rebellion begun by these new movements. What they (the ANC) have done to put the economy on a right footing, is, I think, almost miraculous. (Pamela Cox, Former Head of the South Africa Division at the World Bank, in Sparks, 2002: 16) Mandela has been the real sell-out, the biggest betrayer of his people. When it came to the crunch, he used his status to camouflage the actual agreement that the ANC was forging with the South African elite. (Trevor Ngwane, Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, 2003)
The men with gunsIn September 1999 the Sheriff came to Mandela Park with dogs and tear gas and guns. On the first day they came to confiscate our goods. On the second day they came back to evict us from our homes. There were a lot of police, in
This article explores the critical relationship between the commons and the state, through an examination of urban squatter movements in South Africa as a form of urban commons. Focusing on the largest and most fully realized, the Abahali base Mjondolo in Durban, the author demonstrates how commitments to autonomous practices and deep social relationships have developed over time. Citing David Harvey, the author calls for a 'double-edged' approach in which the state is forced to provide public goods for public purposes, but in a way that builds on the local knowledge and self-organization created through commoning.
Popular protest is occurring on a remarkable scale in South Africa. Nonetheless, there is a significant degree to which it tends to be organized and articulated through the local. This contribution argues that while the political limitations of purely local modes of organization are clear, it should not be assumed that local struggles are some sort of misguided distraction from building a broader progressive movement. It is suggested that, on the contrary, the best prospects for the emergence of a broader popular struggle lie in building, sustaining and linking local struggles.
This article, written in response to recent arguments about whether or not shack dwellers can exercise historical agency, outlines the history of shack dwellers' struggles in the South African city of Durban. The sections looking at struggles under colonialism and apartheid and the nature of the post-apartheid deal with regard to housing draw on the extensive literature on these questions. The final section, which gives an outline of the emergence, nature and experience of the shack dwellers' movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, is written from a first-hand engagement. The article concludes that in contemporary Durban organized shack dwellers are constituting a major challenge to technocratic conceptions of democracy.
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