by Pedro Tabensky, LibCom
The poor are steadily getting angrier and they are preparing for
something. They have relatively little to lose, except the hope that
drives their movements, informed predominantly by desire for justice for
those who are systematically dehumanized in our country today. These
movements include: Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), the Poor Peoples’
Alliance, the Landless Peoples’ Movement, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction
Campaign, Mandela Park Backyarders and Sikhula Sonke. And, in my
hometown— Grahamstown—the Unemployed Peoples’ Movement (UPM) and the
Woman’s Social Forum (WSF) are represented.
All these independent movements are communicating with one another,
having conferences such as the recent Conference of the Democratic left
in Johannesburg, and using the courts and the internet, to achieve their
aims. They are organizing themselves, finding moneys here and there
that do not carry strings attached, thinking about possible futures
without economic injustice, rereading Biko and Fanon, and using their
feet and voices. Little will stop them except repression or genuine
change for the better. Sadly, more often than not, their voices are met
with police or grassroots ANC thuggery (such as the widely reported
violence met out against AbM in 2009 and the ANC Youth League sabotage
of a meeting convened by the UPM to discuss the Makana Municipality
water crisis in 2010). But this violence only stops them temporarily. In
the medium term, it works as a catalyst. The more they are shot at and
beaten in police stations and on the streets around the country, the
more they become convinced that their fight is a fight to assert their
humanity; the more they are convinced that they are largely alone and
that what they hope for can only be brought about by their own efforts.
And their voices are starting decisively to be heard and taken
seriously by the mainstream, despite countless acts of official and
semi-official violence against them, and despite mainstream
condescending portrayals of them as angry children unproductively
venting out frustration or as blind automata of some mysterious third
force.
I will focus here primarily on recent events in my hometown. They are exemplary of what is happening nationally.
On Wednesday the 9th of this month, tyres started burning in the
Phaphamani informal settlements in Grahamstown after a failed
attempt—one of many—to get the local Mayor, Mr Vumile Lwana, to address
the grievances of the local poor. The first thing one finds when
visiting the Makana Municipality website is its vision statement: “We
shall strive to ensure sustainable, affordable, equitable and quality
services in a just, friendly, secure and healthy environment, which
promotes social and economic growth for all.” If only the municipality
acted in accordance with its own stated commitments, the Phaphamani
fires would not have started.
The flames of Phaphamani were an offshoot of a failed peaceful
protest organized primarily in response to a spate of recent rapes and
murders. In late December last year Ms Zingiswa Centwa, a learner at
Nombulelo High School, was raped and murdered. A few days later Ms
Ntombekhaya Blaatjie was also raped and sustained severe brain injuries
from the attack. These acts, in addition to many other recently reported
sexual assaults in Grahamstown, prompted the WSF and the UPM to join
forces to organize a protest march on the day of the trial of Ms
Centwa’s alleged rapist and killer to demand desperately needed
services, such as better lighting, that would help put an end to the
violence met out against women. But the aims of the planned protests
were also more general. The radical lack of security on township streets
is only one sign of many more that point to the glaring fact that in
South Africa today only some of its citizens are treated as full-blown
human beings.
The protest conveners requested permission to protest in a timely
fashion, but the Makana Municipality unilaterally banned the march
without convening a legally mandatory Section 4 meeting, making their
banning of the march illegal. Given the municipality’s disregard for the
law, the organizers decided to carry on with the protest and moved from
the Grahamstown Magistrate’s Court to stage a sit-in at the municipal
offices, demanding to speak to the Mayor, Mr Lwana. They were in the
building for the better part of the day, but the Mayor did not present
himself. Instead, the Municipal Manager, Ms Ntombi Baart, made an
appearance towards the end of the day and assured the crowed that a
meeting with the Mayor would be arranged within 48 hours and then left
giving those present assurances that she would now contact Mr Lwana to
arrange the meeting and get back to them shortly. Soon after she left,
the police came, claiming that Ms Baart had called for them, and they
dispersed the peaceful protest. Residents of Phaphamani, who witnessed
the deceit, were incensed and decided, without consulting the protest
conveners, to return to their settlement, set tires alight and to dig up
a recently laid tar road running through Phaphamani.
The promised meeting with the Mayor never materialized itself. The
commitment made by Ms Baart was broken, lending further evidence that
Municipal officials are not to be trusted.
From the perspective of an outsider, one may think that this gesture
of lighting tires and destroying public property is senseless, but one
must take time to reflect on why residents of Phaphamani decided to do
this. First, they were outraged at the ongoing non-responsiveness of
municipal officials. Second, and relatedly, their needs were not
considered when deciding to spend public moneys on a road that will only
advantage the relatively rich. The residents of Phaphamani are too poor
even to make use of taxis, so the road clearly was not meant for them
and, yet, their demands for better housing, dignified toilets, water,
security and jobs are not being heard.
The flames of Phaphamani went on all night. Next morning when Mr
Ayanda Kota (UPM President), Mr Xola Mali (UPM Spokesperson) rushed to
the settlement upon receiving a call from Ms Nombulelo Yami (of the WSF)
informing them of police violence against the protesters. On arrival
they found that police were firing rubber bullets and rocksalt at the
protestors. They immediately went to speak to them to stop the
unnecessary violence, and were arrested with Ms Yami on the spot,
handcuffed and placed in a police van. While in the van they overheard a
policeman ask the driver to give him more ‘sweets to enjoy himself’. He
wanted more rubber bullets, and got them. Shortly after these arrests
one of the protesters—Ms Ntombentsha Budaza—was beaten and arrested.
The prisoners were taken to the police station and the following day
they were released on bail. The conditions of bail, disturbingly, are
unconstitutional according to Professor Jane Duncan from Rhodes
University. In summary, they are forbidden from organizing and
participating in further public expressions of the right to freedom of
speech. Their trial is scheduled for March 16.
In conclusion, unnecessary violence, dubiously motivated arrests and
intimidation, illegal actions and deceit are being used by state
representatives to suppress the voices of those who may as well be
called the South African untouchables.