The reign of thugs

by Pedro Tabensky, Pambazuka

There are at least two ways of dealing with the abject problem of poverty: one promising and the other not. One way involves conceiving of poverty as a problem and the other endorses the view that the poor are the problem. One requires ingenuity and care, and the other thirsts for violence. Unfortunately, it is the easy option that demands ever-greater levels of violence against the poor. So there is a bias in favour of State sanctioned brutality (sanctioned, minimally, insofar as very little indeed is being done by the State to combat the trend, but also sanctioned more proactively by the Bheki Celes of our land).

The Flames of Phaphamani

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.