FREE SUPPLEMENT INSIDE: WOMEN'S RIGHTS & THE 94 ELECTION

A ^Ek^ WIP96 • APRIL/MAY 19

Have they got what it 1A ikes to I erail OdemocracyR ? WIP 96 • Contents

WORLD BRIEFS 4

PERSONALLY SPEAKING 6 Jay Naidoo

ELECTION WATCH 8 The Western Cape's election hangover — Bob Mattes

COVER STORY: THE SPOILERS 10 • When push comes to shove — Hein Marais 3 • The main manne — Jan Taljaard • The Inkatha factor — Gerry Mare & Georgina Hamilton THE BULLET • Who you gonna call? — John Seiler OR THE BALLOT? RECONSTRUCT SUPPLEMENT If the white right-wing doesn't get you, Inkatha Focus on regional government probably will... As South African voters sharpen their INTERNATIONAL 23 pencils, WIP's contributors probe the potential for Angola: Dances with wolves derailing democracy — David Coetzee The Spoilers — Pages 10 to 22

DOCUMENT 26 Thank you world — Albie Sachs JAY NAIDOO

DEBATE 27 South Africa's goalkeeping trade unionist gives you an The ANC: Is there life after the election? inside look at what he's taking to parliament Personally Speaking LEFT ALIVE 31 — Pages 6 & 7 Unity of the Left: Taps before Trotsky — Jeremy Cronin

DEBATE 34 CAPE Taking the gap — Fareed Abdullah OF DEBATE 36 Raking it in: Consultants in the transition STORMS — Daniel Nina It's time to professionalise The ANC's holding — Graham Bloch thumbs that it can take the Western LAND 41 Cape — but the Feeding the land-hungry polls show they — Estelle Randall don't have much hope LETTERS 43 Election Watch LEFT BEHIND 44 — Pages8&9 FHota one MUCH

APRIL/MAY 1994 THE ELECTION HMSSSSSSHM

Natal holds "In Natal, we may need an equally want to be left atone. high security presence. The alternative "A significant number of chiefs its breath is to have as many visible people as are not very enthusiastic about rebuild­ possible and a well-controlled rapid ing ihe IFP in their areas. This puts WHATEVER THE POLITICANS DECIDE. deployment force. Such a force would more pressure on warlords to go into Natal is in for a bumpy ride between have to act effectively and ruthlessly such areas to do the work. Chiefs arc in now and April 27. the first time violence arises." an invidious position and (he tribal Because the situation is both fluid chief structure is likely to collapse and violent, it is difficult to predict If people want to vote, they gradually. exactly what will happen — particular­ will "The third trend is the large ly as, at the time of writing, Inkatha Aitchison said there were useful lessons amounts of guns available — and, relat­ was still insisting it would not take part to be learned from Ihe recent elections ed to this, the increase in massacre in the election, and there were new rev­ in Pakistan and Kampuchea. "In Pak­ attacks. In 1988 and 1989, there was elations about state involvement in sup­ istan, the military anticipated trouble real shock when a family was mur­ plying it with weapons. spots and had forces ready lo go in. In dered. Traditionally, this wasn't done. IFP participation in the poll would Kampuchea, the lesson was that if peo­ nor were children the targets. definitely lift tension in the province. ple want to vote they will do so, regard­ "The reason for the change could For a starl, the electoral code would less." be a considerable breakdown in social force all panics in the province to exer­ Aitchison says he has identified norms, orchestrated attempts to sew cise tighter control over supporters who three main trends in the violence in the fear or groups of psyched-out killers. use violence to disrupt opposition cam­ Midlands. Possibly, it's happening became of ;i paigns. "The first trend, present over the mixture of all these", he said. But election-related violence is last five years, is one where the vio­ unlikely to disappear. In a province lence has rippled outwards from Pieter­ Send In the troops which has lived with extensive vio­ maritzburg. It first hit urban Pietermar­ But what options are there for contain­ lence for almost a decade, the Tight to itzburg, then moved into the city's ing the violence? ANC official John win votes is likely to be a bloody one. periphery, then rural towns, such as Jeffrey says his organisation is hoping Mooi River, Estcourt, Wembezi and the TEC subcouncil on law and order Protection Richmond. It then moved northwards will be of help. Voters going to the estimated 1 100 and is now hitting denser areas of rural "We want to use the TEC to force voting stations in Natal are going to KwaZulu — particularly tribal areas, the police to act — to ensure the elec­ need protection. In the Midlands, scene such as Ntambanana, Bcrgvillc, Swayi- tion is free and fair. of some of the worst violence, there manc and Applcbosch. "We also want the police to speed­ will be about 260 voting stations — "To some extent the violence has ily investigate cases of violence and, most of them outside Pietermaritzburg been suppressed in northern Natal -— where appropriate, oppose bail." city. The Independent Forum for Elec­ it's a repressive area historically. But A significant development in the tion Education's coordinator for the the violence has resurfaced in province could be Ihe establishment of region, Lynette Archer, said there Madadcni (an IFP stronghold). a regional inspectorate, with the power would be one monitor and three Osizwcni (more ANC), Ezakhcni and lo investigate and monitor all police observers at each voting station on Stcadville. agencies and liaise with them. election day. "A second trend is that when the The inspectorate is likely to con­ A key problem, however, will be IFP is pushed, it relics increasingly on sist of at least three people, one of the security forces' ability to deal with tribal figures to hold ground. In places whom would be a civilian, the others violence. such as Undcrberg. Mpcndle and Bulw- drawn from ihe police. The inspectorate The National Peacekeeping Force, er, Inkatha is trying to rebuild its sup­ would include an independent com­ for example, has insufficient staff to port structures. And it's going to chiefs plaints mechanism, under civilian con­ provide protection throughout the for this. trol, and be responsible for receiving province. As veteran peace monitor "But a lot of chiefs arc now wor­ and investigating complaints from the John Aitchcson points out: "In the ried about whether it's a gocxl idea to public about police misconduct. Gaza Strip, the Israelis work on (he align themselves with the IFP or any Jeffrey said the ANC would also principle of one soldier every 100m lo political party. They've seen the be using the IEC. It has already asked control the area. destructive effects of violence and they for an IEC investigation into the recent

2 * APRIL/MAY 1994 briefs

THE ELECTION No room for losers

THEME COULD BE A LOT OF SURPRISED — ind angry — people in the Western Cape once the election results arc announced. A poll by Marketing and Opinion Surveys (MOS) found a startling num­ ber of voters expect their respective parties to win elections for the province's regional assembly. The MOS survey, carried out in February, found unrcalistically high expectations — particularly among supporters of tiny parties, many of which have armed components. Some might choose to react violently to the news that their panics fared poorly. • NO-HOPERS: Polls show the National Party will take the Western The MOS poll shows, for Cape — but Its supporters aren't quite as optimistic instance, that 91% of Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) supporters expect the Interestingly, Democratic Party more realistic expectations arc nurtured party to either win or do very well in and Conservative Party supporters in rapidly about election prospects, there the election. However, no poll to date the Western Cape seem most resigned arc going to be a lot of unhappy, frus­ lias shown PAC support levels higher to also-ran status. trated (and possibly dangerous) people than 13% in the province. A mere 34% of supporters of the on Ihe morning of May L • Fully 71% of ANC supporters National Parly — the front-runner in expect the party to triumph — an — Bob Mattes the Western Cape — expect the party to • There's more about the Western increasingly unlikely prospect if recent win. Cape's election outlook in Election surveys arc to be trusted. The lesson, though, is that unless Watch on pgges 8&9 The MOS poll asked supporters whether they think their party would: ANC NP DP CP IFP FA AWB PAC Wh Bl Col • Win the largest number of votes 71 34 13 0 0 14 39 SO 16 63 42 • Do very well and be one of the largest parties 21 47 23 44 28 57 31 41 48 25 27 Not be one of the largest parties but still win a good many votes 4 7 40 44 39 0 8 3 20 5 5 • Get few votes In the election 0 0 8 0 6 0 0 0 4 0 0 incidenl at Mpcndlc, when the ANC Accord structures is that they are volun­ But there's an additional problem, was prevented from organising a Peo­ tary. They depend on the individuals as John Aitcheson points out. ple's Forum. and parties they represent being com­ He says (here is genuine concern "The difference between the IEC mitted to peace." thai even if ihe IFP does take part in the and the Peace Accord is that the IEC Jeffrey referred to the recent arrest election, there will be violence when the has teeth", Jeffrey said. "There arc of IFP representatives in Ixopo, Bulwer results are announced. Peace Accord structures operating in the and Phateni — some of whom are IFP "The victors might take revenge, Midlands — in Vryheid, Newcastle. representatives on peace structures — or the losers might not accept the out­ Ixopo and Estcourl", he said. "But saying: "There can't be much hope for come," he told WtP. m besides defusing crises, they have not the peace structure if the people sitting — Estelle Randall on them are accused of participating in • On page 18. Geny Mare and Geolgina played much of a role. Hamilton look at Inkatha s real agenda "The main problem with the Peace the violence." in the elections

APRIL/MAY 1994 MOZAMBIQUE

Half speed ahead one diplomat: "It seems as if each side the peace accord. can always rely on the other to throw This raises the danger that up an obstacle." Mozambique might go into elections CONTINUED DELAYS ARE PUTTING Only a handful of government divided into separately administered ter­ Mozambique's October election dale in troops have been moved to assembly ritories — as happened in Angola. jeopardy, with each step of Ihc peace areas, where discipline has proved a Observers note that the chances of process now taking almost twice as major problem with soldiers complain­ renewed fighting arc lower than in long as planned. ing of delays in pay. Angola. But the election loser can still The assembly of troops should UN officials also admil that simply ignore the outcome of the vole have been completed by the end of last weapons arc being cached outside and continue to control "its" areas. year, but is still way behind schedule. assembly areas. Demobilisation has only just begun. Renamo is denying the govern­ More bucks Although it is theoretically possi­ ment access to areas under its control Renamo head Alfonso Dhlakama mean­ ble to catch up. it will require a degree and establishing independent adminis­ while has repeated his warning that the of haste neither side has shown. Says trations in some of them, in violation of election cannot go ahead unless his organisation receives more money. The UN Mission in Mozambique (Onumoz) has been looking far and wide for funds to finance Renamo's attempted transformation into a political organisation. So far only Italy has coughed up — $6-miIlion. which Ren­ amo has spent, mostly on lodging, food and transport. Patience with the delays may not last forever. At the UN, the United States is expected to resist attempts to shift the election date by refusing to extend Onumoz's mandate beyond October. Asked what would happen if delays continue, one US official responded: "It may be better for the UN to show it can walk away from a failure." • • WAR-WEARY: Demobilising the Mozamblcan armies Is taking twice — Mozambique Peace Process Bui- as long as planned letin/WIP

NICARAGUA

New information indicates that the assassination attempt. Skeletons in the Sandinistas had a hand in the operation. Some observers make the more closet The target of the bombing was extreme claim that it was a purely San- Eden Pastora, a contra leader at the dinista operation. But others, like inves­ AlJtEADY REHJNG FROM SCANDALS AND time. Hc escaped — but eight people tigative journalists Martha Honey and uprisings* the Sandinisla army is being died, including ihree journalists. Tony Avirgan, suggest it may have hit by new allegations of "dirty" clan* Because of Pastora's more moder­ been a Sandinisla operation in which destine operations it ran during the con­ ate views and his maverick style of the CIA also had a hand- tra war. operating, many independent investiga­ • Ihc La Penca bombing of 1984 tors — including some present at La Rogue unit was one of the more mysterious inci­ Penca — concluded that extreme right- The more likely answer is thai ihe dents of the Sandinisla period — and wing sectors of the contras, in collusion bombing was carried out hy a rogue the source of endless speculation. with the CIA, were responsible for the international unit with lies tn the Interi-

APRIL/MAY 1994 briefs

ETHIOPIA

on democratic rights. These moves, however, are not likely to undo scepticism aboul Ihc EPRDF's democratic credentials. Late lasl year, police arrested seven opposition politicians. Several journalists have suffered a similar fate. Addis Ababa University is still reeling after ihe government lasl year arbitrarily sacked about 42 academics. There have also been violent clashes between students and police. MENGISTU: Still And former members of haunts the Ethiopia's first political party (the Ethiopian Workers' Party of Ethiopia) and ex-sol­ economy diers of the deposed regime of Mengis- lu Hailc-Mariam will be ineligible lo Familiar strains stoke separatist passions in a bid to pul vote — unless they have undergone themselves on the political map. political" re-orientation'*. Critics of the ruling Ethiopian The EPRDF's political penchant After decades of rule by monarchy and People's Revolutionary Democratic for mass mobilisations, continuous ide­ dictatorship, Ethiopians wilt go lo the Front (EPRDF) accuse il of secretly ological work and sometimes generous polls on June 5 for their first democrat­ desiring the further break-up of the amounts of "self-criticism" strikes ic election. country. There are about 75 ethnic some western donors as an anachro­ The election is expected lo lay Ihe groups in Ethiopia, with the Oromo, nism and docs not sit well with the basis for further political and economic Amhara, Tigray, Afar and Somali mak­ mainly middle-class professionals who reform in a country that is increasingly ing up 80% of Ihc population. dominate the opposition. torn by ethnic division. On a recent visit to the Somali At the macro-economic level, Volcrs will elect members of a region. Ethiopian president Melcs though, the EPRDF's performance has constituent assembly whose main task Zenawi reportedly acknowledged eth­ been impressive. Defence budget culs will be to write a new constitution. nic groups' right to opt for indepen­ have allowed Ihe health and education Already a score of political groups dence, but added thai the right allocations to be doubled; inflation is down and the local currency invites have sprung up. many of them based belonged not lo a party or clan, but to "Ihe people and a nation". some confidence. on ethnicity but lacking clear plat­ Voter registration has begun, In human terms, though, the econ­ forms. Eritrea's secession last year along with a civic education campaign omy remains in crisis. It is mired in an might inspire some of these groups to awkward transition beiwccn a slate- owned commandisl system (a legacy of both Haile Selassie and Mengistu) and a market-oriented one (a destination or Ministry. According to a former Interior that does not thrill ihe EPRDF). There Predictably, opponents of Ihc San­ Ministry official, Sandinista leader arc serious concerns about food sup­ dinistas have had a field day with ihe Tomas Borgc was caught off-guard by plies again this year. new information, with some claiming the assassination attempt. Borgc was a Not only is the government faced the top leadership was involved. member of the National Directorate and by shortages in food supplies, but aboul So far, however, the National head of the ministry. 1,5-million people — displaced by Ihe Directorate of the Sandinistas appears He launched an internal investiga­ war and drought —still need rehabilita­ not to have had direct involvement. tion. There is evidence thai, months before tion into the affair and either fired or Western donors arc scaling back the bombing, it had declined to act displaced some of those associated with their contributions to development, against Pastora because Ihe divisions he the bombing. The full facts, however, which dropped by more than half to fomented within the contras worked lo arc still to be revealed. 0 $150-million last year. • the Sandinistas' advantage. — Report on the Americas/WIP 5 APRIL/MAY 1994 personal ly How would you describe the way and political activists. you're feeling at this stage of the election campaign? Tired? Excit­ When you get time to listen to ed? Nervous? music, what do you enjoy most? All three. When you work a 17-hour Jazz and classical — mostly due to the day you do gel exhausted. When you influence and increase in cultural feel the warm reception and enthusi­ appreciation because of my partner. asm at workers' forums and people's forums, you get excited. When you see Do you get scared when you're out Tcrre'blanchc and Ihe Mangopes, you there, campaigning? Do you think get anxious... someone might want to kill you? Death has always hovered around the How does it feel, to finally be able lives of political activists. However, to make a meaningful vote? given my eastern roots. I suppose I Jay Naidoo's off to A climax of momentous struggles never allowed that to upset my inner against apartheid. I feel a sense of conscious and determination. parliament — but, relief that we can start to rebuild a bet­ as he admits here, ter life for our people. Where would you prefer parliament to be — In Cape Town, Pretoria or he secretly wishes What's your favourite moment dur­ somewhere else? ing the election campaign work Mauritius — in the future constellation the National you've done? of democratic southern African states. Assembly was in Dancing (he loyi-toyi in dusty fields and sports grounds, feeling the drums Are you expecting a cabinet post? Mauritius. Maybe of freedom. And. most recently, in the Who wants the additional aggro? I will Eastern Transvaal, being made a mem­ play the rote that ensures that the goals they'd appreciate ber of the Swazi tribe by colourfully- of the Reconstruction and Develop­ that 'favourite adorned Swazi women. ment Programme (RDP) arc achieved. Anyway, it's up to the wisdom of our green shirt' of his? How's the pace of the election leader. Comrade Madiba. to decide. affected you? Where do you get We have not fought the struggle for the stamina? What's the secret? positions. Doing yoga, spiritual food, and spend­ ing precious moments with my son Who would you like to see In the and wife. cabinet? People who arc competent, honest and Okay, so how do you relax committed to the RDP. I'm confident between all this? that the process led by comrade Man­ I spend all my (limited) free time with dela will see to this. my family. We must remember that building a new South Africa means Who would you not like to see In starling with rebuilding the family the cabinet? unit. I hope the new government takes Louis Shill, Hernus Kricl. Adriaan this seriously — especially for women Vlok and a few ex-presidents and Jay Naidoo PHOTO flQBtflT BOTHA 6 APRIL/MAY 1994 chief ministers, dom of millions of ordinary people goalkeeper. Which soccer team do who have never been recognised under you support? What are you going to wear on apartheid. The South African national team. For­ voting day — a suit or a Cosatu T- ward to the next World Cup! shlrt? Do you have a 'favourite' business­ I don't like pinstripes, so it will proba­ man? Do you get time to watch TV? bly be my favourite green shin. It will take a few years for that. I have What's your favourite programme? a few special friends ... only one is a Do we have real TV in South Africa? In your years In the labour move­ businessman, and he's not that catego­ I'm still wailing for a South African ment, what has impressed you ry of "businessman". version oF Fawlty Towers. Dennis most? Davis' Future Imperfect is the only [he humility and experience of wis­ You're apparently quite a good one that comes close.

What will you say to people who won't vote for the ANC because of its links with the SACP? They arc confused. It's not the SACP that has tortured people, had death squads, forced three-million people out of their homes, or led to six-mil­ lion jobless. It's thai "new" old party we all know.

What will you say to black people who think they should vote for the National Party? It's their choice — but may god help us if there's even a minority that does.

How do you feel about Cyril Ramaphosa's suggestion that Robben Island be declared a 'volk- staat'? I heard someone say the other day that the Flemish part of Belgium is a belter place for them...

What would you say to people who are afraid that being In parliament will 'soften' your views — particu­ larly your attitude towards capi­ tal? I despise arrogance and untrammelled power. I will work with anyone want­ ing to improve the lives of ordinary people in South Africa. It's certainly not going to be business as usual in the new South Africa. So ask me that in five years.

What would you like your son to be when he grows up? Anything he chooses ... as long as he joins Cosatu. Remember, I'll always be a trade unionist.

Finally: What do you think of Work In Progress?? It's the social conscience of the Left. — Interview by Chris Vick & Mpho Mosimane

APRIL/MAY 1994 elections

The Western Cape hangover If polls and reports from the field are to be believed, a nasty hangover awaits Kaapies on May 1: the National Party will be running their province for the next five years. BOB MATTES reports

HAT WAS UNTfUNKABIJ: THREE years ago now seems likely: W the National Party (NP) might control a strong regional govern­ ment in the Western Cape. The prospect actually is not all that startling. Since 1991, only one opinion survey has shown the ANC leading in the region (see WIP 95 for an assess­ ment of that poll). But very few African supporters of the ANC and PAC arc anticipating such an election defeat — mainly because just about everyone they are in touch with openly supports one of these two parties. • FW's FAN CLUB: 42% of coloured voters In the Western Cape say If the NP docs win the Western they'll vote NP Cape, and unless more realistic expec­ tations are quickly nurtured, there will the MPD's "Launching Democracy completed the shift by moving over to be a lot of angry and frustrated people Project" attributes this to the ANC's ihc ANC. The choice they seem to be on the morning of May 1. Which raises vast organisational superiority over its wrestling with is not whether to vote the unhappy prospect of intense insta­ competitors in the townships. ANC or NP: it's between voting NP or bility, and possibly even racial vio­ Meanwhile, the NP appears to be not voting al all. lence, immediately after the election. recouping support it lost last year The ANC is staking its hopes on among whites (just over 20% of region­ capturing enough of the "undecided" Unhappy numbers al voters), pulling around 55% of their vote to narrow the gap by election day. A Market & Opinion Surveys votes. These figures conform broadly to Barring a major reversal, this seems (MOSyinstitutc of Multi-Party Democ­ both parties* performances nationally. unlikely. racy (MPD) survey done in the region The "fine print" shows why. In its two months after campaigning started Is die Kaap Hollands? latest survey, MOS also asked voters to confirmed the trend set over the past So what is the secret to the anticipated rank parties on a "ladder", from most- few years: NP 35%, ANC 24%, DP 4% NP victory in the Western Cape? The liked to least-liked. This gives us a and PAC 3% (22% refused to answer key factor is its support among coloured glimpse of the sentiments of people and 8% said they didn't know). The fig­ voters, who comprise almost 60% of who refused to reveal their preferences ures were strikingly close to a Decem­ the province's eligible voters. Fully in the mock ballot. And it provides a ber 1993 MOS/MPD sampling. 42% presently choose the NP; only rough guide to which way "undecid­ This latest survey shows the ANC 17% opt for Ihe ANC ed/won't say" voters might jump on consolidating its position among Polls show the NP slipping from election day. African voters (only 20% of the West­ its support levels two years ago, with Around 33% of them arc likely to ern Cape electorate) — drawing about many coloured voters drifting into the move toward the NP, but only around 65% of the vote. Field research from "undecided" category. But few of them 18% could go to the ANC. And in the

8 APRIL/MAY 1994 i'.ioup who said ihcy "didn'l know ty, but their concerns resembled those were done before the double ballot was (disproporlionalcly dominated by of white voters: can the party maintain agreed to, so none asked voters which coloured voters), around 30% could stability and peace, is it honest, trust­ party they support for provincial gov­ move to Ihc NP, but only 10% to the worthy and reliable, can it govern well? ernment. ANC This might hurt the ANC some­ Then MOS asked which party One more twist what more than the NP, For one, ANC people most oppose. Two in three The ANC has been confronted also with election workers arc worried that some whites fingered the PAC, and 43% of some key issues which, despite its best supporters will spoil the second ballot Africans pointed to the IFP. But among efforts, are seen as "zero sum" matters because they don't know what it is for. coloured voters Ihc most unpopular by both African and coloured voters — As well, some voters might be more :>;irty was the ANC — at 36%, safely issues like affirmative action and hous­ inclined to cast their provincial ballots outdistancing the CP (25%) and the ing. according to "basic preferences" or PAC (12%). When asked in the MOS poll "attachments", while voting strategical­ about the illegal occupation of houses ly at (he national level. Blinded by the light by homeless people, coloured voters* It's worth noting also that, in the This trend flies in the face of the wob­ responses resembled those of their Cape Province as whole, the PAC bly assumptions about the "unity" and while counterparts. While 19% of recently registered 13% support among uniformity" of the oppressed. It also Africans fully supported these occupa­ African voters. This sharpens fears that contradicts predictions that the activist tions, only 3% of coloureds agreed; some ANC supporters might choose support given to the United Democratic another 21% of Africans sympathised, the PAC on their second — provincial Front in the Cape Flats would automati­ compared with only 7% of coloureds. — ballot, in the mistaken belief that cally translate into mass support for ihc Fully 44% of coloured respondents they are indicating their "second prefer­ ANC favoured eviction or punishment of ence". Most progressives and leftists occupiers. And, as a clear sign of the All of which probably warms the have failed to take into account the rel­ depth of distrust and misgivings, 58% hearts of the Democratic Party, which ative degrees of oppression and of coloured voters expected the advent hopes to slip down the middle to xploilation experienced in the Western of a black government to lead to more become a key broker in a cabinet coali­ Cape. African voters, many of them occupations. tion — an outcome that, presumably, recent arrivals from rural areas, suffer The upshot, it seems, is an NP could brighten a few faces in Clarc- sky-high rates of unemployment, provincial victory. But this does not mont and Constanlia. • severe landlcssness, lack of adequate mean it will run the Western Cape as it shelter and an appalling education and wishes. health system. Polls show it snapping at the heels Without implying that coloured of a clear majority, but it still has to get residents have cause for contentcdness, its supporters out on April 27-28. Here they arc by comparison, a relatively again the plot thickens. urbanised, well-employed, better edu­ Only 77% of NP voters in the cated, property-owning group. The bi­ province say they will definitely vole cameral system in some ways did deliv­ — compared to 88% of ANC support­ er benefits to this constituency. ers. Most Africans say they will Yet, the NP's coloured support vole, come hell or high cannot be explained purely on material water. But only 65% of grounds. Culture, too, has a hand. An the key coloured vote is NP campaign strategist privately claims determined to go to the party research shows "most" coloured polls; the numbers drop i voters fit the profile of the NP's core to 47% if there's vio­ constituency — white, Afrikaans- lence in their area. speaking voters. The NP has been run­ The chances of ning its campaign on the premise that it violence seem can target white and coloured voters much lower in with essentially the same strategics. white and coloured It's hard to imagine a single ANC areas compared to campaign pitch that can simultaneously the townships. But enthral African and coloured voters in perceptions (rather the Western Cape. than reality) will be For instance, when MOS asked key. If they hear of voters why they support a particular violence and feel party. Africans cited the party's stance threatened, the NP vote on equality, its struggle for basic rights, could take a dip. GOOD its policies on job creation and educa­ But there's a final HOPE? tion. Coloured voters also cited equali­ twist. The polls cited here Viva 9 PMGTD: one URIIR APRIL/MAY 1994 DIE HARD: The right-wing might want to put bullets before ballots

n a rebellion, as in cally the post-April govern- enly — reducing the entire had learnt in Vietnam during u a novel, the most men! — choose to deal with opposition phenomenon to a the early 1950s, South Idifficult part lo it. security threat. How to dodge Africa's while Right is using invent is the end" (Alexis de Already, there is a nasty provocations meant to yield strategics and tactics Tocque\We — 1848). irony at work here. An ANC- martyrs and boost sympa­ designed and refined by the Is the white Right the led government of national thies. How to prevent your Left, bogey of the new SA? The unity will be confronted with adversaries from, as Mao put The similarities are political equivalent of howl­ a set of security and strategic it, "taking root and blossom­ striking: the "popular front" ing at the moon? Or a gen­ dilemmas similar to those ing" in the "soil" of "the peo­ overtones of Ihc Afrikaner uine ticking lime-bomb? that used to befuddle the ple". Volksfront (AVF); the right- The answer is in the apartheid regime. Much as the rebellious wing's success at establish­ making. And it will depend Puzzles like how to act French military officers in ing footholds in civil society; less on the Right than on decisively against hard-core Algeria employed guerre its use of armed propaganda; how its opponents — specifi­ militants without — mistak- revolution/wire theory they its ability to stage events 10 APRIL/MAY 1994 cover story When push comes shove

Bravado, bombs and aimed al provoking slate vio­ wing is bullshit," is right- lence, which could justify an wing expert Wim Booysc's boeps? Or a full-blown escalation of the conflict. rule-of-thumb. "Remember This time around, the that and you'll understand threat to post-election ANC gets to hold the other the Right a lot belter." end of the stick. But can an So just how strong is it? South Africa? ANC-led government, Our understandings of hacked by a less than trust- the white Right are surpris­ HEIN MARAIS fires the first worthy state apparatus, beat ingly flat and melodramatic. the white Right at what is The mainstream media con­ salvo in our focus on The really not a brawl but a game jures the image of a lumber­ of wits? ing anachronism, united by Spoilers — putting the "Ninety percent of what simplicities and propelled by you hear about the right- an almost primordial set of white Right on the couch 11 APRIL/MAY 1994 Uncivil Afrikaner-nationalist myths and creeds. English capital, the NP shooed its old servants Sure, it's all of that — and a lot more. mass base — white labour, small farm­ Like black youth, the white Right ers and the Afrikaner petty bourgeoisie 'Low Intensity' obstructionism can has been reduced to a caricature of (largely absorbed into the civil service) be expected from the lower and extremism (see WIP 90). Only, in its — oul ihe side-door, where frosty winds middle echelons of the civil ser­ case the platitudes and imagery arc the blew. vice, where widespread right-wing flip side to those imposed on the youth. From 1981 to 1986, white unem­ sympathies are evident among Instead of anarchy and mayhem, (he ployment rose steadily. Small business whites. stereotype shows people uniformly insolvencies increased more than five­ But observers also fear more ranged around a common goal, united fold between 1981 and 1992, according organised action, stemming from by ethnic dementia; they appear fanati­ to ihc Central Statistical Service, with discontent over salary levels, job cally attached to "their" history and a agricultural insolvencies rising by 815% Insecurity and restructuring. sense of place and identity. in the same period. 'The prospects of the public Reducing the white Right to Ihe A Gallup poll in early 1992 found sector taking on the new govern­ progeny of Afrikaner-nationalism is part 32% of whiles — most of them lumped ment soon are very big,' a Cosatu of the problem. Because the Righl together at the bottom end of the wage union official, who asked not to be seems shaped less by culture or ethnici­ scale — expecting (heir conditions to named, told 1V/P. 'And there Is a ty (it is multi-ethnic, even multi-nation­ worsen. In the civil service, where one real danger that the right-wing will al — Afrikaners. English. Portuguese, in three Afrikaners work, real earnings try to push for and capitalise on Eastern Europeans, "Rhodesians"), than have dropped over the pasl five years. such a confrontation, tying it to a by a common set of anxieties brought Thai is ihc arithmetic of the right- set of political demands.' on by two decades of social and eco­ wing. Likewise, a review of ils rural There are signs that right- nomic dislocation. strongholds finds farmers buckled by wing political activists have estab­ What Afrikaner-nationalist ideolo­ drought, shrivelled subsidies and lished a strong Influence In the gy does is provide the symbols and indebtedness — a state of affairs that sector, though they haven't been idioms of right- also up-ends commerce and services in able to establish wing discourse. the (owns. Added lo this is physical control over a insecurity, from ihc waves of armed union. Like a brick robberies and attacks on farms. Part of the wall Dazed by ihe economic downturn explosive mix is One need only and slashed stale assistance, these are the milrtance of the survey the dom­ layers most vulnerable lo affirmative largely-black public inant architec­ action, most fearful of land reform, sector unions. tural styles in mosl resislanl lo a new order lhal seems There seems a H Guns are Clawed SA's towns lo augur only more upheaval. strong prospect of : and cities to These fears, Afrikaner academic industrial action by How an v be reminded Willie Estcrhuyse has reminded, unions like the Shoot the Ubei V? that our vigor­ "remain the basis on which many National Hearth and ous post-war whiles experience ihc political process". Allied Workers' Union economic boom ran into a Right-wing organisations alone soon after the elections. This brick wall in the early 1970s. The have proved capable of articulating a might Incite white civil servants apartheid system had blundered into an politics that addresses these anxieties into launching an organised chal­ organic crisis as structural contradic­ and insecurities. lenge of their own, around some tions revealed themselves. Most of them, including ihe widely-felt grievances. Right-wing The slate's response to this crisis Afrikaner Wcerslandsbeweging organisers definitely will politicise was a gradual scries of political and (AWB). have broadened their reach and such action. economic adjustments. And it's there relevance beyond ihc strictly political. 'We've warned our friends of that ihe origins of today's white Righl The AWB, for inslance, is active in this, but people don't take It seri­ lie. neighbourhood watch systems. It also ously,' says the Cosatu official. Those reforms — and the regime's does charity work and organises 'We need to make a strategic shift to supply-side economic policies in women's activities; other groups are decision, which might mean taking ihc 1980s — exposed while farmers and active in culture, publishing, in school matters to arbitration rather than workers to market realities. By Ihe committees and community structures. going for industrial action.' 1980s, ihe populist alliance (hat had The longer-term answer would broughl the NP to power in 1948 had Made to order be forming a public sector union irrevocably collapsed, its demise more Like any political force, the while Right that cuts across boundaries in the or less coinciding with ihc emergence of has an intellectual layer, which has deft­ sector. But union officials are the Afrikaner yuppie. ly pushed a stripped-down and touched- quick to admit that work on that Having reshaped the ruling up Afrikaner nationalism into service. front Is scrappy and will not yield alliance around what had become a In today's version you find ihe results for many years. • functionally enmeshed Afrikaner and focus on cullurc and language —which — Hein Marais 12 APRIL/MAY 1994 softens its racist features. It requires, first of all. that they volkstaat. But (he average white family But Afrikaner nationalism today is rapidly broaden and "radicalise" their is still more likely to watch the "rebel­ still, essentially, white racist reaction in support base. People must be forced off lion" on TV than from behind barri­ drag, as English (and Eastern European the fence — and into taking sides. As cades. Constand Viljoen understands and "Rhodesian") right-wingers fully Sass reminds, many of their strategists this. understand. are "products of the total onslaught era The militant Right sees the need lo And the volkstaat is a repository who studied revolutionary war in great change this state of affairs. Its hard-core for right-wing passions, the political detail" — they know their Mao and activist layers won't swell hugely — Giap. form that best expresses its anxieties. and they don't have to. Remember that The 1992 referendum result sug­ So the battle is on for the hearts at the height of the Organisation Armce gests a hefty 31,3% of white South and minds of right-wing constituencies Secrete (OAS) rebellion in Algeria it \fricans are right-wingers, though thai — which is why it is crucial to clarify had 3 000 members, of whom perhaps doesn't mean they will actively support the factors that motivate right-wing 100 were engaged in direct action. a volkstaat. Quizzed two months ago sympathies and not take the rhetoric at What the activist core requires is a by Integrated Marketing Research poll­ sters on whether they would live in a volkstaat, the equivalent of 850 000 whites said "yes" (21% of while adults). But how far will they go to make it a reality? And, really, docs it matter whether the figure is 900 000 or *)000? Former Afrikaner Volksfront (AVF) co-leader Constand Viljocn believes it does: the "dream" must be achieved through constitutional means, hence the appearance of his Freedom Front on the April 27 ballot paper. The main battle in the white Right is being fought here — around which strategy becomes hegemonic. They all share the same objective, says Wim Booyse, but "the hardliners feel force is the only way to achieve it, and the moderates still believe negotiations is the way to go." Booyse believes Viljoen's way of thinking might still represent the major­ ity of right-wing supporters. "The radi­ cals arc making the same mistake the NP has been making since the late • FEAR OF A BLACK PLANET: No matter how strong the fear, the 1980s — they're running ahead of their average white family is more likely to watch the 'rebellion' on TV than constituencies," is his verdict. from behind barricades The split in early March — between the Viljocn faction and the face value. pool of activated sympathy (Mao's old Eugene Terre'blanche/Ferdi Hartzcn- simile of the fish and the water). It must bcrg faction — docs not mean this Too comfy to be contras? draw in people who, as Sass points out. struggle for hegemony is over. If Analysts like the Centre for Policy "will help with money, information, i Viljoen's intuition is right, and Ihc Studies' Steve Friedman advise us to shelter". "constitutionalists" are a majority, the "remember that whites generally are Acts of armed propaganda and pressure now shifts onto the hardliners. comfortable, well-established cilixens" mass defiance (occupying council Their fundamental strategic aim is who arc not exactly prime candidates offices and forts, defending Radio Pre­ "to force a situation where the only for mass action and civil disobedience. toria) arc an ongoing part of this pro­ choice is between a volkstaat and civil Most are stuck with jobs and cess. Likewise provoking incidents war," says Bill Sass, senior researcher mortgages on their homes to worry which make it difficult for conserva­ at the Institute for Defence Policy about; the 1991 census, for instance, tives to equivocate. "For some time the (IDP) — to make the alternative to a shows a high percentage of white right-wing has been trying to orches­ volkstaat "loo ghastly lo contemplate". households saddled with bond pay­ trate confrontations with the security There are many ways (see "Paths to ments. forces, in order to force people to make choices," notes the IDP's Jaki Cilliers. Hell") to reach that point. It's easy to say you'll fight for a 13 APRIL/MAY 1994 Dangerous curves ahead dict some of the most prickly fears. by consumer and other pressure, like­ Even if Ihe Freedom From contests the "Give in on some points," is Sass' wise the wholesalers and companies election, and a majority of conservative advice, "you won't placate the hard­ that supply, service or own businesses whites go to the polls, the right-wing core, but you can cut away their base of in the town. The local churches are threat will not be over. sympathisers." affiliated to national and international A replay of the terrible paroxysms It's a controversial response that parent churches where pressure can be of violence launched by the OAS in could force the ANC alliance into even applied. The Right is everyone's prob­ 1961 seems highly probable. Some of more of a tightrope act — balancing, lem, not just the politicians'. it will be the "(error of spite" — hopefully only temporarily, the rights attacks on symbols of the new order, and demands of its supporters against Don't roll the credits — yet on black civilians and politicians, a the threats and fears of its foes. It's too early to measure decisively the variety of terror already present. Another way is to desist from effects of the miserable right-wing But some of it will be tactical actions of the sort threatened by ANC intervention in Bop or Viljocn's "con provocations meant to trigger chains of president Nelson Mandela when he stitulionalist" exit from Ihe AVF. events: outrages that draw retaliation warned right-wingers in early February Still, as templing as predictions of (vigilante or official), that claim or ruin that "we won't make it a limited type of the Right's slow implosion into innocent lives, that produce "martyrs" violence when we retaliate". "Sending insignificance are, it should be clear by for the cause, that underscore sympa­ in the troops" might become inevitable now that this phenomenon is way more thies. in some cases but it's a response the than a passing pathology. militants definitely expect and probably That it cams the derision and hale This calls for decisive but nimble desire. it invites goes without saying. Less responses. A key goal, says Booysc. Neither should we swallow the obvious Ls the extent (and the unexpect­ must be to avoid driving the current caricature that paints the while Right as edly ironic ways) in which the threat militant right-wingers underground. He a strictly military threat. Highly mili­ posed by the right-wing to our new urges: "Don't ban them." tarised it certainly is, but it has estab­ democracy will depend on whether an At the moment, the networks arc- lished a remarkable range of footholds ANC-dominatcd government mimics relatively easy to infiltrate, enabling in civil society. These range from agri­ its predecessor's weakness for the big more precise crackdowns, an advan­ cultural and white mincworkers' stick — and how resourceful civil soci­ tage that is lost when they go under­ unions, to a strong presence in the Pub­ ety turns out to be. ground. The typical pattern then fits the lic Servants Association, to town coun­ Meanwhile, we remain trapped in hardcore agenda to force vacillating cils, school committees and neighbour­ that unhappy phase, described 140 constituencies off the fence. As attacks hood watches. It is here that the Right years ago by American statesman John continue, security forces cast wider principally reproduces itself. Its strate­ Calhoun in a phrase Antonio Gramsci dragnets that harass more and more gic options depend centrally on how almost certainly encountered: "The innocent people; they launch raids that reliable and durable these "bases" interval between the decay of the old claim innocent lives or yield martyrs. become. and the formation and the establish­ The snowball effect is obvious. Sym­ ment of the new constitutes a period of pathy levels rise, rhetorical supporters Instead of the knee-jerk appeal to transition which must necessarily be shift to provide low-key active assis­ state action, creative challenges within one of uncertainly, confusion, error and tance, the militants arc emboldened civil society can foil the Right. Their wild and fierce fanaticism." into a new round of actions. It's the stronghold towns remain vulnerable to story behind, for instance, the survival non-violent actions like consumer and It's a reality we can neither wish of the IRA. It must be avoided. service boycotts and stayaways, actions nor baton-charge out of the way. • that can help us maintain the moral The task is to limit the inevitable high-ground while deepening divisions campaign of bombing, shooting and within right-wing ranks. A busincssper- burning to a murderous nuisance, to son in Brakpan inevitably has divided prevent it from becoming an effective loyalties between his political convic­ counterrevolutionary force. The key is tions and the survival of the to discredit and isolate the hardcore business. Boycotts can force before nailing it en masse. him to choose publicly. One way is to keep pushing the And what of the business negotiations option, a tactic that led associations, civic groupings directly to the Viljocn/Hartzcnberg and churches — that sweep of split. (white) civic consciousnes which leaps to action when disas­ A balancing act ter strikes the pale side of town, but The right-wing are going to exploit tends to sit on its hands the rest of the three things: land, education and local lime? government. A major PR campaign, Right-wing town councils and • WHITE NOISE: Terre'blanche's backed by tactical, concrete evidence organisations do their banking with men will be hoping to find Issues of earnestness, has to calm and contra­ major institutions which can be targeted to mobilise around

14 APRIL/MAY 1994 he real military might of the Right is to be found would retaliate when whites are attacked. The unit's exis­ inside a 'home guard' built up around structures of tence has not been verified. the SA Defence Force's Citizen Force and The AWB puts WK membership at 34 000-36 000. .i! uii' systems. but a September 1992 police estimate snipped it down to It is this force that Constand Viljoen referred to earti- 15 000. Even that figure migtit be Inflated, though the this year when he claimed the Afrikaner Volksfront WK did expand considerably during 1993. VF) can push 10 000 people into the field at short A distinction must be made between active members tice. and those who have merely signed up. Attendance figures The top ranks of virtually all Transvaal commando at rallies suggest an active membership of about 5 000 jnlts north of Warmbaths appear to be at least actively countrywide. sympathetic to the right-wing/volkstaat cause. The Boere Krisis Aksie. with its power base in the Eastern Transvaal Boerekommando rthern Transvaal, has played an integral role In setting The Eastern Transvaal Boerekommando (0TB) comprises this people's army*. mostly ex-AWB members. Dormant recently and with a A small number of these right-wingers under the com- membership of about 400. its influence extends from the and of former 32 Battalion commander Jan Breytenbach Eastern Transvaal into northern Natal and parts of the oved themselves disciplined and experienced, If not Free State. werful. during the Bophuthatswana foray in mid-March. But the same event also proved that a large, cohe-

mies of the right umerous right-wing armed groupings appear from time to e. At best three of the paramilitary groups can — by ue of their structure, membership and coheslveness — likened to armies'. These are the Wenkommandos Victory Commandos) of the AWB. the possibly dormant Eastern Transvaal Boere Hommandos and the Pretoria Boerekommandogroep. These groups spring from similar but distinct social lases. AVF commandos tend to be 'ordinary' farmers and workers from the platteland. with a more literal allegiance to Afrikaner-nationalist ideals. In the Transvaal and northern Natal. AWB comman­ dos are mostly blue collar workers, many of them unem­ DIE VUILGOED IS DAAI KANT TOE: A flock of ployed. They include a large contingent of recent East Stormvalke in hot pursuit European immigrants in Johannesburg proper. On the East Rand, where the AWB has its biggest single commando unit, members tend to be lumpens' who are viewed as Under the apparent leadership of Gawie Volkschenk. outcasts in the broader white community. Free State a teacher, this group broke away from the AWB's commandos tend to be more integrated into their commu­ Wenkommando In early 1992 in the wake of the nities. Paardekraal debacle.

Wenkommando Pretoria Boerekommandogroep The AWB s Wenkommando (WK) has a strong profile. It is Based In Pretoria, the Pretoria Boerekommandogroep subdivided Into the elite Ystergarde (Iron Guards) and sev­ (PBKG) Is led by Willem Ratte, a former intelligence offi­ eral other units. cer with 32 Battalion, and Jan Groenewald. brother of AVF strategist Maj-gen Tienie Groenewald. It was central in The Ystergarde is a polished unit. At one stage 20 the creation of the right-wing Radio Pretoria. new members were being inducted each month, but mem­ bership seems to have peaked at about 200 men. Ostensibly organised along 'community watch' lines, The Rooivalke are the female counterparts of the the PBKG is highly politicised in support of the volkstaat Ystergarde. while the Witkruisarende are a battlefield Ideal. It sees Pretoria as the 'holy city' of Afrikanerdom. medical team. The Penkoppe are basically the Wenkom­ Formed in 1992. it grew rapidly and soon boasted mando Youth League and consist of children of active 1 000 members In 14 commandos in the Pretoria area. AWB members. Its numbers might have swelled to 3 000. most of whom In March 1993. AWB leader Eugene Terre'Blanche are inactive. Only about 150 members around Ratte are claimed that a Vergeldingseenheld (Reprisal Unit) had likely to undertake serious military action. been formed, comprising hard core AWB members who — Jan Taljaard g cover story

Highways to hell WIP asked analysts to survey some of the routes organised right-wing reaction might take Here are some of the more prominent scenarios that emerged...

HE AFRIKANER VOLKSFRONT'S (AVF) fiasco in Bophulhatswana T seems lo have cut down lo size (he white Right's threats of mass armed "resistance". But it gives no cause for complacency. The Right retains many options, several of which it might pursue in tan­ dem, though not necessarily in a coor­ dinated fashion.

• LOCAL GOVERNMENT will become the focus of overt right-wing activities. The aim is to displace local authorities in areas deemed lo fall with­ in the volksiaal and create liberated "cantons". Tactics will include the refusal to pay taxes to non-racial authorities, protests, strikes, occupation of council and other public offices, and cutting water and electricity to townships. Key installations like power sta­ tions, dams and sewage plants are par­ ticularly vulnerable to seizure or sabo­ tage. Their security arrangements are well-known to right-wing commando members who, in many cases, arc tasked with the security of these instal­ lations — a hangover from the "total onslaught" era. "Insiders" will assist. The effect will be to demonstrate the new state's "lack of authority" in volkstaat zones. The "dual power" thrust of this programme is evident in right-wing plans to set up their own "civil councils". The Conservative Party (CP) has prepared a list of 283 cities and towns it says fall within its volkstaat. According to its mouthpiece. Die Patriot, a "peo­ ple's republic" is to be established in a core area. Other "cantons" arc to be proclaimed elsewhere in the country. Several town councils have already declared themselves part of the • BOYS WILL BE BOYS: Local armies could try to flex their muscles In volkstaat. But a key player in this pro- the platteland 16 APRIL/MAY 1994 A coup d'etat?

Whatever the extent of right-wing support In the security forces, coup talk remains based on sloppy analy­ sis — for a range of reasons. gramme, ihc right-wing Transvaal These actions can cause intense, • As Military Research Group's Municipal Association, is experiencing enduring instability as attacks and Rocky Williams demonstrated In internal dissension over these plans. counter-attacks lake on their own WiP 91, most of the technical and The idea is to not use violence momentum - a pattern lhal could affect logical factors that make a openly unless in "self-defence", though the transition at the national level. coup 'work' are not yet present. it is difficult to see such a campaign i ntres of state authority are proceeding "non-violcntly". • CONSTITUTIONAL BLACKMAIL: -read out across the country, This strategy will provoke a back­ The Freedom Fronts decision to partic­ ilrfng swift, simultaneous action lash from local black communities, on ipate in ihe election, the departure of In different areas. This makes It dff- uit to keep a coup secret and to whose labour and spending power rural the Ciskci and the collapse of ihc i.laln It once launched. towns depend. Bophuthatswana government has trig­ • Right-wing support Is (regionally) gered severe tensions within the Free­ concentrated In the commandos • PARAMILITARY ACTIONS: The dom Alliance (FA). •ni cfttzen forces of the SADF — humiliation in Bophuthatswana — the Whilst some of the activities • t in the 77 OOO-strong (mainly first mass armed action of the sort — described here arc aimed al establishing black) permanent force which has will see the white Right slick to less "facts-on-l he-ground" (liberated "can­ to walk over for a coup to work. ambitious, and generally covert, tons", for example), they obviously also : •- en If their white officers opt for a paramilitary activities. arc geared to tilt the balance of forces it coup, they'll face the predicament mat sank the OAS In Algeria when, At the moment the focus is on the national level. as historian John Tnlbott has noted, morale-boosting acts of defiance and A hardline option is to create con­ officers who had joined the (1961) relatively minor destabilisation. They ditions that demonstrate the only alter­ utsch found themselves without include Radio Pretoria's defiance of the native to granting self-determination is troops to command'. state and TEC, the occupation of forts, civil war. Attempts to render parts • The support in the commandos disruption of local level negotiating ini­ ungovernable fit into this strategy. .ind citizen forces Is likely to be tiatives, and the symbolic occupation of Civil wars fall inlo two broad cat­ - pressed through inaction not municipal offices. egories: those aimed at displacing the live resistance, says Jakl Cllllers At the same time, moves by while government in power and secessionist of the Institute for Defence Policy: wars. They won't mutiny, they Just won't right-wingers (and Inkalha) to desta­ bilise the election are already apparent. The threat of secession by a \olk- ct against right-wing groups.' It vould be foolish to use them In that Two white agricultural unions have staat seems small at the moment, large­ role, and the SADF knows this. officially endorsed keeping the ANC ly because it will require protracted Which leaves the question: who from campaigning on farms. Bomb armed struggle by a large number of actually makes the coup? attacks on ANC offices arc common­ right-wingers. Some analysts believe • The political project of the Right place, while several recent massacres in Inkatha's ability to wage a secessionist is no longer a national one, it's not Natal have underscored the Inkalha struggle is limited. about Imposing what the Conserva­ Freedom Party's (IFP) resistance to the But developments in Kwa- tive Party called 'cooperative sepa­ April poll. Zulu/Natal arc extremely alarming, and rate development' across SA. A coup d'etat Is dysfunctional to the More actions aimed at preventing the conflict ihcre could soon approach objective of a white homeland. The black voiers from travelling to voting civil war levels. most It can do Is Impose a new gov­ stations on April 27-28 arc a certainty. Meanwhile, whether tactical or ernment that decrees the creation Training of armed Inkatha-aligned random, terror attacks increasingly will of the homeland, and which then forces continues wilh impunity, and be a feature of right-wing activities, has to contend with mass resis­ might be linked to attacks in Nalal on perhaps peaking in the months immedi­ tance from the majority of South ately after the election. Africans and Instant International voter education workers and ANC can­ isolation. vassers. Exact details arc sketchy, but A key element of a counter-strate­ Natal right-wingers have claimed thai gy is to keep constitutional options Two scenarios point else­ at least three intakes of 600 Zulus each open for Ihc right-wing, whilst delegit- where. One Is a coup attempt that have been trained in "self-defence". imising its militant sectors. is not meant to succeed, but rather to massively destabilise the country Violence will dramatically intensi­ To an important extent, this con­ —ie. a coup as a brinkmanship tac­ fy in northern Natal, which reportedly frontation will be fought at the ideolog­ tic. has seen an influx of armed men ical level; right-wing fears and propa­ The other might arrive when recently. ganda can be persuasively contradicted instability reaches the point where In the medium term, a variety of by word and deed. It is also necessary order collapses, violence spills over "low intensity warfare" (LIW) type lo restore morale within the SADF's Into white areas and the govern­ interventions can be expected, includ­ permanent forces and the SA Police. ment appears Indecisive or Ineffec­ ing massacres, train attacks, drive-by Crucial at this stage, say analysts, tual In its response. The 'politics' of that coup, however, would not nec­ shootings, bombings of public facili­ is the need for the new government to essarily be right-wing. • ties. use force as a last resort only. • — Hem Marais 17 APRIL/MAY 1994 0

I a

• SHYING AWAY FROM THE POLITICAL PROCESS: Buthelezi's objective is to preserve his own power-base Avoiding democracy at

Inkatha has done more than EVEN YEARS AGO. WE CONCLUDED nouncements. King Goodwill has dis­ most to derail the our book on Inkatha. An appetite played a level of antagonism towards Sfor power, with the following non-Zulus' that cannot but inflame democratic process. words: "While some care has been even further tensions created and main­ GERHARD MARE and taken in the past to balance the clearly tained by apartheid ... [This] docs not GEORGINA HAMILTON ethnic Zulu' appeals, the dramatically bode well for the future." explain why, and look at why more promiment role that King Good­ That future has arrived. There is will Zwclithini is being allowed to play no reason to retract any but the most Inkatha is so opposed to on the Natal political stage has swung inconsequential points wc made in any election which would the balance towards regional and 'Zulu' 1987. As we said in the preface to our destroy its power-base consolidation. In some of his pro- book: "At a time when organisations 18 APRIL/MAY 1994 KwaZulu Legislative Assembly (KLA). mined both ethnic mobilisation and From its formation in 1975 as the related regional projects of Inkatha. Inkatha Cultural Liberation Movement I "he issues that have become flash­ (with its membership initially limited to points in politics since 1973 are exactly "Zulus") Inkatha leaders have appealed the issues which have come under to an ethnically-exclusive constituency. Inkatha's control as governing party Initially there was some ambiguity in within a bantustan. After 1976, hous­ the call as the claim to be the resurrect­ ing, education, policing, township ed ANC of the "founding fathers" also administration etc became points of featured in Inkatha's mobilising struggle. The growth of unions contra­ appeals. dicted both the economic and political positions advanced by Inkatha, espe­ The Natal hegemony cially after the formation of Cosatu in Inkatha's actions in the 1980s, howev­ 1985. er, left the regional population with lit­ In the late 1970s, when KwaZulu tle doubt about the movement's thrust. moved to the next stage of self-govern­ It was to consolidate political power in ment, control was extended over police the region, rather than just within the and education. In both these areas bantustan. This was lo be achieved Inkatha moved swiftly to initiate and through research on the inter-relation­ reinforce its own interpretation of the ship of the economy and the people of world and the locus of the enemy. Natal/KwaZulu (the Buthelezi commis­ Speeches made by Buthelezi, as minis­ sion and its two-volume report); ter of police, to KwaZulu Police pass­ through constitutional negotiations (the ing-out parades illustrate this well — as Natal/KwaZulu indaba), which bore do the contents of what was initially remarkable similarities with the process called the "Inkatha syllabus" followed followed some six years later at Kemp- in KwaZulu schools. ton Park; and through setting in place regional administrative and service The first shots structures (such as the Joint Executive Violence flared up regularly from the Authority and Joint Services Boards). mid-1980s, undoubtedly aided directly In addition, the thrust towards and indirectly by organs established by regional consolidation rested firmly on the central state to fight off the "total the legitimacy that King Goodwill gave onslaught". The pattern had been set. to it, and to Buthelezi as "traditional The cooperative structures between prime minister to the Zulu nation". central government and the bantustans The legitimacy was based on the had been set in place. continuities of a "Zulu nation" that had The UDF in Natal, based to a large claim to the region, and that had its own extent in urban areas and with a signifi­ "traditional" power structures. "Tradi­ cant Indian leadcrshop, never seemed to tion", in the Inkatha version, has always have the strategy that would undermine meant loyalty to chiefs, to Buthelezi Inkatha's control over areas and people himself, and to the king. Zwelithini's — nor a clear alternative to its ethnic role was lo define who could be admit­ mobilisation. Instead, violent confronta­ ted to membership of the Zulu nation, tion — and an often equally exclusion­ ill costs to determine the conditions of such ary control over territory — carried the membership, and lo identify those who day. This was reinfored by Ihe frequent striving for a democratic SA struggle to are to be demonised as traitors or as the destabilisation of attack and counter­ overcome the racia! and ethnic divi­ ethnic foreigner. attack, and the involvement of the sions that have served apartheid SA so youth, swept on a tide of revolutionary well. Inkatha continues lo exploit those Allen nation rhetoric and total rejection of the "sys­ differences and mobilise under ethnic Within this view of the world, bodies tem" and a commitment to "ungovern­ calls." like the UDF, Cosalu and the ANC ability". These references to earlier work were portrayed as bodies led by non- This ongoing violence, which has arc given to alert analysts to the conti­ Zulus. In other words, all organisations led to more than 10 000 deaths in the nuities in the project undertaken by that had a national thrust to their poli­ region over the past decade, has also chief minister Mangosulhu Buthelezi tics were located outside the ethnic fold. created a steady refugee problem, hid­ and other leaders of Inkatha and the I"his was necessary because they under­ den to a large extent because of ihe

19 APRIL/MAY 1994 shifting and informally-housed "natu­ io retain when it is clear lhal you are minister to the king and the Zulu nation. ral" population growth around the going lo lose an election — a form thai Me said he would not participate until cilies and major (owns. will exisl whether elections go against Ihc political claims of those elements you or not; a system lhat is undemo­ had been acknowledged. So what Is Buthelezi after? cratic, if not anti-democratic. The second, and related, part of Thai is the larger context within which And yet. in some form or other, it the strategy was to call for a single- lo ask Ihe question: "What docs carries the slated support of all the stage process of drawing up a constitu­ Buthelezi want?" At ihe most general major parties (including the ANC-led tion, in which all parties present would level it is an easy question lo answer: alliance). Just this month, ihe king once have a say, and in which it was hoped He wants to maintain and extend again pronounced that Buthclczi was thai Ihe major elements of the IFP and power. The more difficult question is to his "traditional prime minister". "Zulu nation" demands would be say how he is going to achieve it when included. The two-stage process thai every opinion poll shows support for Avoiding democracy was accepted, with the prior election of Buthelezi personally (and for ihe IFP a constituent assembly, that would It does, however, still leave ihc ques­ generally) is a considerable way off serve as a lesl of popular support (and tion as lo how Buthclezi hopes lo achieving that goal. In addition, he and hence ihc demotion of certain parlies achieve the establishment of such a those around him seem hell-bent on who did not carry such support), meant level of government when the major staying out of the elections. lhal Ihc part played by Inkalha and its structures agreed upon in negotiations minor allies would carry less weight. We should, however, note Ihc will undoubtedly be democratically- very unpredictable status of opinion elected. Inkalha and its spokespersons polls in these elections, and the The strategy is that of arguing for have not. however, stayed out of ncgo- undoubted effect lhat people's real and imagined fears of intimidation and per­ secution will have. Already it has been pointed out that with the IFP and the Zulu king calling for an election boy­ cott and with the political intolerance (hal characterises the political culture in the region, every person who walks into a polling booth in certain "Inkatha areas" will not have cast a secret vote, but a vole against the boycoll position.

A foggy crystal ball To offer a possible explanation of the H*kT ••- ', route being followed by Buthelezi. the • i»r*-» *- .* king and the IFP, we have again to fl ^^^K^_"~ : * trace certain continuities — with Ihe clear warning lhal lo attempt predic­ tions in this time of flux is even more hazardous than usual. Buthelezi has relied fairly consis­ tently on structures which have been • IN DEFENCE OF THE REALM: Inkatha support has been mobilised dominated by chiefs. That is what the against any "foreign" threat bantustan system amounted to — a cre­ the legitimate existence, and recreation, liations — they have just not followed ation of apartheid to allow "tradition" of the "Zulu kingdom", based on the the central route through Ihe World to dominate all political processes. prior existence and the colonial Trade Centre. Through bluster, through These "traditional" roles — now destruction of such a polity. Within this ultimatums, through stalling and delay­ supported, along with democracy, by argument the role of Ihe king is central, ing, and through the threat of violence, every party that has pronounced on the along with the undefined (but generally Inkatha has gained considerable con­ issue — do not depend for their exis­ accepted) notion of ihe "Zulu nation", cessions. tence and claims to power on the popu­ lar will. They are, furthermore, male- and a "government to the Zulu nation", Except, lhal is, ihe most important dominated, apply only lo part of the namely the KwaZulu government and one — acceptance of Ihe political pack­ population, discriminate against people KLA. age lhat hinges around the "Zulu living in rural areas, and arc highly From the start of the negotiations nation", the king, a territory, and a gov­ inefficient and frequently corrupt. process Buthelezi stayed out, nol only ernment, the KwaZulu government, What better form of government in his personal capacity, bul as prime dominated by chiefs. • 20 APRIL/MAY 1994 cover story

Who you gonna call?

The police have their own plan for dealing with election violence — they'll just sort it out themselves. JOHN SEILER offers some alternative advice

AST-MINUTE NEGOTIATIONS, THE secrecy surrounding deliberations Lof the Transitional Execulivc ( mincil and ihe hectic pace of the Inde­ pendent Electoral Commission have left one vital question unanswered: What role is the South African Police gofalg to play in the next few weeks? It's a vital question — particularly because of the absence of some key political players from the electoral pro­ cess, and their expressed commitment u \ disrupting the polls. There is a general plan for police behaviour But it's one which raises some hard questions and requires some modification — before it becomes irre­ versible. The plan was prepared by an interdepartmental working group on electoral security, mandated by the TEC and the IEC and discussed in a public seminar at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation during March. Although an SAP major-general chairs the working group, and an SAP • HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL: Civilians will have to be Involved In brigadier is the convenor, participation Intelligence-gathering came from a wide range of government agencies involved with the election and necessary, the police will draw on the IEC staff. security. SADF and the NPKF for more people. At each level, the centres will The plan represents a general con­ and on Ihc the ANC and domestic intel­ bring into play the same government sensus among the participating govern­ ligence agencies when it needs infor­ agencies involved with developing the ment departments — but there appears mation. plan (with the intriguing addition of to have been no substantial consultation commando units at district level). with the ANC. Lawyers for Human JOCs strapped Political parties, civics, unions, Rights, Idasa or other prominent critics The plan's structure is simple. Joint and even local white councils will not of the SAP who have a strong interest Operations Centres (JOCs) arc to be set be memhers. Their participation is lim­ in the election. up at national, regional and magisterial ited to providing information; it appears Given the emphasis on official district levels. they will have no role in any broader participation and the exclusion of crit­ Because the IEC will chair these discussion of political intelligence. ics, it is not surprising that the plan's centres, their establishment hinges on Formal responsibility for this will basic premise is that the SAP must hold Ihe appointment of IEC executives at rest with government intelligence agen­ central responsibility for maintaining these three levels. So while the national cies — Ihc National Intelligence Ser­ law and order during the campaign and and regional JOCs are running, most vice (NIS), SAP intelligence and Mili­ into the post-election period- When district ones await the appointment of tary Intelligence (Ml) — along with the 21 APRIL/MAY 1994 ANC's intelligence arm, under the There is no lems, such as the fact that there is no direction of the TEC's intelligence sub- legislation forbidding the carrying of council. legislation registered firearms into polling stations One or two members of the intelli­ banning fire on election days! gence committee at each level will also The practical difficulties of be members of the JOC. arms from searching each voter arc enormous, but polling (he psychological implications of uni­ Containing chaos formed (presumably armed) SAP The plan Is divided into three phases: stations searching at polling places in this coun­ 0 The campaign. try's first democratic election arc stag­ • The election itself. gering. • The immediate post-election period. than the SADF units now assigned There may be a solution to this During the campaign period, the there. problem: The parties and community central security function will be to min­ What if a security problem crops organisations arc best equipped to imise intimidation and public violence. up in an unexpected district or instabili­ know who intends to bring arms and The SAP will keep track of meetings ty grows beyond the ability of the can cither dissuade them from doing so and will provide staff on request. immediate security detachment and the or report them to the appropriate JOC Wherever possible, "reaction nearest "reaction force"? or local SAP station. The district JOC would presum­ groups" will be stationed near potential But if parties distrust each other as ably request urgent aid from the region­ trouble areas for call-up when required. much as they do in some areas, what al JOC. That JOC could assign a unit to During the election proper, the motivation would they have to encour­ intervene; but if there is severe stress SAP will provide direct security at age a unilateral disarmament? polling stations and the locations for on available staff in that region, it The underlying solution is to bring storage of ballot boxes. might need to turn to the national JOC. them more fully into the electoral secu­ After the election, barring contin­ More to the point, who would be assigned? In the SAP, only ISD units rity process. They should be working gencies which the 1EC has forbidden members of the information commit­ the SAP to discuss publicly, a return to have the capability for such assign­ ments. One unit, the 12th — often used tees at all levels, not just contributors of "normal" policing is anticipated as information. Only by ongoing partici­ quickly as possible. for such backup roles — has the reputa­ tion of being especially aggressive and pation, and with active efforts by infor­ even brutal. mation committee chairpersons, can a Problems and solutions sense of mutual responsibility for the There are a number of obvious prob­ In theory, training and monitoring electoral process develop. lems with the plan. The widespread dis­ ought to reduce the risk of such inter­ Beyond full discussion of political trust of internal stability division (ISD) ventions. Clearly, training itself will be units will make for major problems of inadequate given the limited time and intelligence in the information commit­ unit allocation — especially for what probable resistance from the ISD and tees, the chairpersons and individuals the SAP euphemistically calls "reaction portions of the SADF. Effective moni­ from the major parties should also be groups," but even for the small units toring might be decisive — not so active members of the appropriate assigned to most districts throughout much the classic on-lhe-ground moni­ JOCs. the country and at toring of police behaviour, but the Shifting the burden of responsibil­ polling stations them­ "monitoring" of JOC ity from uniformed and armed security selves. decision-making that units to civilians should also take place IEC chairing should during the voting itself. There is no Taking into permit. advantage in having the SAP in view at account all available polling stations anywhere in the coun­ SAP staff, including But that depends try, regardless of the volatility of local reservists and adminis­ first on the insistence politics. Whether warranted or not, trative staff, it may not of the IEC chair to their presence only engenders ill-will be feasible to have any attempt monitoring and distrust. substantial presence and the responsivity apart from in the most of JOCs whose mem­ Far better that SAP units responsi­ volatile districts. This bership will be almost ble for polling stations be held in would require turning entirely white male reserve nearby to be contacted by the to the NPKF and the and imbued with IEC if needed. Voters arriving at their SADF. The NPKF ancien regime con­ polling place would sec only civilians: would seem an attrac­ ceptions of domestic the IEC staff, party representatives, tive alternative to the security. domestic and international observers. ISD in the East Rand. This civilian presence would help to make the point that elections are for cit­ but it would probably One voter, one izens — and that no security force be seen by 1FP sup- WE'RE ALL EARS: gun should be thought to have any influence porters as ANC-oricnt- Reaction groups will be on The IEC and the SAP on their outcome. • ed — even more so standby on election day admit to basic prob­ 22 APRIL/MAY 1994 international

Dances with wolves Eighteen months after elections, Angola is still at war. DAVID COETZEE looks at the prospects for peace, and at the role a new South African government could play in bringing it about

FRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS PWV chairman Tokyo Scxwalc A came away from a recent visit 10 Angola commenting on similiarities lie noted with the present situation in SA. Like in Angola, he said, there was i "fear that some may not accept the nutcomc of South Africa's elections" — and he warned about "the dangers of Ihc open confrontation thai could take place". This is true enough. But the paral­ lels break down just about there. Inkatha. doing its best to avoid an elcc- loral test, docs not have the level of national support enjoyed by the Unita rebel movement and leader Jonas Sav- imbi. Nor does it have the teas of thou­ sands of battle-hardened troops who underpin Savimbi's political postures. Yet the deals discussed during March at the Lusaka peace talks between Unita and Ihc MPLA may .• intain lessons for SA — even if they ire only lessons to reject.

Real support Despite their awful aftermath, the clcc- lions in September 1992 were the high point of Angola's battle-scarred history. \lthough the government was csscn- lially driven into the election — against Ihc advice of many of its top officers. *ho said Unita was planning betrayal ind could not be trusted — the event *as well-run. and generally taken scri- jusly by all. One thing il did was to finally dis- jlay the actual support for organisa- ions on ihe ground — Unita received H,\% of the total vote compared to the VIPIJVS53,7%. Savimbi secured just over 40% of he votes for presidential candidate, igainst the MPLA's Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who got just under 50%. In the • THE MAN BEHIND THE WAR: Unit.Vs Jonas Savimbi put the bullet rcnlral highlands — Unita's heartland before the ballot 23 APRIL/MAY 1994 South African hands on — Savimbi secured over three-quarters live control in parastatals, ambassadori­ of Ihe vole; in Bie and Huambo the wheel again al and other posts. provinces, 80% and over. Unita suggested instead that the As this edition ol Work In Progress government be divided in the propor­ Strike a deal went to press, the Lusaka peace tion 40% to Ihe MPLA, 40% to itself Immediately afler the election, it was talks between Unita and the MPLA and 20% to the other parties. This was apparent that deals had to he struck were going well — and some kind of based on Unita's argument that it repre­ with Unita to bring them into govern­ deal was in the offing. sented almost 40% of political opinion ment. With such extensive national But once again, It seemed, and that this — rather than the principle South African hands were firmly on support, they could not be relegated to of "winner lakes all" — should determc the Unita wheel. the distribution of power. the political wasteland — even though Before the Angolan elections, their support came primarily from rural Unita leader Jonas Savlmbl's chief The MPLA, in response, said it Ovimbundu people, away from the advisor was SA 'diplomat' Sean was prepared to discuss a more elabo­ centres of population and the modern Cleary (the brains behind Pretoria's rate power-sharing deal than the agreed economy. election management in Namibia), national unity government. who presented a plan to split top Deals also had to be struck But Unita was not consistent on government posts among members because of the way Unita was daunting of both parties. what it wanted. Unila members were war if it did not get its way. divided about whether to: Now, according to MPLA secre­ With hindsight, it is apparent • Accept the results — and their tary-general Lopo do Nasclmento, Unita had no intention of agreeing with South Africans are helping Unita minority position in parliament — and the election results if it lost. While (he draft Its proposals in Lusaka. compete in a second round of elections MPLA had been demobilising its Fapla Do Nasclmento would not Iden­ in the hope of winning Ihc presidency. forces, and taking seriously the forma­ tify the South Africans, beyond say­ • Stick to their original position that tion of a unified army, Unita kept out ing they are 'the people and groups the election must be annulled and re­ an entire army and the best weapons. who are trying to destabilise SA's run according to a Unila-prcscribcd for­ Al one stage, the government warned Internal situation'. mula. that an army of 20 000 was being main­ But he did point out the propos­ • Go for a third oplion involving some tained in secret by Unita. The UN als tabled In Lusaka were similar' to kind of power-sharing, which took the arranged for helicopter flights to range those presented at constitutional elections result as a starting point for over vast expanses of bush in the south negotiations in Johannesburg. They negotiations. of the country. They found nothing. came, he said, from 'forces that are presently trying to implement a dM- • Failing agreement on one of the Unita was using the false peace to slonlst policy, based on ethnic Inde­ above, go for "Somaliasalion" — ihc extend control over areas it had not pendence with SA'. division of ihc country into two, a been able to secure during Ihe war, and — David Coetzee northern and southern Angola in which was holding onto its areas despite the MPLA would have the north and demands that it allow the central state Unita would control and administer the lion. to take control and get voter registra­ four provinces it won in the central tion going. The UN has consistently argued highlands and the far south-east. that it docs not have the funds to send The effect was disastrous: six This proposal ties in wiih Unita's in the thousands of troops needed months before the election, the state approach during the war. when it tried where peace is not already established. could exercise its authority in less than to cut the country in half by taking the a quarter of these areas. But political wariness among member port cities of Benguela and Lobilo and governments was also a likely factor, to control a corridor up to Huambo. It International silence and is likely now to have grown. failed in this bid. But the problem in the end was not After its Somali debacle, the main with the Angolan government, which contributor to UN peacekeeping, the Regional aid US, is unlikely to send ground forces had conceded to international pressure After a year and a half of bloody fight­ on these operations in foreign coun­ to hold the election and had then done ing, an MPLA general recently tries. Washington has in the past sought it well in appalling circumstances. declared that his army again controls to gain political kudos in this way, but The problem was with the interna­ 90% of the urban areas, and a third of cannot lake the fall-out if marines start tional community itself, which refused Ihe countryside. This may be an exag­ arriving home in body-bags. to take government fears about Unita geration, but there is a general sense seriously. And it refused to put its Yet if a new Angolan deal is bro­ that the war is heading back to square money where its mouth was and to kered, these questions will again have one. after claiming (at a conservative send in an adequate military force of to be faced bv the UN. estimate) close on I 000 deaths a day Blue Helmets to ensure peace was kept — the worst war casualty rate in the — only some 400 UN police and some Power-sharing deals world. 600 other monitors were sent in. For­ Right after the election there was talk In the longer term the military tide mer UN representative in Luanda Mar­ of a power-sharing deal in which Unita may now be turning for the MPLA garet Anstcc said afterwards that this could be guaranteed a proportion of government. Internationally il has had been the main mistake of the elec- provincial governorships, administra- widespread support, and if it can pay it 24 APRIL/MAY 1994 gel arms. In addition, it is trying to make reparations for the war damage it Years of Portuguese colonialism, fol­ hin over the International Monetary has suffered, and there may be some lowed by years of war, have removed nnd (IMF) with a new economic sympathy for this view in the ANC the social means for dealing wil'n antag­ i structuring plan. (though officially it is not on). SA's onism. Nor has Angola acquired parlia­ More significantly, the regional own reconstruction demands will be mentary traditions of government and lance of forces will change dramati- large, so there will not be substantial loyal opposition. illy when the ANC comes into power help available. But this may build with Yd the country is not itself divid­ Her the April elections. Though the lime and as regional economic integra­ ed: many families arc intermarried and i_w government will not be in a posi- tion starts to lake concrete forms. spread between government-he Id cities tn to put in significant military sup- Meanwhile the top-level agree­ and Unila-held towns and countryside, >>rt for the MPLA — both because of ment on the principles of a general task lithnk- violence has only flared in the

• THE WRITING ON THE WALL: Angola has no tradition of peaceful problem-solving the tenuous hold it will have on the loy­ force last month, set out between Presi­ tensest moments, as when Luanda resi­ alties of its own officers, and because dent FW dc Klerk. Zimbabwe's Presi­ dents attacked fellow Bakongo citizens of the security priorities it is likely to dent Robert Mugabe and Botswana's after the government had hit out at have at home — it is likely the ANC President Kctumile Masirc, will have Zaire's aid for Unita. It rapidly sought will remember its debts for the years of been noted with misgivings at Unita to damp down that incident. support given by Angola. headquarters. Angolans are, all agree, now dis­ Feelings for Angola in the ANC's Savimbi's only regional friend enchanted with politics and politicians. top echelons remain strong, despite the now is Zaire's President Mobutu, him­ But a period of peace, despite the dan­ fall from grace of the MPLA — jetti­ self under constant internal and interna­ gers of immobilised government and soning its "workers party" label and its tional pressure to resign. instability which a divided administra­ earlier ideas of planned social develop­ tion would give, may be enough to gen­ ment, and acquiring instead a reputation Peace is foreign erate a rebirth of political will, morale for corrupt dealing. Angola, various commentators have and organisation — or perhaps even political parties no longer cast in the I"he Angolan government contin­ noted, no longer has any traditional mould of the old. • ues to him strongly that it wants SA to means of peaceful problem-solving. 25 APRIL/MAY 1994 document

A toast to the world

ANC stalwart ALBIE SACHS says thank you for decades of solidarity

ne of the pleasures when travelling around them will only be repaid when they have recovered the world these days is to ask old friends to to achieve stable, flourishingsocieties . Angola and O raise their glasses on April 28 and drink a Mozambique in particular were devastated because toast to our elections — and, in doing so, to drink of the support they gave to the ANC. And all they South African wine. Those who don't lake alcohol, I can sec for it at the moment is President De Klerk tell to toast in our excellent fruit juice. shouting "Viva!". This is to people who for decades, as a personal Mozambique lost perhaps half a million people gesture of solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle, —and to this day has two million refugees outside refused to purchase South African gcxxls. I am also the country and several million more internally. We speaking to the playwrights, the trade unionists, the had difficult moments such as when the Nkomati religious leaders, the legal experts, the government Accord was signed, but basically they stood by us officials and even some politicians who found their over all the years. We owe them plenty. own ways of supporting the struggle for freedom and International institutions like the United justice. Nations, the Organisation of African Unity, the There are so many people out there who stood Commonwealth and. later on. the European Commu­ by us over the decades whose contribution must be nity, made important contributions. Many of us spent honoured. They gave us shelter, education, access to hours, weeks, years of our lives lobbying and speak­ all the ideas of humanity and. above all, moral sup­ ing. port. They agreed with us that we were not freaks for It was good to sec how the issue of combating believing in simple justice and the achievement of apartheid united almost all the representatives of universal franchise in our country. humankind. Many people took their first political In the case of some East European states we got steps in activities against apartheid. Often they learnt the support of governments without the people being to see the connections between the structures of involved (and in the hardest days, when no-one else injustice in their own lands and the defence of was backing us, that support was invaluable). apartheid in SA. In West European countries, we got help from Wc hope thai the millions and millions of peo­ the people without their governments. This was most ple who took their personal stands, who attended or spectacular in the USA where a huge black-led witnessed the great Free Mandela concerts, who groundswell forced through sanctions legislation objected to racially selected sports teams and who against the so-called constructive engagement policy deprived themselves of the delicious taste of our fruit of the Washington administration. and wine, will share in our joy on April 28 in what Only in the Scandinavian countries, in Africa will have been a common achievement and a victory and in India did we get whole-hearted support from for the whole world. people and government. Sweden and India stand out as two countries which took principled positions throughout the years. Yet the most important support that we got — and at the highest cost — was from African coun­ tries, particularly the Frontline States. Our debt to

26 debate

The ANC: Is there life after the election? What future does the ANC see for itself after the elections? Will it have two 'wings' — one inside parliament and the other toyi-toying in the street outside? This edited ANC discussion paper tries to answer a few questions...

HAT WILL THE ANC LOOK like after the April 27 elec­ W tions? *•< The movement has already agreed that it will not be dissolved — in fact, STU12 IHl the ANC's national executive commit­ tee (NEC) has explicitly committed itself to strengthening the ANC after elections. The ANC will have lo be reconsti­ tuted, however, in a way that harnesses its membership in the new conditions, where it is the dominant force in gov­ ernment. But how will it work? Will there be two ANCs — one debating inside parliament, the other toyi-toying in the streets outside? It's a question political parties around the world arc grappling with, • TAKE YOUR SEATS: An urgent task for the ANC will be to derail the particularly those trying to maintain gravy train dynamic contact between the popular masses and their elected representa­ afford to be reduced to the ANC in gov­ tinuc to be the leader of a broad range tives. ernment. It cannot be swallowed up; it of social movements. It will have to The question is really about will have to maintain a degree of auton­ help maintain unity among the forces of accountability, mandates and the selec­ omy as an organisation. change — without undermining their tion of candidates. It's also worth remembering expe­ right to differ — and help build their And in the ANC's case, it's a riences in the former Soviet Union, strength, so that they can play a decisive question of how it keeps a strong link where the state and the party became role in driving the reconstruction and between those who go to parliament one. This is an example the ANC must democratisation process. and the rest of the ANC. ensure it docs not follow — it needs to At the same time, the ANC will develop an autonomous character as an Lost forever have to defend the mandate of a demo­ extra-parliamentary organisation which cratic government — bringing people ANC representatives going into parlia­ is separate from the ANC in govern­ onto the streets, if necessary, to stand ment cannot be lost to the movement. ment, in a way that never happened by the government if it encounters They will need a viable means of con­ with the CPSU in the Soviet Union or opposition to its mandate. tact with the people outside — and that UNIP in Zambia. means more than a report-back meeting This will add weight lo the process every five years, just before re-election of change, countering pressures from lime. The extra-parliamentary ANC those resistant to transformation. It will In particular, the ANC cannot Outside parliament, the ANC will con- be able to empower parliamentarians to 27 APRIL/MAY 1994 WE MADE IT! AM smiles for the ANC — but the movement will have to overcome fatigue and resistance as It mo continue with the reconslruclion pro­ problems at all levels of society — democratisation. Electing people lo par­ gramme. something which will be particularly liament is one way of ensuring the peo­ important once the Reconstruction and ple benefit, that representatives act on Structural problems Development Programme (RDP) gels their behalf in the highest organs of the For this lo happen, though, there needs off the ground. The RDP carries the Mate. Hut in addition, the people have to to he clarity on the constitutional status danger that it may only benefit organ­ be organised in their own territory, on of the ANC after April 27. ised sectors such as the working class. the ground, lo improve conditions — # ANC" MPs and cabinet ministers will Rural and landless people are nol organ* with or without the assistance of a probably enjoy greater prominence than ised, nor arc the homeless, and MPs future parliament. ordinary ANC NEC members who arc need to be put in touch with these sec­ Bui how should the ANC not in parliament. But they will have to tors. approach this? Should it carry on trying remember that the NEC remains the In addition. MPs can help to build to recruit more and more members? leading structure within the ANC. and contact between government ministries Membership is only a source of is the leading policy-making structure and people on the ground. strength if il is organised. It is not a outside of conferences. It speaks on source of strength if il is a statistic. behalf of the ANC Building the ANC What this means is thai the ANC will • The ANC will also have to clarify It's likely that a high degree of fatigue have lo go through a period of consoli­ where MPs fil into the broad organisa­ will set in after the elections. And this is dation, building and rebuilding. tion plan. They will need specific going to be hard lo break if the demo­ It should nol try lo acquire thou­ organisational lasks, either within the cratic movement does not have clear sands more members for the sake of regions which elected them or within a programmes of action for its members. numbers; its membership needs to be briKid national framework- The masses will need to see their firmly anchored in our communities, This will keep MPs in touch with own power as central to the process of and iis branches and regions need lo be 28 APRIL/MAY 1994 Building a new democracy

Reconstructing the ANC will be part of a broader struggle to build dif­ ferent layers of democracy after the elections: • Representative democracy: ANC representatives In parliament will have to link up with the movement's mass support base. MPs will have to develop distinct report-back methods for the public In general as well as the ANC Itself. There must be transparency, and they must operate within a publicly-known code of conduct. • Participatory democracy: Forums like the National Economic Forum, and the National Housing Forum will have to be transformed Into areas of consultation and cooperation to realise the alms of the RDP. • Direct democracy: This means self-empowerment and serf-initiated action by organised forces on a variety of fronts, sometimes in support of the RDP and sometimes advancing local demands. Ordinary citizens must be able to exercise their rights, as Individu­ als, who may or may not choose to belong to organisations, street committees or any other structures.

New rights, new powers The framework of democracy must allow ordinary people to do things they have never considered within their rights — and which give them the capacity to understand and act on knowledge that was not previ­ ously theirs. They must have access to what was previously barred — Includ­ ing the system of justice, where economic factors must form no barrf-

A democratic government will have to take responsibly for Imple­ menting the RDP and ensuring a speedy advance with programmes of electrification, housing, education, job creation etc. The new government will also have to provide a coherent frame­ work for all actors to contribute towards democratic transformation. It will have to actively Intervene through legislation and financial mea­ Is reconstruction sures. This process must, however, be people-driven and organisational­ connected to the broader democratic ly-driven. The people must be organised — and In some cases, organi­ movement. sations will have to be revived and created to achieve this.

The ANC in parliament New sectors The present parliament has acquired a 'People-driven processes' are not anarchistic popular actions, but peo­ reputation for corruption -— a gravy ple harnessed in an organised manner towards a particular goal. So a train, clearly identified with anti-popu­ people-driven process means one driven through organisations, in par­ lar measures. ticular the ANC-SACP-Cosatu alliance and the organisations In the It's essential that elected ANC mass democratic movement. representatives do not uncritically In some cases these organisations bring together already existing adopt the normal qualities of parlia­ organised workers or other sectors. In other cases, sectors may not mentarians. In particular, while parlia­ be adequately organised, ft Is the responsibility of the alliance in par­ mentary service is going be one of the ticular to ensure organisation is stimulated. highest forms of public service, it is This is particularly important in the rural areas, where there is important that our leadership retains the practically no organisation and where In many cases the ANC is weak. kind of links which have distinguished Existing civic organisation also needs to be strengthened. us from all other organisations in this But the implementation of the RDP goes wider than any previous country. processes and is in keeping with the broad conception of nation-build­ • Perks: We need to look at the mate­ ing. This means a much broader approach than in the past — drawing rial benefits enjoyed by those in parlia­ in organisations which have not historically been part of the MDM or ment. The ANC is the party of the poor, other alliances, but which have something to contribute towards and it is essential that its MPs arc in the health, education or other programmes. forefront of ensuring that the gravy

29 APRIL/MAY 1994 NoANC train clement in parliament is removed. ANC will have lo develop special mech­ They will have to take active steps lo anisms to ensure regular report-backs. alone remove any perks which are not vital for • Discipline: What happens if ANC the performance of their jobs. representatives in parliament deviate The ANC alone will not be from ANC policy? Firstly, we should able to ensure the implementa­ This means a reduction in salaries, not forget that all people elected on the tion of a national and demo­ for a start. ANC lists are there as representatives of cratic programme for transfor­ If the ANC is to remain a people's the ANC — regardless of any other mation. organisation, it's essential that their organisational affiliations, or any private 'It will need to draw on lifestyles are not seen as alien to their thoughts they might have on ANC poli­ the Insights and experience of followers — that is, that they don't cy. the various organs of civil soci­ adopt ostentatious, lavish lifestyles. ety which stand to benefit if At the same time, MPs should not If matters are still in debate, mem­ the programme is implement­ be placed in the situation where they bers arc obviously free to contribute ed. earn more than people who continue to towards formulating policy — and this The ANC will have inter­ work full-time for the ANC at ANC includes differing among themselves, in act, consult and cooperate on salary levels. public. a continuous basis with a vari­ In principle, the ANC should prob­ But if MPs have private reserva­ ety of sectoral formations to ably adopt the approach taken by tions about aspects of established ANC advance their democratic alliance negotiators at the World Trade policy, these should be raised firstly goals, defend and deepend Centre and the TEC, who paid surplus within the ANC's constitutional struc­ democracy and supplement earnings to their organisations (for tures and then within the ANC caucus in government's efforts In Imple­ example Sanco and the SACP). parliament. menting the RDP.' • Accountability: The proportional Where an individual MP openly • Extract from ANC discussion representation system creates special dif­ and flagrantly deviates from policy in a paper ficulties with accountability and report- serious way. it's within the movement's backs. MPs will be able to report back to rights to call on that person to resign and their regions — but this isn't account­ be replaced by the next person on the ability to the public in general, so the list. • r Copies of the GOV C E book can be HAP Organisational Development Ser­ ordered vices is a non-governmental, not-for-profit DEVELOPMENT through any organisation. We offer training, consultation book store or services and publications needed for group through and organisational development. We have over 30 publications which can help your David Philip organisation to be more effective. There are Publishers three major series: POBox 1) The Organisation as an Employer, 232408 aimed at directors and managers, covers Claremont topics such as Pay, Supervision and Disci­ 7735 plinary and Grievance Procedures. A Critical Analysis of Community Based Organisations Cape Town 2) Building Organisation, deals with in the Western Cape

practical tasks such as Filing, Media, Public IftUMMO" 'Ci (HIHV0IMT Kllltlt t.i Relations and Executive Committees. 3) How Organisations Work covers topics such as Bookkeeping, Goal Setting and Based on a critical analysis of community Planning and Fundraising. based organisations in the Western Cape, Available from: the book explores the issues which local CAPE TOWN: Sals Bookshop, ph 47-8901 development institutions confront in DURBAN: Olive ph 25-8059 addressing the increasingly Adams Campus Bookshop ph 812- 320 interconnected cultural, political and JOHANNESBURG: Phambili Books ph 29-4944 economic considerations affecting Mast Books ph 339-1711 development processes.

30 APRIL/MAY 1994 Taps before Trotsky The joint Cosatu/SACP socialist conference offers a unique opportunity to revitalise the Left. But. as JEREMY CRONIN points out, South Africa can't afford for it to be another ideological talkshop...

N JULY, A MAJOR SOCIALIST CONFER- cnce is planned for South Africa. IThe decision lo have the conference goes back, partly, io Cosatu's Special Congress last year, held lo nominate Cosatu candidates for the ANC election lists and to debate the draft of the Reconstruction and Development Pro­ gramme (RDP). The impending elections had trig­ gered off a scries of debates within Cosatu. and these swirled beneath the surface of the special congress. In Cosatu affiliates, there had been a debate on the future alignment of the federation after the April national elec­ tions. Some affiliates had called for the launch of a new workers' party and for the breaking (some said after the elec­ tions) of the alliance with the ANC. • A WATERSHED CONFERENCE: The concerns of the poor are more Important than intellectual arm-wrestling Whatever the consistency of dif­ ferent positions expressed at the confer­ preparations and much open-ended dis­ just how Left docs Left have lo be? ence, there can be no dismissing the cussion needs lo happen before a more That's a conference for ideological profound uncertainty tens of thousands fixed framework is in place. I can only bouncers flexing ihc orthodoxy of their i of organised workers felt (and feel) express personal views about it. pectorals in the doorway. about the short and medium-term future. Will years of struggle be sold To be sure, they arc views that But Ihc most important disadvan­ out? Have wc forgotten our socialism? have been tried oul, revised by crili- tage in billing yourself as a "Unity of How can wc ensure we arc not cism. and assisted in a number of col­ the Left" conference is the basic slrale- marginalised? lectives. gic fact of a major fault-line between the various formations and tendencies There were expectations (hat the that describe themselves as Left or Cosatu conference would debate the What's in a name? socialist in our country. The fault-line new workers* party issue — but in the Firsl, there's the question of name. As end, this particular debate was limited we all know, beneath names arc agen­ occurs on the crucial question of (he to a resolution. It was, in fact, the reaf­ das. At one time, the conference was ANC. Make no mistake. Ihc debates firming of a previous Cosatu congress being referred to as a "Unity of the might often be aboul the relative merits resolution that the labour federation Left" conference. I have no objection to of Trotsky or Gramsci, or about what jointly with the SACP (now added) Left unity, but I'm not sure a confer­ really happened in China in (he late should convene a Socialist Conference ence with lhal title is the best way of 1920s. Bui mosl of them come down to in 1994. achieving it. That title sounds like a set of fundamental South African qucslions: Preparations arc under way for incitement lo a righl-of-admission • Should ihc Left ally ilself wilh ihc this conference. But. since they remain debate. Who is and who isn't Left? And 31 APRIL/MAY 1994 ANC? An unapologetic new government may hoisl an ANC • Should ihe Left operate wiihin the assertion Hag over a typical neo-colonial slate. ANC? We may end up giving greater legitima­ • Indeed, is the ANC itself fundamen­ of broad cy (than FW or PW. nol lo mention tally, or at the very least potentially, Mangope could ever hope lo give) to icn? the kind of structural adjustment pro­ Or arc Ihc answers lo these ques­ grammes that Ihe World Bank and IMF tions: no, no. and absolutely no? perspectives will Iry lo impose upon us. And this, I believe that by far the greater is critically loo, would mean barbarism — another proportion of ihc Ix'ft in SA is cither in kind of barbarism. the ANC or aligned to it. But there arc important obviously other Left forces as well. We Civilised barbarism could have a conference that (explicitly For if there is the barbarism of enclave tx implicitly) forces us to focus on the fascism, of tribal warlordism and ethnic ANC. left unity against or with the allcrnativc was, and remains, a descent cleansing, there is also Ihe barbarism of ANC? We could skirmish with each into barbarism, as John Saul has called Ihc new world order. It is, of course, a other. We could confirm ourselves in it. There are plenty of well-armed and more "civilised" barbarism. Its victims our own views. We might, one or the often fanatical forces (largely gathered tend nol ui die in mortar fire or from other side, even poach a few converts. in Ihe now-eroding Freedom Alliance) land-mines. But il is a barbarism lhai But I think such a conference that are itching to plunge our country claims many more lives — 25-million would be woefully misdirected. into an Angolan. Bosnian or Beirut war died of hunger in the third world last Much better to have a conference of enclaves. There arc parts of our year. Thai hunger was basically caused on the relevance of socialism for our country that already approximate to by debt strangulation. 25-million dead country, and invite even non-socialists that. is Ihe equivalent in deaths of a Hiroshi­ to such a conference. Both the Left in ma atom bomb dropped every single It is in the face of this threat that a Ihc ANC and (he Left outside of it day of last year. broad spectrum of political and other share many values. These include our forces has achieved a minimum con­ anti-capitalism; our anti-imperialism sensus on some demoralisation, and our belief in the need for some including the holding of April elec­ kind of international solidarity; our crit­ tions. Neither socialism nor capitalism icism of capitalism's current rampant (except perhaps bandit capitalism) nco-liberal ideology; our commitment could be sustained in Ihc rubble of to the working class and to a society Huambo or Sarajevo Unlay. Bui the based on basic needs not profits; our consensus wiihin and about our country concern that post-April we may sec a againsl a descent into barbarism does partial transfer, but very little transfor­ nol abolish major strategic, which is to mation, of power; our belief in some say, class differences. kind of socialism. Two major blocs, two major All this surely lays the basis for. in strategic opponents, have struck a the first place, the conference emerging negotiated deal for some real progress, with a common socialist declaration. in the face of a common immediate An unapologctic assertion of these threat. But the negotiated deal carries broad perspectives is critically impor­ risks for both sides. For our strategic tant. i>pponcnls, ihe deal will place the ANC in government, and the ANC includes A consensus against wiihin its leadership ranks many work­ barbarism er leaders, communists, and other pn>- The negotiations process and run-up lo gressivc forces. The ANC's struggle elections have (necessarily and correct­ traditions are revolutionary, its Recon- ly, I believe) put great store by an slruclion and Development Programme inclusive process. A broad, progressive fundamentally anti-ncolibcral and, consensus has been achieved on the above all. its working class and popular absolute necessity for democratic elec­ base is militant, seasoned and relatively tions wiihin ihc context of an interim mobilised. constitution. It is a consensus that includes the major imperialist powers, Bui for us, Ihe deal also carries the NP. through to the Left (or almost grave risks. In a world dominated more all of those calling themselves left) in than ever by neo-libcralism. we may our country. simply stabilise Ihe South African and This consensus has been achieved southern African situation on behalf of on the brink of an alternative. That imperialism and local big capital. The • RAINING REVOLUTION: The social! 32 APRIL/MAY 1994 There is, thus, a double challenge Rather than pating formations, and Ihe scope of the for the Left in our country. We need. 1 unifying declaration, has grown. The 1 lieve, lo play a constructive, even a reinvent a new most recent Sao Paulo Declaration con­ I iding role ushering in a more demo- socio-economic demns the three decades-long US , ilic and stabilised dispensation. But blockade of Cuba, it expresses solidari­ i here arc those in our ranks, enthused programme, ty with other struggles and democrali- ilh the success of the broad constitu- salion processes (for instance, in El i.onal consensus, who arc inclined to the Left needs Salvador). At its heart is a left critique irgel the second kind of barbarism. of nco-libcralism. structural adjustment lor them, talk of socialism "rocks the to strengthen programmes, ihe debt burden, and the Moaf. the RDP general undermining of the national It is in (his situation that the July sovereignly of third world countries. socialist Conference will take place — Perhaps mosl important of all in ii the context of a major nation-build­ last year's declaration is the conviction ing effort, but with the conviction that — in particular the Sao Paulo Forum that ihe Left has lo "move beyond stability, national unity and reconcilia­ which, at its fourth annual meeting in denouncement and resistance, to con­ tion should not, indeed cannot be July last year, assembled 112 national crete proposals and alternative actions." achieved at the expense of suppressing liberation, social democralic. socialist, The Left has to be able to propose and ihe needs and aspirations of the work­ implement actual development pro­ communist and various other revolu­ ing class majority. And, since a social- grammes lhat reject "the formula isi transform a I ion is central to those tionary formations from South and 'growth first, distribution second*". needs and aspirations, mapping out the Central America and the Caribbean. "The development model we desire'*, how of such a transformation is critical. The forum was launched at ihe initia­ says the forum, "presupposes combin­ tive of the Brazilian Workers* Party and ing the existence of the market with a Sao Paulo Forum its president. Lula. regulatory function of the stale ... and We have some very useful precedents Each year Ihe number of partici­ the energetic promotion of the struc­ tural changes necessary to ensure democratic!ion and social juslicc and. in particular, to guarantee social poli­ cies: education, health, transportation, housing, etc"

This it seems lo me. must also be Ihe cenlral challenge of our own Socialist Conference. And that surely means looking quite centrally (not nec­ essarily uncritically), at the RDP. Rather than reinvent a whole new socio-economic programme, the Left needs to strengthen the RDP, lo build mass mobilisation behind it, while, if necessary, critiquing points at which it fudges siralegic differences, where it attempts to be all things to everyone. The conference, therefore, needs to focus on concrete, working class concerns. Let there be. certainly, a debate between Trotsky and Togliatti, Ciram- sci and Mao. We need to continue lo explore legacies and traditions. But. in a country wilh 7-million unemployed and where over half the adult popula­ tion is non-literate, lei the debates that privilege intellectuals not be the centre­ piece. We need a conference which opens up a process that enables Ihe Left in our country to voice — with much greater confidence — basic policies on PMOIO: rw MOUS arence must focus on real Issues anything from banking to lap water. • 33 APRIL/MAY 1994 debate

Taking the gap

The elections will open up space for new forms of mass mobilisation. FAREED ABDULLAH looks at how the July Socialist Conference can help the Left take the gap...

ARRING THE UNFORESEEN, ON May 1 South Africa will cnier Bthe ranks of the world's democ­ racies, and our transition will move into a new phase. The compromises thai brought us to this point are fairly easy to discern in party political terms — deals between the ANC and National Party, conces­ sions to the Freedom Alliance and so on. But it's not as easy to distinguish and define the new class alliances thai are also being forged. As socialists, we have to clarify the class nature of our transition. A couple of points stand out. Because the ANC will come to power on the basis of its support in Ihe work­ ing class (broadly defined), it will not easily escape some form of account­ ability to that class. Yet. at the same time, other class­ es will begin to consolidate themselves within the ANC. The bourgeoisie and the middle class will try to steer the party in directions that suit their class interests. This will be compounded by the movement of thousands of ANC • AFTER ACTION, NO SATISFACTION: Mass struggle will need new activists into the state and civil service leadership after the election — enabling an already existing middle cally anti-working class. This develop­ tion and social security. class within the ANC to assert itself ment will have a profound change on The ANC can lead this struggle more strongly. the nature and pace of change — inside parliament — but not outside. Il is this group of cadres that will despite continuing class struggle within The seat to lead the extra-parliamentary easily find common cause with their the new government and especially ihe or mass struggle will have been vacat­ counterparts in the current government and civil service. It is also likely to link ANC. ed. A new leadership must emerge to with the movement of "progressive" occupy that space. individuals into industry, and will be Class struggle continues It is crucial that socialists consoli­ enthusiastically courted by local and Meanwhile, we can expect serious class date their position in the leadership of international capital to service their struggle, inside and outside parliament, the mass struggle — this is the princi­ interests. accompanying the popular demands for pal objective basis for the unity of the This will be a "class" full of con­ social reforms like land, jobs, housing, Left (or. if you prefer, the consolidation tradictions, and it need not be specifi- water, transport, health care, elcctrifica- of socialist and left forces). 34 APRIL/MAY 1994 If the Left is unable to fill this vac­ paigns which mobilise the masses to sec and academics). uum the mass or extra-parliamentary socialism as their only solution. This is not presented as a conclu­ struggle will dissipate. Parliament will These views need not be obstacles. sive list but illustrates the spread of del­ remain the only front on which the The conference requires a formula that egates and where they are drawn from. working class will wage class struggle. recognises the need for political discus­ Because decisions of the conven­ \\ e know where that will lead us. sion on strategic questions, as well as ing committee arc crucial in determin­ the need to outline a common pro­ ing the success or failure of the confer­ New leaders gramme of action. ence, this body should be broadened to A successful Conference of the Left We also need theoretical debate. include a wider range of likely partici­ should yield an alternative leadership Obviously it will take many confer­ pants in the conference. tor extra-parliamentary politics. It is a ences to cast fresh thoughts on some of lirsl step towards creating the leadership the assumptions of socialist theory that History lessons needed to lead the working class need to be revisited. But conference In the current period — and particularly ' i wards further democracy and greater participants must be encouraged to since the col lapse of Eastern European socialisation of productive and con- insert this discourse into the debates regimes and the Soviet Union — we umplive relations. about programme and politics. have learned an important lesson: no But the central goal of this confer* single organisation or party can repre­ encc — and the Left — is to develop a Pitfalls sent the entire working class. The working class is represented within a programme for the transition lo social­ The greatest difficulty wc face in the number of political formations, and the ism. Clearly* no single seminar can Left is that we have nurtured deep divi­ sooner wc come to accept this, the easi­ answer such a question; it may take sions over the decades, and still have er it will be to accept the role and place years to find common cause and a com­ serious political differences. Yet wc of various left formations. mon programme. have not really engaged each other in If this conference starts the debate constructive discussion. The working class is not a homo­ and discussion, and puts in place mech­ There are positive signs, though. geneous entity and different political anisms that enable us to meet this chal­ Recent decisions by several socialist formations will represent sections of lenge, then it will be an historic formations to support participation in the class which arc differentiated on the achievement. the election brings the Left formations basis of political, social, religious, eth­ To pull this off our debates and into the same political dimension. It's a nic and economic differences. Thus the discussions must be open and honest- subtle but dramatic development political plurality of the working class and why it will yield numerous forma­ Do we achieve socialism by Who's going to be there? The suc­ tions. becoming hegemonic through "ideolog­ cess of the conference hinges on the ical contestation", as Joe Slovo sug­ question of invitations. TTic event must At the same time, a common gests? Does the path lie via the classical be as inclusive as possible, whilst leav­ thread which binds different working Leninist route of the vanguard party, as ing no doubt that socialism will be its class, socialist and left formations is ISSA's Terry Bell would have us central focus* necessary to weave it into a hegemonic belicve(sec WIP 95)7 Is there a parlia­ bloc. And in that lies the objective basis Invitees to the conference should mentary road lo socialism? for the unity of the left. • include working class organisations Is the Movement for a Mass • Abdullah is a member of the Western such as trade unions (Cosatu, Nadu and Cape Regional Executive of the SACP Workers* Party (MWP) the correct other independent unions) and civics strategic approach or merely a Brazilian (Sanco); political formations that define import? How docs this concept differ themselves as socialist (SACP, Wosa, from the idea of a socialist platform? ISSA, CWG, WIRFI, MWT, NEUM, Is a loose alliance of broadly anti- Azapo, etc); sectoral and mass organisa­ capitalist forces enough to build a tions (SAHSSO, NECC Sasco, Udusa, coherent socialist project — or will it etc); and socialist individuals (from the yield only an amorphous front that ANC, NGOs, progressive publications. leads the Left down a cul de sac. And crucially: Is the ANC a part of the broad left front? These arc some of the questions that the Conference of the Left cannot avoid addressing. There is a strong body of left opin­ • ROLL OUT ion, across the political spectrum, that THE insists theoretical debates lead nowhere. BARREL Instead, the conference should The Left will concentrate on building unity around a have to take commonly forged programme of action- over the There are arguments that the Left ANC"s role should engage the practical political as agents of questions of the day, and build cam­ change PHQTO: IHl IWGUS 35 APRIL/MAY 1994 debate

Raking it in? Consultants in the SA transition 'Now is the time', as the slogan goes ... to make bucks in our transition. And one way is by converting yourself into a 'consultant' armed with expertise in community development. But, as DANIEL NINA finds, there's more to this gravy train than meets the eye

llRST, THE MEA CULPA: I, TOO, AM A CONSULTANT. REPLETE WITH ELECTRONIC memo pad. computer notebook, zippy schedule and "insights". The common view is that we parachute into problem zones, dispense our knowledge and tal­ ents, and then hop out, burdened with another fat cheque or two. But are we mer­ cenaries, "operators" quick to spot a gap and fill it? Or arc we just another part of South Africa's growing service industry? What's often forgotten is the fact that market forces are consistently determining a need for more flexible work pat­ terns and relations. In addition, our transition has created situations that require guidance and solutions - from "technical" policy matters to staff and financial management systems inside NGOs.

An NGO In need ... In the world of NGOs and CBOs, consultants have become a coveted resource. In particular demand are consul­ tants who can assist or deliv­ er a specific type of service: re-organising the adminis-

• LARGER THAN LIFE: Community groups have to ensure a balanced relationship with consultants

WWC RWIT IMftrrN

APRIL/MAY 1994 triiiive, management, planning or finan­ Many become consultants to that same cial systems of these organisations. Who is a organisation, or they freelance. In the heydays of apartheid the Naturally, there arc other, less "politics of struggle" reigned. NCiO and consultant? enobling reasons for becoming a con­ CBO funding proposals usually sultant. The job appeals to the ego. You uncorked a steady stream of funds; pro­ It's not easy to define consul­ are accountable to no-one — until you vided you were fighting apartheid, few tants In the world of non-gov­ land a contract, in which case some international funders or solidarity ernmental and community- consultants manage even to maintain groups scrutinised your spending. This based organisations (NGOs and that status. You can set the standards allowed members of various social sec­ CBOs). There are bona fide and define the solutions to a problem, tors to earn wads of money "from the consultants who sell their since you possess the requisite exper­ struggle" — all the way from lawyers knowledge and expertise for tise. You're Ihc boss. M sometimes under-worked (but com­ money — a relationship driven And as Susan Haytcr. of the Inde­ mitted) activists. by market principles. There are pendent Mediation Service of SA's Now, with the shift to the "politics contract workers classified as Western Cape office, suggests, if you of development", scores of NGOs and consultants for the sake of claim specific knowledge, you can hold CBOs find themselves lacking the assigning an honorable title to the NGO or CBO to ransom. Knowl­ knowledge and technical expertise to a particular task. edge empowers the consultant to bar­ re-organise their projects. Hence their And, in the scramble for gain in the marketplace for suitable resort to outsiders — the consultants more International funding, reward. Knowledge is not only power, tasked with buiding or directing strate­ many NGOs and CBOs Include it is money. Compared to a salaried worker, the consultant earns more gic changes in the organisation. in their funding proposals the money per hour, day or project. hiring of a consultant — In More bang for bucks order to pad their budget Obviously, consultants don't find Donors and funders have also begun to request — even when the post work through their sheer willpower or require that NGOs and CBOs bring in is actually filled by an insider. the mere compulsion by donors. There consultants to improve operational and is also a need in the marketplace. The financial systems. Often this interven­ market in the NGO and CBO sector is tion is made a precondition for new men! 10 voter education, they are busy tight, and the broader economy is not funds. Their motto now is: "More bang assessing and directing transformation absorbing all the qualified people who for bucks". in NGOs and CBOs. seek to enter it full-time. So you offer your services in a more flexible way: as Some consultants are introduced "Tourist consultants" come in two a consultant. not to reorganise but to provide specific guises. Some funders (USAID. for types of training that will enhance the example) sometimes require that con­ On top of this, there's no such organisation's work. sultants from the donor country help thing as "tenure" for consultants. Each Organisations that encounter seri­ out in the NGO's development or trans­ job could mean the end of your career. ous problems when dealing with racism formation. Or they arc shipped in to You're chased by deadlines and the or sexism, or in implementing affirma­ provide expertise that is locally unavail­ pressure to deliver. The appeal from the tive action policies, usually turn to able. "employers'" point of view is apparent. "experts" who can help smooth the Many local consultants (and some transition. NGOs) arc begining to oppose the pres­ Out in the open There is also the consultant who is ence of these "foreigners", claiming For NGOs, internally, the transition hired to provide an external service. In they are not qualified enough or do not means transforming and reorganising voter education, for example, some understand local dynamics. But often the project — financially, administra­ NGOs will contract a trained trainer these objections boil down to a turf tively, even strategically and politically. who then works on behalf of the organ­ war. Consultants have become the mid- isation. wives of these processes, and often also Another type is the employee who One for the money, two for the conceivers, conceptualises and faces retrenchment or demotion the... controllers. because of financial restrictions. They Obviously, if consultancy were charity NGOs arc no longer vaccinated can be converted into consultants, This work, there wouldn't be that many of against market forces by injections of is happening in many NGOs stuck with us. But is money the only reason people donated funds. With the flow of fund­ shrinking budgets — many hard-work­ become consultants? "Yes" is the com­ ing ever-more fitful, they arc having to ing employees arc handed the dilemma mon — and glib — answer. Bui it learn — practically — and adhere to of either being retrenched or taking a doesn't really aid our understanding of the rules of capital accumulation. And more flexible consultant position. the phenomenon. it is cheaper to hire a consultant for a Then there's the "tourist consul­ Franci Lund, at Durban's Centre specific task than to add permanent tant". Many "experts" arc jetting in to for Social and Development Studies, staff. A consultant goes without medi­ provide help guide and participate in says people in leading NGO positions cal insurance, housing benefits, provi­ SA's transition (as internationalists or arc vacating their posts so that affirma­ dential funds, pension (or even invita­ adventurers?). From urban develop- tive action policies can be introduced. tions to the "Christmas party").

37 APRIL/MAY 1994 lions to ihc "Christmas party"). A less obvious aspect of this trend To each according is the fact that knowledge is no longer static and exclusive. It "floats" through society. Hayter says an NGO no longer to invoice needs to claim (exclusive) expertise in its field; it needs to demonstrate a good When the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) hires consul­ general understanding which it can tants, it applies fee guidelines which some other organisations are augment by "buying" or "renting" from also following. But In general, consultants can determine their own consultants the specific knowledge that fees. And they do — with startling variations. will enhance its work. Geraldine Coy, of Qouws Woods & Partners, proposes that the The implications arc important. work of a consultant should be determined by the value it represents'. "Knowledge" has become a commodi­ Within that logic, the consultant's fee is determined by the ty that can be traded like any other. amount of work invested in the project, the need to 'reproduce' the This affects the character of the consul­ consultant (basic Marxism) and the overheads involved. tant's services and the "new" nature of According to Franci Lund, a reasonable fee Is R6O0 per day. The certain NGOs. corporate consultancy world views Rl 500 per day as a basic fee. The These are worldwide trends, as DBSA works with three categories: a market rate of R202 per hour reflected at the recent GAIT confer­ R168 per hour for non-profit organisations with overheads; and R99 ence. The service industry, of which per hour for academics or consultants without overheads. consultants arc part, is the fastest grow­ The lack of clear regulation, regardless of the DBSA's efforts, has ing sector in the world. Already it rep­ established disparities. The influence of the corporate sector and resents 20% of world trade. (Restric­ members of the liberal professions (like lawyers) has overdetermlned tions applied to other types of trade the value of consultancy work in certain fields. should also apply to this sector. For Members of the corporate and legal sectors, for example, claim example, dumping of services, like there Is no difference whether you are consulting for Anglo American consultancies, should be curbed.) or Sanco In Guguletu — you should use the same fee scale. Such con­ sultants say they demand a different fee when working for the commu­ nity sector, but the reality is that even their 'adjusted' fee is very Migration patterns high. The idea of having "floating consul­ tants" entitles many NGOs to claim The field of community conflict resolution presents good exam­ access to that which they actually do ples. Hannes Slebert, media director of the Western Cape Peace Com­ not command. In the field of communi­ mittee, says consultants brought in to mediate conflicts in poor com­ ty policing training, for example, cer­ munities used to charge Rl 500 per day. But this ended last September when the National Peace Secretariat decided no consul­ tain international donors arc keen to tant could charge more than R800 per day when doing community provide funds, as long as their consul­ conflict resolution. Is this figure reasonable? tants are involved. These people then migrate through different NGOs The common perception is that many consultants' fees are inflat­ nationally, enabling the NGOs to claim ed because of money poured in by the international community. But access to the funding. But Ihc interna­ the fees are determined more by the corporate mentality that now per­ tional donor, through its designated meates NGOs and lights the path of consultants; it's the logic of capi­ consultants, restricts control over the tal accumulation that dictates the rate of payment. work the funds were meant for. This creates space for more con­ sultants, offering more services. "The market should determine," as Helen Zillc. a prominent Western Cape COO* sultant, notes. Consultants will not disappear. There is plenty of work for them and the market forces will continue deter­ mining their value in operation. But it is not as if consultants alone arc driven by these forces. NGOs. CBOs and the international donor community have a hand in this development. And eventually, the interaction of these different sectors in the market will determine the future of the consul­ tant service industry in SA. • debate

It's time to professionalise

There are good consultants and bad ones. We need to distinguish between the two, and lay down some ground rules for dealing with them. So before you dump that R300 an hour 'expert', hear what GRAEME BLOCH has to say...

ONSULTANTS HAVF. COME IN FOR But consultants have their uses. Firstly, we have to be aware of the a lot of criticism recently, for a And, if nothing else, they're going to be structural effects of working with con­ C number of reasons. Some have around for a long lime. No government sultants. ecn involved in corrupt practices; will be able lo control iheir practices — One is Ihe question of expertise. In lcre are questions about their race and international aid agencies, which organisational issues, how often are jsually white) and gender (usually use consultants in most other parts of consultants genuinely in touch with lale); tension around the direction of Ihe world, are unlikely to change their underlying issues and processes in the ^sources lo "intermediaries" rather approach here. area they explore? Arc they really able i.in the grassroots; and questions Bui if consultants are going to be a lo analyse — in a sustainable way — bout their effect on the development part of our lives, what can we do to the source of particular problems? Are roccss itself. ensure healthy relationships with them? they able to analyse the medium-term

• PLAY THE GAME: If 1's^R ~* * they're part of a team, consultants can

*^* VP^^^k contribute to genuine empowerment

MPhK BMrnUMITYh 39 APRIL/MAY 1994 effects of solutions they set up or pro­ There is very truly assessed, and the consultants' pose? Crudely, operating from an office claim to offer something unique and in Sandton or New York, what sensitiv­ little quality useful can be scrutinised. ity do they have to the local situation on control — Wc need far more technical man­ the ground? agement of consultants. What is their An example: Recent processes in consultants record? Is their type of advice suited to youth development have, lo a substan­ a particular client's needs? How much tial degree, been led by middle-aged have a range of is one prepared to pay for the advice? white consultants with a strong busi­ catchwords and How much time have consultants spent ness tradition. on the tasks they claim (and it is worth Their idealogical baggage fluff that add exluding research time, interviews and includes strong anti-statist views and a other moments that the consultant "free-market approach". Is this the legitimacy' to requires to understand the problem — expertise that can harness youth ener­ building their capacity is not the respe- gies in a sustainable way? the techniques onsibility of the recipient)? In other Consultants, like donors, may be at their disposal words, claims for costs must be justi­ in a hurry to establish highly visible fied on a line-item basis. Loose con­ programmes in ways thai artificially try tracting and sloppy timekeeping must to leapfrog the painful time required by macy" to the techniques at their dispos­ be rejected. development processes. They opt for al. Recipients of services should also high-powered free-market solutions, Very seldom are consultants learn lo share their experiences. We've which may not be best for development called to order for the detail of their never heard of an NGO conference in these areas. consultancies. How much time is actu­ with time set aside to analyse the poli­ The answers depend to some ally spent doing what they claim? cies, approach, and service delivery of extent on the real inputs of clients There are very few auditing mecha­ various consultancies. Why not a themselves — and in ensuring thai the nisms to ensure service delivery. At the detailed register in which a kind of driving processes are clearly located end of the day. do we know of cases "consumer comments" section is kept? outside the technical advisors. where the end project has been rejected Civil society is not just the watchdog of Too often, we've seen organisa­ and relumed to sender? Consultants do the state, but must examine practices in tions with experience and understand­ not inherently deliver good products. its own domain. Nor is it an argument to suggest that ing undervalue their own contribution. The downside of consultancies the market will decide and eliminate 'I"hey also undervalue their own goals, also needs to be taken into account — the feeble and the wicked: there are too and cede responsibility for develop­ in particular, the issue of developing many chips stacked on the side of those ment decisions with no rational basis capacity. Consultancies are not geared with knowledge and prescriptions. — and with devastating effects. to sharing their skills too widely, to long-term training, to genuine empow­ Monitoring A structured relationship erment of their clients. Building defi­ This also relates to the way consultants Users, such as NGOs (and the future nite demands and processes into the work. They arc busy on a range of pro­ state, for that matter) need to develop consultancy provision can only benefit jects. There is a tendency to encourage mechanisms to structure their relation­ the NGO or CBO concerned. the expansion or extension of any activ­ ships with consultancies. Lastly, it should be clear the issue ities that require outside expertise. In the first place, users must is not about the colour of consultancies, Once this expertise has been paid for, decide just what it is (hey require. Like and the monopolisation of resources by there is no incentive to continue to African governments, it is no use trying white professionals. This is of course a monitor and implement strategies. In to negotiate with the IMF over struc­ part of the issue, and it relates to sensi­ other words, there is no medium-term tural adjustment when your economies tivity to context and the ability to com­ accountability to processes that arc have finally crumbled. The NGO municate. But black professionals with generated. There arc a million rea­ with direction and vision is far the same tendencies as outlined above, sons why failure can occur after more able to identify and monitor are going to be no more helpful to consultancy — yet no-one keeps a its consultants, and to direct their development than the white-dominated record of consultancies and their advice to areas where sup­ consultancies of today. failures and successes. There is port is needed. More very little quality control: importantly, it is in this The call, then, is for a real profes­ indeed, the consultant has a way that the quality of sionalism in provision. Those who do range of mechanisms, advice can be the employing, who maintain the con­ catchwords and fluff sultancies in business, have a real duty that add "legiti- to look at how their money is spent, to assess the services they receive, and to plan accordingly. • • Bloch is project officer for a funding development agency involved in youth development 40 APRIL/MAY 1994 Feeding the land-hungry South Africa's rural people were able to speak with one voice at the recent Community Land Conference. The challenge now, says ESTELLE RANDALL, is to make sure politicians don't forget what they were calling for

E LOOK FORWARD TO ihc birth of a new "W South Africa. Bui for us there will be nothing new until there is land, services and growth ... We will not sit back and watch as the wealth builds up in the cities, while on the edges of the cities, in the small towns and in the countryside, we continue to suffer and starve." That message best sums up the attitude of South Africa's rural and landless people who, for the first time in their history, have been given the opportunity to speak out about their plight. The message is contained in a dec­ laration adopted by over 700 delegates from South Africa's rural and landless communities, who attended the Com­ munity Land Conference (CLC) in Bloemfontein during February. • NO MORE BEGGING BOWLS: "We will not sit back and watch as the Organised by the National Land wealth builds up In the cities' Committee (NLC) and its affiliates, the conference was the culmination of pen — although he concedes that if "Because they are not sufficiently almost a year's local and regional dis­ there is no strong follow-up to the con­ organised to carry this momentum for­ cussion — a process which has already ference, the danger of the issues sliding ward, service organisations like the helped to strengthen emergent links off the agendas of political parties is NLC will have to help communities across communities (sec WIP95)* high. maintain the pressure. We could do As a result, these communities arc 'it's quite clear that it took a big this through publicity, campaigns and likely to be watching the broader politi­ event like the CLC for rural people's through helping communities io cal processes far more closely. And issues to be noticed. The 'one farm, one engage with political organisations. they arc likely to be much more confi­ farmer' demand — whether it's right or We should also help communities to dent about lobbying the future govern­ wrong — generated a lot of response. build their capacity to raise issues ment. "This is the only way rural people themselves." arc going to be noticed — if their issues Pearce said he believed it was The confidence question are raised in a strong, public way, at a possible, although difficult, to build a But will the conference have longer- national level. rural social movement in South Africa. term benefits? Is it likely to give impe­ "The conference created an impor­ This was because of the momentum tus to rural people's organisation and tant momentum. An obvious way for created by the conference and because help them move out of the shadows? communities to continue to make sure there were already some community NLC advocacy officer Brendan their issues stay on the agenda is for structures. These structures should be Pearce feels confident that this will hap* them to organise. strenghtcned and broadened, as they 41 APRIL/MAY 1994 What does the RDP form the foundation of a national movement. offer rural people?

Less noise, more action • Land reform The ANC has committed itself to redistribute 30% of agricultural land Pcarce'S views about public, national and to complete land restoration within five years of the April elec­ level activity are not shared by all in tion, according to land reform proposals in the Reconstruction and the NLC network. Some feel there Development Programme (RDP). should be more emphasis on local and A land reform programme, says the RDP, should be demand-driv­ regional organisation, rather than large en and supply residential and productive land to the poorest section national meetings. They believe the of the rural population and aspirant farmers. Land reform should raise building blocks for a strong national Incomes and productivity, ensure security of tenure — regardless of movement are strong local and regional the landholdlng system — and remove all forms of discrimination in organisation able to meet the needs of women's access to land. rural people — and firmly rooted in Land restitution should redress the suffering caused by forced communities. removals. The democratic government must, through a land claims Organisational, political and social court, restore land to South Africans who have been dispossessed by dynamics differ and an emphasis on discriminatory laws since 1913. The court must be able to work local and regional organisation, even if speedily, and there should be guaranteed constitutional rights to slower, could bear more fruit. restitution. The debate about where the The redistribution part of the land reform programme should emphasis in community organisation strengthen existing property rights of communities already living on should He is one which needs to be land, and use market and non-market mechanisms to provide land. resolved by the NLC and the communi­ ties with which its affiliates work. • Rural development To correct the history of under-funding and misuse of funds and to Taking up issues meet the needs of the rural poor, substantial transfers of funds from Some demands which the conference the central government to the rural areas Is necessary. adopted arc more radical than current The objective of a future rural development policy should be to coor­ land reform proposals now being dinate the activities of government agents and to pass as much of debated. While the ANC's Reconstruc­ the control of government-funded services to rural people- tion and Development Programme This would mean ensuring that: (RDP) and World Bank proposals • Democratic structures are set up to control finance and local favour a market-assisted land redistri­ development activities. bution and have pegged 1913 as a cut­ • Councillors are elected at district and local level and local councils off date for land restitution claims, the and other voluntary community structures such as local development land conference has demanded that the forums are formed. cut-off date be 1652. The conference • Community development officers are trained to advise communities also called for the scrapping of the of their options. These officers will work for the district councils. property rights and restitution clauses • Government officers and council officials should complement the in the interim constitution. work of non-government organisations in rural development work. The new government should Include a central Ministry of Rural Devel­ Community regional representa­ opment and Land Reform. This ministry should include a unit for rural tives discussed these two issues with data collection and an early warning system for food and water secu­ ANC president Nelson Mandela on rity. It should set targets for provision of clean water to within 200m March 10. In particular, communities of houses, health indicators (especially for socio-economic diseases), said thev were concerned with state- adult literacy provision, service provision and poverty reduction. ments that only state land would be It should also train and re-train extension workers, community devel­ used for redistribution. opment officers and officials dealing with land reform. Programmes Pearce said his impression had for this training should be designed within the first 18 months of the been that when the ANC and Mandela RDP. referred to redistributing state land, they included farms mortgaged to the state through the Land Bank. The ANC ers contribute to food production. He consult rural people on policy. But also promised to make Land Bank was vague about exactly what the ANC, Pearce said he believed changes to the financing more accessible to disadvan­ if it got into government, would do. constitution would be more difficult taged potential farmers. "It seems they are trying to walk a after the election because there would be a greater reluctance to "rock the "Mandela spoke of the importance delicate balance between allaying the of striking a balance between food pro­ fears of white farmers and dealing with boat". • (he aspirations of the land-hungry." • For more on (he CLC debates — par­ duction and land redistribution. But ticularly on the Issue of polygamy — see what he didn't really deal with was the Mandela had given communities Sue Wixley's article in our Women's fact that only about 20% of white farm- an undertaking that the ANC would Rights supplement 42 APRIL/MAY 1994 letters Winning letter ISBSi lice. No-one claims that communities Say no to the IMF are homogenous or that the develop­ ment of popular justice has been even. I recently read with trepidation about But why has this particular expression the International Monetary Fund's of organic justice mushroomed all (IMF) R2,9-bilIion loan to South around the country? We are not talking Africa. about warlords and criminals who The total debt burden for sub- industrialisation. claim to lead some type of organs of Saharan Africa has now reached over This inevitably leads to social dis­ popular justice. We, as many other S20()-billion. Servicing this debt drains integration and economic collapse intellectuals, have been analysing sys­ the region of $10-billion a year, or (with social services worst hit) while tematic and well-organised practices of .iround a quarter of the region's export the burden falls on the poor and weak popular justice. earnings. This represents four times social groups — workers, women and what most African governments spend Secondly, our intervention in WIP children. on the health and education of their cit­ 94 was intended to promote a political izens. In the South, the IMF is regarded project in which organs of popular jus­ as the bridgehead of a new imperialism tice could make a clear contribution in This haemorrhage docs not touch for the recolonisation of Africa and the ihe current period of transition. We are ihe principal debt owed to these benev­ rest of the Third World. not interested in "marrying" anyone, olent institutions. And that is why So does South Africa really need but in exercising hegemony. African countries are made to have bal­ the IMF? ance of payment and structural adjust­ Thirdly, it is important not to ment programmes. Next to Japan, South Africa's eco­ make generalisations and (hen look for nomic advancement in the last 40 years specific cases that could sustain the The standard conditions demand­ was probably unsurpassed anywhere in "theory". Many of us have been metic­ ed in these balance of payment stabili­ the world — even with the imposition ulous in analysing case studies and then sation programmes have one effect: of sanctions and the promotion of total making some general observations of because of high interest rates, they isolation. South Africa's foreign debts what it represents and its broader impli­ divert capital away from productive have never been high in relation to cations. Also, it is important to address investment and into commercial activi­ gross domestic product, and interest has concepts when engaging in the debate: ties. Economic growth comes last. always been comfortably serviced from it is not about having more justice or These conditions have resulted in export earnings. more policing (by the state? by the massive unemployment, falling real Why arc the police of develop­ community?) but of transforming that incomes, pernicious inflation, a net out­ ment (IMF) in such a hurry to release type of justice and policing. flow of capital, mounting external this loan? Fourthly, as people who have debts, denial of basic needs, and de- South Africa spent about R2,3-bil- been working most recently in the lion a year on the occupation of Namib­ Cape, we are alarmed by Gillespie's ia prior to its independence, and on statements about Gugulethu and the destabilisation of the frontline stales. Eastern Cape. She raised misleading Surely these funds could be used in off­ (inaccurate?) information that bothers setting the balance of payments deficit not only the activists of popular justice, and in redressing the social inequalities but also academic/intellectual rigour. created by the apartheid regime? Or Finally, as intellectuals we still have the coffers been cleared in the believe in transforming society, not in massive ongoing privatisation reconciling it. schemes? — Zelda Holtzman & Daniel Nina, Let us not burden future genera­ Cape Town tions of South Africans with massive IMF loans. Write to Work In — M Baleka, London Progress. We pay R75 Taking a chance? for the best letter, and Caroline Gillespie is most welcome to contribute to the debate on pop­ R30 for every other ular justice (WIP 95). Bui is she letter published. Send taking a chance? Firstly, academic disci­ your letters to: pline is important. Work In Progress, Not all in African J-^ communities are PO Box 32716, —«w part of the realm J of popular jus- Braamfontein 2017

43 APRIL/MAY 1994 JUST CALL ME EVITA "We are shocked but not surprised," he announced, "that Yes, that really was Winnie adroitly ducking into the camera (the ANC) shows the broken cross lying on its side to depict frame on TV1 News during Nelson Mandela's mid-March (its) triumph over Jesus Christ." Bop lour. Though not invited along (so the story goes) Mam Win­ nie schmoozed her way into the inner sanctum, prompting TWILIGHT flurries of resolute manoeuvres as Nelson sought to keep at As astrology junkies know, Mr T's descent into the occult is least four comrades between him and the ex-mother of the not limited to outlandish types only, particularly in troubled nation. She bravely fought on, however, and made the times —a tendency the German marxist Theodor Adorno evening news. captured smartly 48 years ago: Not on the news, though, was her brusque but canny 'The asocial twilight phenomena in the margins of the message to a Bop civil servants' rally: "One Mandela, one system, the pathetic attempts to squint through the chinks in president." the walls, while revealing nothing of what is outside, illumi­ Why do we have the feeling she wasn't implying that nate all the more clearly the forces of decay within. The bent she'd be retiring from politics soon? little fortune-tellers terrorising their clients with crystal balls arc toy models of the great ones who hold the fate of mankind in their hands. The smiling of auguries is amplified to soci­ IN A FLAP ety's sardonic laughter at itself, gloating over the direct mate­ It's tough to hate something as uninspired as our new (lag — rial exploitation of souls ... (Consciousness famished for but then, we Sath Efrikins have never needed an excuse, have truth imagines it is grasping a dimly present knowledge dili­ we. gently denied to it by official progress in all its forms. It is the "Looks too much like an advertisement for a zip fasten­ knowledge that society, by virtually excluding the possibility er", griped one lateral thinker in a letter to the editor. of spontaneous change, is gravitating towards total catastro­ "Looks like a Transkei hut design," complained another, phe." (Minima Moralia) obviously house-bound grump in Cape Town, while a colum­ nist detected in the new ensign little more than "a colourful Chew on that, Baardman. pair of Y-fronts, recumbent". But the AWB's top malletjie, Eugene "Mr T" Terre'Blanche outshone the competition. MORE INFANTILE Effortlessly holding at bay the urge to dabble in rational DISORDERS thought, he informed us that "the triangle on the left is the At the impressionable age of six, \fill in name of any while pyramid of the illuminati/New World Order one-world gov­ South African newspaper editor] made a puzzling discovery ernment". in the attic ...

44 APRIL/MAY 1994 econstrucAPRIL/MAY t1994 A Work in Progress supplement Issue no. 17

the greater Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal — the already considerable prob­ lems they face are made more complex The view from by the reincorporation nightmare which wc preview in a separate article. On balance the view from the backdoor shows a mean gang of com­ plex realities already climbing over the the back door fence. What docs this mean for com­ munity based organisations, service f you have ever been on a film set you will know that most of the build­ organisations and NGOs? ings you see in the movies are mere facades. A row of shop fronts cre­ When you look at the immense Iates the illusion of a street. The architecture of the new South Africa gap between the size of the problems may have something In common with this. The building has been designed and the resources we have to deal with by negotiators. For a long time no-one could agree how many rooms there them, its clear that wc arc going to need should be. The proposed foundations, bricks and features have been every last bit of capacity, creativity and argued about and compromised over. This doesn't make for a great build- skill available. ig, even though the front may seem impressive. Those who have doubted that NGOs and service organisations have a developmental role to play need to step outside and breathe in a lungful of realpolitik. The development tasks thai lie ahead require that the existing NGO sec­ tor be expanded, upgraded and reori­ In Ihis issue of Reconstruct we will emerge in the de facto relation­ entated. The article on the Urban Sector lour ihe new premises, assess progress ships which emerge between the Network sets out the issues involved in in construction and take in the view provinces and central government and this process. from the back door. What will the new the extent to which clear, practical, By the time you read this there will less than two weeks to go before regional governments find in their national development strategics can rooms when they take occupation in elections are held and we take occupa­ take root in the post election era. tion of the "new South Africa". If May 1994? And what will they find Our quick audit of the new regions development is to be community driven dumped in the backyard? begins to indicate what will be on the and able to utilise the substantial organ­ South Africa's distorted develop­ regional development agendas and isational base developed through strug­ ment was part of a conscious national makes a snap assessment of capacity to gle perhaps one of our first tasks is to plan. Will strong regional government make development happen. For many sec how development education can help to correct those distortions or will regions its not a happy picture. For take over from where voter education left off. • it merely endorse them? The answer those regions like Northern Transvaal,

FOCUS ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY CONTRIBUTIONS This issue of Reconstruct was guest Redefining Auditing the The cost of edited by Allda Smit and Rick de Satge. regional regional undoing Contributions for future development balance sheet apartheid editions should be sent to Mpho Mosimane 4 6 14 PO Box 32716 Braamfonteln2017 T * f

N Gearing the USN for delivery

Since its formation in 1988 the Urban Sector Network has The transition from the scrapping made a major contribution to restructuring local government of apartheid to responsibility for design and delivery requires new approaches, from the ground up. It has played an important role in the new forms of organisation and a new National Housing Forum. It has assisted community based organisational culture. organisations in local struggles and provided technical This recognition was the connect­ ing thread which ran through a recent support for local development projects. Perhaps most USN strategic planning workshop. importantly it has helped in the creation of an agenda for Eight organisations came together to critically examine the Urban Sector development. As expectations of delivery mount the USN Network and remodel it into a more positions itself to play a new role. RICK DE SATGE reports. coherent force for development. The workshop identified a clear PEN YOUR EARS AND WHAT DO the popular forces took it and stripped mission for the USN. (see sidebar) you hear? Almost everywhere it They exposed its bad design and its At the heart of this mission is the people arc talking about (he O wasteful engineering. recognition of the need to synthesise capacity for delivery — how lo get "Now the country is littered with progressive development processes much demanded goods and services to apartheid scrap — collapsed institu­ with the requirements of delivery at the people who need Ihcm most. tions, useless development strategies, scale. Progressive development pro­ It's a key pan of elections propa­ civil servants with no understanding of cesses require the detailing of develop­ ganda. "The ANC makes promises bul development. But this was the easy ment strategics and institutions, as well can"! deliver" — a line punlcd (ironi­ part. With a few basic tools almost any­ as the emergence of clear project cally) by the National Party. one can strip a vehicle. methodologies. And delivery requires It's central to the new agenda for "The post apartheid tasks arc community driven projects with mea­ service organisations and NGOs. Some much more difficult. You can*! just put surable objectives and outcomes, quan­ have been criticised by donors and the old apartheid vehicles back together tifiable resources and strict cost communily-based organisations for again and give them new drivers. accounting. failing to deliver. But these generalised That's how our struggle broke down. It redefines accountability as a two criticisms often obscure more than they way street. Within a project-based reveal. Maximum mileage approach service organisations and The late Francis Munyuki — a "You must design new appropriate community-based organisations fulfil leading figure in the Zimbabwean NGO development vehicles, build, maintain specific roles and functions essential for community expressed the changes fac­ and refine them. You must train drivers. successful deliver)'. These functions arc ing South African organisations like You must decide clear local and nation­ clarified through (he planning process this: al destination*. You must get maximum and are set out in a mutually binding "The progressive movement put possible mileage for the lowest possible agreement. apartheid in the scrapyard. Every time cost. You must deliver the goods on The agreed project plan specifies the state built a new apartheid vehicle lime." exactly what will be delivered. The

RECONSTRUCT 2 Afesis-corplan Organisations in the USN

COPE S V: H P L t: S !> K 0 l» L K I* U O J K C T plan itself provides the index against which to assess the level and effective­ ness of delivery. USN mission statement Clearly this approach demands that service organisations retrain and The Urban Sector Network (USN) brings together service organisations retool in order to be able lo perform to working tor community driven development that promotes an equitable meet the demands of the new standards. and sustainable urban environment. This requires the USN membership to The USN serves member organisations and promotes their common have clear human resource develop­ Interests by creating an enabling environment In which they may ment programmes and the network as a achieve their goals. whole to prioritise this area. The USN will achieve this by: • promoting democratic and participatory development processes and It also requires much closer co­ projects ordination of the USN to enable joinl • co-ordinating activities, making shared and rational use of resources, programmes between organisations, expertise, research, knowledge and Information and engaging In Joint maximise available resources and give programmes ihe network national development • facilitating development education and training impact. • lobbying and building alliances with key actors in the development field Tighter structure • promoting and engaging in Innovative, repllcable and sustainable pro­ To achieve effective co-ordination ihe jects USN has opted for a much lighter struc­ • Joint engagement for sustainable funding and financing of our work ture- Member organisations will send representatives to a Board. The Board In this we will be guided by: will be tasked with the strategic man­ • Cooperation agement of the USN while a small full • Mutual support lime secretariat will facilitate inter- organisational working groups and • Accountability to member organisations ensure effective flows of information. • Democratic, non-racial, non-sexist practices and procedures Information is currently one of the Network's major under-utilised assets. turnover, no more funds; corruption . its clients. The increased potential for The USN is developing a co-ordinated (Reconstruct 15) joint programmes across different information strategy and a linked mate­ The USN has emerged with a clear regional development contexts, com­ rials development programme to spread direction, praclical strategics and plans bined wilh new cost recovery opportu­ its impact wider than its project base. to realise its goals. The importance nities, will go a long way to ensuring The message from me USN work­ attached to developing the USN's financial sustainability. shop directly contradicts the fashion­ human resources will consolidate its Future issues of Reconstruct will able stereotyping of progressive NGOs staff and have a direct impact on the feature more information on the USN — "lack of direction, high staff further development of the capacity of and its work. Watch this space! • RECONSTRUCT Now that a strong regional government is firmly in place in the new South Africa constitution, we should be debating options for an exhaustive restructuring of South African regional development policy. LAURINE PLATZKY looks at the issues

HE URBAN FOUNDATION CALLS for investment in people, nol Tplaces. This sounds like a fine Redefining idea* However, slogans like these tend to obscure the fact that people live in places and that improving their access to physical facilities is part of improv­ ing their quality of life. Rather than regional development in places, the focus should be on development of places. For example, a new mine on the West Coast will not bring much develop­ ment, beyond the creation of a few low development paying jobs to the area if the ore extracted there is processed in the PWV, if the mine is managed from the Investing in people PWV and the if owners pay tax in ihe PWV, This is development in a region, in places not of a region.

RECONSTRUCT 4 essons from the past only means of obtaining finance to run Secondly, regional strategics I, dating regional development poli- their industries. should be harmonised between regions / is -.pelt out in the Regional Industrial Some of the firms in the IDPs can to avoid conflict and negative competi­ cvclopmcnt Programmes (RIDP). The be regarded as contributors lo the mak­ tion. |1)P was designed 10 attract invest- ing of South African products competi­ Rather than having to undercut cnt and create jobs in the poorest tive on world markets. They have each other lo attract investment, region­ pioneered high-lech simple production al actors should be building on existing DidOB — the Bantustans. The govem- processes which employs people, par­ strengths. New competitive industries ent identified Industrial Development ticularly women, who would otherwise and commerce, lhat will energise the • mis (IDPs) where investors were have remained dependent on migrant region, should be targeted. Industries . i aMKcssions and other incentives remittances and their parents' old age should compete — not regions. locate industries. Botshahclo near pensions. Rural people evicted from the mfontein is a good example of Thirdly, although regional devel­ farms have been given some training. opment is a limited strategy for improv­ Eta an IDP. Trade unions arc active in certain IDPs ing the national economy, The RIDP clearly furthered the and some induslrialisis in Isithcbc in macro-economic policy will continue to irtheid agenda — it was a way of try- KwaZulu. for example, pay their staff impact profoundly on people who live > to make the bantustans economical- only slightly below metro wages. in places round the country. Therefore, . iablc. Horror stories abound of macro-economic policy should take iwanesc fly-by-night operations who Guidelines for the future regional development into account. For ocatcd to the IDPs — exploiting Big business is pulling forward a strong example, we rkers and wasting public money. argumcnl that our ^^^^_ need to look at tx companies were given grants by only hope is in the extent to Taiwanese government to relocate investing in ihc which capital lesser developed parts of the world. cities, pretending monopolies make ausc they couldn't succeed in Tai- that ihc market it difficult for n any more. They could not succeed can. or should, on smaller business­ the IDPs either — despite all the its own redress es to survive. the apartheid mtives. Their failure was as much a Priorities legacy. This is a ill of poor management practices as identified in the dangerous argu­ lack of demand for their cheap plas- new provinces ment. It assumes rinkets or mass produced poor qual- must inform all lhat the quality of :lothing. levels of plan­ life in poor Yet, we can also learn some valu- ning for develop­ regions will im­ I lessons from the RIDP. There is a ment. In turn, the prove through a •x of types of industries in the IDPs. Rather than having to regions and prov­ trickle-down pro­ le arc better than others. In design- inces should cre­ cess. undercut each other a new regional development stratc- ate a national we need to lake note of (his and not If too little to attract investment, development w out the baby with the bath water. investment is the regional actors strategy together. The good examples may be divid- made in smaller Instead of rein­ llo two categories. Firstly, there are towns and rural should be building on forcing weak­ ich plants of large South African areas, poor peo­ existing strengths... nesses by leaving ^omerates. which produce unique ple will still be development to ucts for domestic (and sometimes forced to the Industries should market forces, :xport) markets from beginning lo cities. People compete - not cumulative if the process. This involves a wide from mar­ advantages must c of skilled people and not only regions be promoted and ginalised regions illcd, low paid workers. Because disadvantages re­ will have io relo­ are more people earning reason- dressed. This means taking a careful cate to get a job. to borrow money to salaries, the demand for a variety look at whal exists in each region, build a home, lo gain access lo educa­ xxls and services increases within including the IDPs, how the firms arc tion and health care. They will have to :gion. This, in turn, invites further managing and why they came (o these relocate to survive. tment. areas. If they are contributing to devel­ A future national framework for opment of (he region, their hands Secondly, there arc small or medi- regional development would need to should be strengthened. ized. firms that needed venture address three interrelated aspects: al and access to affordable loan Firstly, local area development We have a long way to go to alle­ x. Owing to the heavily protected strategies within regions need to be viate the plight of people in poor areas. nonopoliscd South African ccono- integrated. There needs to be co-ordina­ A comprehcasive regional development mall and medium industrialists of tion between metro or urban and rural policy, if properly constructed, coordi­ lours have been heavily penalised, areas, such that the urban bias within nated and implemented, is a crucial step often resorted to the RIDP as the regions is addressed. to get us there, •

RECONSTRUCT Auditing the regional balance sheets Accustomed to seeing South Africa from a national perspective we have tended to generalise the apartheid legacy. The new emphasis on regionalism demands a much closer focus on assets and liabilities of each region and a clear understanding of who is in the red and who is in the black

X Low doctor/population ratio at Northern 0,3/1000. Cape X Poor health infrastructure. Facts and Figures his region has lo cope with an Population 726,6 unenviable mix of factors. It cov­ Population density per sq km 2,1 T ers the largest area and has the Urbanisation level (%) 65,8 smallest population. Urbanisation growth (%) 1,8 It is semi arid with summer rain­ Illiteracy 23,4 fall. The region includes four minor Official unemployment rate 123 economic centres — Kimberley, Male migrancy level 10.4 Upington, Prieska and Dc Aar. Predom­ Real GGP (R million) 2 371,0 inantly rural it has no major economic Liabilltles Real annual growth in GGP 1,6 core and there are few development X Limited infrastructure to accommo­ % of SA GDP 2,0 possibilities. The economy rests on date regional government Personal income/capita 2 817,0 agriculture and mining. Gross geo­ X No tertiary institutions. graphic product (GGP) is the lowest of X Urban overcrowding. Language (%) all the regions. However per capita X Poor housing in urban areas and on Afrikaans 71,5 GGP is higher than the national aver­ farms. English 2,7 age. These average figures tend to mask X 15% of urban residents do not have Xhosa 6,3 the huge inequalities between rich and adequate water while figures rise to 25- Tswana 14,1 poor. 95% for rural people. X Sanitation a major problem in urban Racial breakdown Assets areas with 60% of people without prop­ Black 31,0 • Comparative advantage in agricul­ er facilities. White 14,9 ture and mining. X High infant mortality at 52/100(1. Coloured 53,9

, • This short overview has been pre- ' Pared by the DAG Education lively. The area contains the KaNg- • Forestry, mining, electricity, sub­ Department based on information wane administration. Transvaal Provin­ tropical fruit and eco-lourism. from Paul Daphne, Phillip Harrison, cial Administration offices and 3 the Border Rural Committee and • A water-rich area with a useable 6 Regional Services Councils. the Demolition Commission Report 500 million cubic metres per year with While administrative capacity another 2 000 million cubic metres on further work on the demarca- exists in the region its centralisation in flowing into Swaziland. tion/del/mltalon of states, the future capital of the region will be Provinces/regions (SPRs). • 3rd highest road density in South costly. Africa. Although this region has the sec­ Eastern ond highest GGP per capita of R4 974, Liabilities it has the lowest ratio of personal X Over 40% of the Eastern Transvaal Transvaal income to GGP (42,5#>). A large pro­ and 80% of KaNgwane have inadequate portion of income generated by large sanitation. his region subdivides into three companies and para-staials leave the X Low doctor/population ratio at functional areas — the Lowveld, region for head offices in the PWV. 0,28/ KMX). T Witbank-Middelburg and South X Institutional capacity of medical ser­ Eastern Transvaal centred around Nel- Assets vices is poor. spruit. Witbank and Secunda respec- i/ Diverse economic resource base. X Over 70% of the population is with- RECONSTRUCT • Strong diversified economic base — Western tourism. • Strong network of higher education­ Cape al institutions including three universi­ ties, technikons and other training he Cape Town metro area forms institutions. the economic core of this region %/ Excellent health facilities —1,3 doc­ Twhich has the highest urbanisa­ tors/1000. tion level in the country. The Western • Extensive NGO sector. Cape has a well developed and divcrsi- tied industrial base and a commercial Liabilities agricultural sector which can generate X Major housing shortfall 35% of the sufficient income to meet the needs of population is homeless and another ' he population. disparities in wealth, health and access 34% lives in informal settlements. Cape Town as the legislative cap­ to services. X Unequal service access, high infant ita) provides sufficient institutional and mortality rate for African children — administrative capacity to manage and Assets highest TB rate in South Africa. develop the region. The region has the • Good physical infrastructure — two highest literacy rate. However, it is a big ports and fairly good road and rail Facts and Figures region of contradictions and large racial transport networks. Population 3 392,7 Population density per sq.km 31,2 i • Urbanisation level(%) 86,1 Urbanisation growth(%) 2,5 out electricity. Illiteracy 8,5 X No universities or technikons. Official unemployment rate 9,6 Facts and Figures Male migrancy inflow 8,5 Real GGP(R million) 15 620 Population 2129,5 Real annual growth in GGP 1,8 Population density per sq.km 27,2 % of SA GDP 12,9 Urbanisation lcvel(%) 35,3 Personal income/capita 4 373 Urbanisation growth(%) 3,5 Illiteracy 31,5 Language (%) Official unemployment rate 8,9 Afrikaans 61,9 Male migrancy inflow 24,6 English 20,8 Real GDP (R million) 9835.0 Xhosa 15,6 Real annual growth in GGP 3,3 Zulu 27,2 % of SA GDP 8,1 Afrikaans 11,8 Racial breakdown (%) Personal income/capita 2341,0 Black 17,8 Racial breakdown(%) White 22,1 Language(%) Black 84,6 Coloured 59,7 Swazi 37,7 White 14,0

RECONSTRUCT KEY

Total number of voters in the region (In 1000's)

Racial breakdown of voters as a percentage of the total

Number of seats In the National Assembly

The balance of power

S lfitl44

RECONSTRUCT 8 GMMC: BRIGtTTl *U1

RECONSTRUCT 9 •

AU H A T S W A M A North West B 0 his region is largely rural with no metro centre. The major centres Where democracy T arc KJerksdorp. Orkney and Stil- fontein. Other economic centres include gives you freedom! Mmabatho. Vryburg, Kuruman, Post- mansburg and Potchefstroom. The region will face all the problems associ­ ated with reincorporating Bophu- Kwa temokerasi e go ihatswana. Institutional restructuring is likely to be highly problematic. Sub­ fang kgololesego! stantial, although under-utilised infras­ tructure exists in Mmabatho which could serve the developmental needs of the region. Economically the region is closely linked with the mining industry whose fortunes fluctuate according to world market prices.

Assets Population density per sq.km 15.8 • Two universities — Potchefstroom Urbanisation level (%) 29.3 and Unibo. Urbanisation growth (%) 2.1 • Substantial under-utilised infrastruc­ Literacy 35.5 ture in Bophuthatswana. Official unemployment rate 15.1 • Functional links with PWV health Male migrancy inflow 11.8 services. Real GGP(Rmillion) 8223.0 • Various regional offices of central Real annual growth in GGP 1.2 government departments in Potchef­ % of SA GDP 6.8 stroom. Personal income/capita 2000 Uabilities Language (%) X In urban areas 33% do not have Tswana 66.8 access to adequate water. This rises to the region. South Sotho 5.0 75% in rural areas. X Incorporation problems including run Afrikaans 12.4 X More than half the population have down administration. Other 15.8 inadequate sanitation. X Services are markedly worse in Facts and figures Racial breakdown (%) Bophuthatswana than elsewhere with Population 2396.6 Black 86.5

under 15 and the second highest rate of tion of the various administrations Northern illiteracy in the country. It has the high­ leave much to be desired. est outflow of migrant workers of any • Road network density and provision Transvaal region and there is little potential of rural roads is at the national average. employment. Politically volatile, the • Potential for game farming and cco- he Northern Transvaal is region contains a stubborn and tourism in certain areas. arguably one of the most prob­ entrenched right wing and a mass of T lematic and complex regions. jobless and landless people. The region Uabilities This region will definitely require addi­ is divided into two functional areas — X The region has the lowest doctor to tional resources from the central state if one encompassing Ellisras, Thabazim- population ratio in the country — it is to meet the needs of its people. bi, Waterbcrg and part of Warmbad 0.1/1000. Hospital bed to population Firstly it faces the incorporation quag­ and the other one is in Pietersburg. ratio also low at 2.6/1000. mire — not one homeland administra­ X Problematic incorporation and inte­ tion but three — Venda, Gazankulu Assets gration of three administrations. and Lebowa. The poverty indicators arc l/ The Pietersburg — Lebowakgomo X Rationalisation will almost certainly clear. The region contains 12% of the complex has sufficient infrastructure to result in retrenchments and provide SA population but produces only 3.1% accommodate a regional government. problems for incoming policy makers. of Gross Domeslic Product (GDP). It • There is capacity to carry out region­ X 60%of the population does not have bus the highest population of children al functions but developmental orienta­ adequate water.

RECONSTRUCT 10 x^SY

range Free tate fe loemfontcin is Ihe major centre C of economic activity. Other W main centres are Welkom and aditjaba. Mining provides the OFS its main economic base although regional economy is diversified important agricultural and service irs Major disparities exist within jrovince with very poor conditions ic bantustan sections and for farm ur. While there is well developed inistrative and institutional capaci- its developmental orientation figure is 40%. ains dubious. The OFS will face in the country. (However poor links Jems reincorporating Thaba Nchu between the OFS and the North West X Over 42% of urban population has inadequate sanitation. Qwa Qwa. reduces possibility of functionality between them). X Major unevenness in electricity sup­ tets ply. Population without electricity in Liabilities Bloemfontein, rural towns. Qwa Qwa Veil developed universities and and Thaba Nchu ranges between 24%, ing institutions. X Almost 20% of urban residents lack 46% and 93% respectively. oad network density third highest adequate water. In (he rural areas the Facts and Figures Population 2723.3 >ver 70% of the population lacks Population density persq.km 21.2 |uate sanitation, Urbanisation level (%) 48.9 imited rural electricity. Urbanisation growth (%) 3.1 Literacy 19.8 ;ts and figures Official unemployment rate 11.2 jlation 4525.3 Male migrancy inflow 26.5 illation density per sq.km 26.0 Real GGP (Rmillion) 7327.0 uiisation level (%) 8.8 Real annual growth in GGP 0.6 misation growth (%) 3.6 % of SA GDP 6.1 iracy 35.1 Personal income/capita 2184.0 rial unemployment rate 17.0 ? migration outflow 37.1 Tsonga 23.1 Language I GGP (Rmillion) 3786 Venda 11.5 Tswana .'-.... 7.0 I annual growth GGP 4.3 South Sotho 58.1 fSAGDP 3.1 Ndebcle 3.4 Afrikaans 2.6 Afrikaans 14.1 onal income/capita 725 Tswana 1.5 Other 20.8 •guage (%) Racial breakdown (%) ihern Sotho , 56.6 Racial breakdown (%) Black 97.1 Black 85.2

RECONSTRUCT 11 Liabilities PWV X Sprawling, racially divided urban Pretoria/ areas which will be difficult to inte­ grate. Witwatersrand/ X Massive inequalities and substantial Vaal vested interests, violence. X Reincorporation of sections of he PWV is the most densely Bophuthatswana and KwaNdebele. populated region in the country. X In urban areas 15% of population T It is an integrated industrial com­ lack access to adequate water while in plex with major areas of economic the rural areas the figure rises to 30%. activity in five sub-regional areas — X Over 25% of the population has the Vaal Triangle, the East, West and inadequate sanitation. This goes up to Central Rand and Pretoria. 93% in parts of Bop and KwaNdebele. The Vaal Triangle has a strong region the most socially mixed within manufacturing sector; the West Rand the country. However, due to the inflow Facts and Figure concentrates on primary mining while of migrant labour from poorer regions Population 9267,2 the Central Witwatersrand is dominated the number of men is much higher than Population density per sq.km .... 366,1 by the manufacturing and finance sec­ the number of women. Urbanisation Ievel(%) 82,4 tors with mining capital playing a major Despite its economic muscle the Urbanisation growth(%) 3,7 role. region is weighed down with the mas­ Illiteracy 12^ The Pretoria sub-regional econo­ sive problems created by segregationist Official unemployment rate 13,5 my is dominated by government ser­ planning. Male migrancy inflow 35,8 vices, transport and related industries. This has resulted in huge informal Real GGP(R million) 47 100,0 The region produces a massive settlements, bankrupt townships where Real annual growth in GGP 0,8 40% of GDP which is reflected in a services have long broken down and % of SA GDP 39,0 GGP/capita that is 69% higher than the hostels which have become social and Personal income/capita 4 575,0 national average. Its contribution to the political flashpoints. lax base is between 55-60% of the total Language (%) national pool. Assets Afrikaans 17,5 However, the economy is not • The national economic heartland. Zulu 16,5 growing rapidly and between 1977 and • Substantial physical infrastructure North Sotho 10,5 1988 it had the second lowest real including most dense major national English 13,2 growth rate in the country. road network. South Sotho 10.0 It has the second highest official • A number of universities, major aca­ rate of urbanisation and the highest pro­ demic hospitals and numerous training Racial Breakdown(%) portion of economically active people. institutions. Black 70,6 Its economic magnetism make the • Significant NGO sector. White 24,6

sequences. While a new regional gov­ Eastern ernment is likely to come to power with a substantial popular majority it Cape/Kei will be under major pressure to deliver quickly. Given the deep rooted prob­ he region is currently fragmented lems it faces, and a limited resource into the Cape Province, Ciskci base it will struggle to meet expecta­ T and Transkei. There arc huge tions. inequalities between the three parts. Rural rehabilitation and development Assets will have to be central to future region­ • Relatively substantial administrative al plans. Massive overcrowding, land- capacity, albeit fragmented into home­ lessncss and environmental degradation land and provincial administrations. which arc direct results of the apartheid • Administrative, executive and leg­ system will not vanish with a changed islative institutions in Port Elizabeth, political system. The region must also ment provided incentives to promote East London, Bisho and Umtata. grapple with other inappropriate devel­ industrial development at designated %/ Five universities. However these opmental policies from the past. In growth points. These enterprises may may require some rationalisation. Ser­ order to disguise the political factions not be sustainable in the long term. vices and infrastructure in parts of the of Ciskci and Transkei the SA govern­ These problems have long lasting con- region are good.

RECONSTRUCT 12 KwaZulu- Natal egional politics are extremely complex. Violent clashes R between the ANC and IFP have only produces 14% of the GDP. Us distributed — rural roads arc below r l«en escalating since the mid )980's. GGP is lf> r of the national average national average). M the time of writing IFP's participa- and in GGP/capita terms Natal is the • Tourism growth potential. lion in the forthcoming elections is third poorest after Northern Transvaal uncertain. If free political activity is and Eastern Cape. There is a massive Liabilities constrained and percentage polls at the gap between the urban and rural areas, X Persistent political violence. elections arc significantly lower than the region currently employs less than X Massive inequalities with poverty, the national average this could create half the potential labour force in the the basis for a contested election result. landlessness and highly inadequate formal economy resulting in a high access to water, sanitation and electrici­ Such a situation would fuel instability level of migrancy to the PWV. and stifle development. ty in rural areas and informal settle­ ments, There arc threats of succession Assets X Rapid and badly managed urbanisa­ with the call by King Goodwill • A diversified and relatively well tion (1,8 million people in informal set­ Zwclithini for the restoration of the pre developed economy with a strong man­ tlements). 1838 Zulu Kingdom and at best the ufacturing sector. X 0,5 doctors/1000 population, high incorporation of KwaZulu will be high­ • Good natural resources — a watcr- infant mortality at 52/1000. ly problematic. A worst case scenario rich region. X Low education levels and high illiter­ projects two contesting premiers and • Several universities, tcchnikons and cabinets. other training institutions. acy. Although this region is home to • A modern transport sector and good Facts and Figures 20% of South Africa's population it infrastructure base (although unevenly Population 7 590,2 Population density per sq.km 86,8 Urbanisation level(%) 39,4 Liabilities Urbanisation level (%) 35 Urbanisation growth(%) 2,0 X Economic base mainly in motor Urbanisation growth (%) 3.1 Illiteracy 27,8 Illiteracy 28.5 industry is relatively fragile. Huge Official unemployment rate 18,8 Official unemployment rate 24.8 inequalities within the region. Male migrancy outflow -143 Male migrancy outflow 29.4 X Health indicators highlight the trends. Real GGP (R million) ™. 17 440,0 Red GGP (Rmillion) 9017.0 0.1 doctor/1000 - Transkei; 0.4 doc­ Real annual growth in GGP 1,9 Real annual growth in GGP 1.8 tors/1000 - Ciskei; 0.7/1000 Cape % of SA GDP 14,4 % of SA GDP 7.5 province (0.6 doctors/1000 = national Personal income/capital 971.0 average) Personal income/capita 1360.0 X Major problems related to water sani­ Language Language(%) tation (53% of people in Transkei don't Aftosa .•••——• —— 82.9 Zulu 83,0 have access to clean water). Afrikaans 9.4 English 15,8 X 84% urbanisation within Cape English 3.9 Other 1,2 province implies overcrowding and South Sotho 2.4 poor housing and services in townships. Racial breakdown(%) Racial breakdown (%) Black 80,0 Facts and Figures Black 87.2 Asian 11,1 Population 5953.0 Coloured 6.7 While 7,5 Population density per sq.km 35.1 White . 5.9 Coloured 1,5

RECONSTRUCT 13 Undoing Apartheid is going to cost us

FTER THE ELECTION THE TVBC lands budget allocation. Foreign tral government. territories will be formally inte­ Affairs, Information and others which The Transkei administration has A grated into South Africa* Thou­ are likely to vanish in future comprise been unapologclic about its use of these sands who have suffered under corrupt less that io% of the total. overdrafts, pointing to underfinancing homeland policies, are anxiously pin* Top civil service posts will be by central government of essential ser­ ning iheir hope for a better future on rationalised and this will achieve cer­ vices in the Transkei. Central govern­ this event. But the election is only the tain savings. Directors General in the ment will have to accept responsibility beginning of a long, hard road for these Ciskei have an annual salary package of for these debts, and their repayment and underdeveloped areas, writes Paul over R264 000, However, the over­ servicing will have to be included in Daphne. whelming majority of the 440 000 civil policy formulation around the question of dealing with the national debt. Contrary to current public percep­ BCfVaAlS currently in the 10 homelands tion the impending reincorporation of will continue to function as, for exam­ A further complicating feature of the homelands should be anticipated ple, teachers and health workers, within the reincorporation process is that the not as an event which will lead to a restructured framework for provincial TBVCs have developed their own sys­ instant savings for the taxpayer, but as a government. tem of taxation under apartheid. In process which will lead to the more After the election we will have Ciskei, where companies have a choice efficient utilisation of public resources, nine new provinces which are far of operating under the Regional Indus­ and an enhancement of the develop­ stronger and will have larger bureaucra­ trial Development Programme Incen­ ment prospects for these areas. tives (RIDP) or under a zero tax rate. cies than is the case with the current the harmonisation of taxation systems Decades of State policies have provinces. So it is unlikely that region­ will probably lead to the further deple­ aimed at mak- al restructuring or reincorporation will tion of an already weak industrial base. in POSSlbly the « homelands rationalise the civil service structure Research conducted by the University oliIical| and and yield a significant post-apartheid greaiesGreatesit oenebenefimt Peconomically y of Fort Hare indicates that 106 of the dividend. 176 manufacturing concerns operating that Will independent. in Ciskei at the end of 1992 were oper­ s ncvcr ha emerge from ™ P Financing the poor areas ating on a tax-free basis.Thc conse­ thfl pencd. Only II is no coincidence that, of the nine quences of a harmonisation of taxation Ine 9% of the bud- new provinces, those provinces with the will also be felt, although to a lesser largest homeland component namely reintegration of gels of the 'self extent, in Bophulhatswana and Northern Transvaal, Eastern Cape and the homelands, governing' ter- Transkei, where both personal taxation Ift thft rilories (SGTs). KwaZulu/Natal, are worst off in rela­ and company tax rates are lower than ,&me and 27% of the tion to economic and other indicators. the rest of South Africa. State expenditure in the homelands has TBVC establishment budget. been lower on a per capita basis than in Of a rational »s generated This uncertainty over the future of the rest of South Africa. The TVBCs from own preferential tax arrangements in the framework for f had a slate expenditure per capita of homelands, will exacerbate an already sources of rcv- RI233 and RI400 in 1990/91 and unstable situation in the manufacturing 1991/92 respectively, compared to the regional cnue. Evcn sector, which has arisen as a result of R3085 and R3495 in the'non-homc- recent changes to the RIDP. Under the development B o p h u t n a - land1 section of South Africa. So it can planning *swana <*"!* new 'market friendly' RIDP, intro­ be anticipated that the future govern­ duced in April 1991, the 'growth point* boasts an inde­ ment will have to allocate much more status of the designated industrial areas pendent econo­ than is presently the case for the provi­ in the homelands and elsewhere no my) receives around 63% of its funding sion of social services and the develop­ longer applies. from direct budgetary aid, tax transfers. ment of these areas. Customs Union payments, loans or The new incentive package, which other transfers from central govern­ The new government will also is production orientated rather that ment. inherit an enormous homeland debt locality related, applies to all localities Departments providing essential which stood at R14,3 billion on 31 outside of the metropolitan areas, and services such as education, health and August 1993. This debt consists partly there is no special treatment for home­ welfare, works and transport comprise of bank overdrafts, guaranteed by cen­ land industrial sites, as was previously the major portion of the total home­ RECONSTRUCT 14 he case. In Ciskei for example, 33% of the new provinces from a national and conceptual framework within he jobs in manufacturing industry were level. The provisions for the establish­ which national multi-sectoral pro­ iost between late 1990 and late 1992. ment of a Financial and Fiscal Com­ grammes for regional development can mission, and the equitable allocation of be reassessed. The ANC's Reconstruc­ Development prospects resources to the poorer provinces, carry tion and Development Programme, for It is no wonder then that there is a pre­ a degree of promise for the current example, is currently being interpreted vailing nervousness in the homelands homeland areas, and are a vast at a provincial level in relation to its ibout whether the reincorporation of improvement over the previously arbi­ implementation after the election. The new framework could also stimulate the hese areas is likely to lead to an trary mechanisms for making such allo­ activities of the regional development improvement in their levels of service cations. forums that have emerged in many delivery or in their development Possibly the greatest benefit that parts of the country over the past few Mospccts in general. The failure of this will emerge from the reintegration of years. £rand apartheid project in development the homelands, is the establishment of a erms is probably best illustrated by the rational framework for regional devel­ Finally, the disparities within the act that the 10 homelands produce only opment planning. The currently frag­ new provinces, particularly in relation 7,6% of South Africa's GDP while con- mented and distorted structure of to homeland and non-homeland areas, aining around 42% of the South regional government in South Africa are greater even that the disparities \frican population. has seriously hindered the development between provinces. It is important that The new constitution contains for of the most impoverished areas of similar provisions based on disparities he first time a reference to regional dis- South Africa. within provinces, be put in place for the allocation of resources within the jarities as one factor to be taken into The restructuring of regional gov­ provinces. • iccount in the allocation of resources to ernment will provide an administrative

RECONSTRUCT 15 More than just serviced sites

by Kecia Rust

he first component of an interim People with serviced sites will income sector would be unacceptable. housing subsidy arrangement become entitled to a supplementary For the very poor, who can't T was agreed on 14 March 1994, amount; terms and conditions will be afford even a small home loan, state by the National Housing Forum. This announced soon. The principle that a subsidised rental housing programmes arrangement had been the subject of supplementary or retrospective subsidy will provide an alternative route to negotiations between the NHF and can be granted, is also supported. securing decent accommodation. Department of National Housing for Trie interim subsidies arrangement It must therefore constantly be sometime. As part of the overall, inter­ is, however, only part of an overall remembered that despite its signifi­ im arrangements for housing, the sub­ strategy which includes the following cance. Ihe interim subsidy arrangement sidy policy marks the first practical step integral parts: is really just the first step of a much towards actually resolving the housing • The subsidy scheme, which provides larger programme. Many issues remain crisis that has crippled the housing for both ownership and rental accom­ outstanding, and must be addressed as a industry and limited the poor's access modation through a variety of tenure matter of urgency. These include the to a decent standard of housing. options. basis on which subsidies will be made This interim subsidies arrange­ • A mortgage indemnity insurance available for rental, hostels, traditional ment replaces, from 15 March 1994, all scheme, to provide access to mortgage tenure, rural housing, and where appro­ existing state subsidy schemes. This loans for lower income families. priate, single individuals without includes the First Time Home Buyer's • The development of alternative retail dependents as well as the mechanisms subsidy, which will be phased out, as lending capacity and wholesale funding for the subsidisation of appropriate the interim subsidies arrangement for the low income lending sector. institutional forms of ownership. comes into effect. The new subsidy • A consumer protection and education Negotiations around a Mortgage will be applied in a single, lump sum programme. Indemnity Scheme are also incomplete, amount applicable to a wide range of though much progress has been made. tenure options and targeted to benefit Mortgage finance The administrative arrangements for the the most poor, who are dependent on The end user finance crisis is not just a scheme will be constantly reviewed. State assistance for access to a decent subsidy issue. A R12 5(K) subsidy (sec standard of housing. It is available to box for all subsidy levels) applied alone each household only once. will give the recipient little more than a Homes for all The subsidy will be provided both serviced site, with perhaps something The interim subsidies arrangement has to individual households for application left over for a sub-standard structure. It been identified us interim so as not to towards a single dwelling, and to is therefore critical that the subsidy be pre-empt any longer term deliberations approved projects. Individuals can applied hand in hand with mortgage both within the NHF and in the post­ apply for subsidies through any of the finance. A person earning R350O elections Department of National Hous­ major banks, while project proposals should be able, with a subsidy of ing. Until policies arc finalised, will be submitted to the Regional Hous­ R5000, to afford the bond for a house however, this scheme will work effec­ ing Board (RUB) for consideration. All worth about R65 000. A subsidy tively towards at least beginning a long, applications will be evaluated against arrangement applied in isolation, with­ strong push towards the provision of criteria agreed by the members of the out the availability of mortgage and homes for all of South Africa's poor. non-mortgage finance to the low- NHF and the government. A "National Housing Summit" will he called after the elections, as SUBSIDY DETAILS soon as the other elements of a compre­ hensive National Housing Plan arc in Beneficiary's Monthly Income Subsidy place, so that national consensus on the way forward can be established. • Up to R1 500 R12 500 • The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the NHF or of its R1 501-R2 500 R9 500 members. This article has drawn heavily on NHF policy documents R2 501-R3 500 R5 000 which are available to the public, from the NHF Secretariat}

RECONSTRUCT 16 WORK IN

i i k i Women's rights and the 1994 election Page 2 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

Women at the crossroads

By Pat Horn

e are at a crossroads. What we loosely call the women's campaign effectively. W movement is not an organised formation with structures On the other hand, the individual organisations that are able to able to make decisions about its direction. It is an organic mount campaigns tend to represent narrow groupings among mass made up of many women's organisations, coalitions and women. groupings — some of them inside other organisations — within F^rharjswewillhavetoseetheformationofanewmemrjershir^ which has evolved a broad thrust of struggle based grassroots women's organisation for women's rights in SA. across political, cultural and religtousdivides, Within this amoebic mass, the women's one what could take on a leading role in the wings of political organisations have played a broader women's movement. Then again, key, sometimes leading role. But once those that option might be seen as too divisive bear organisations take on their responsibilities in fruit the government of national unity, their wom­ These are the sorts of choices that en's wings will be less likery to play such confront organised women today, as they try leading roles in the women's movement. to transform the widespread call for a strong Repeatedly in the past 18 months, a women's movement into a political reality. broad spectrum of women and women's In this special WorkinProgresssuw\e- organisations have been expressing the need ment, a wide range of activists and analysts to build a strong women's movement to take take on this dillemma and the many other the fight for women's rightsint o the new SA. challenges that still separate South African Presumably this entails a better structured women's move­ women from equality. They pin the parties down on polygamy; ment which can take more self-conscious decisions about its search for the 'gender gap'; propose ways to put rural women on the direction. map; name the barriers that bar women from local government; The existing movement must surely form the basis for a more reveal what's on the minds of South African women; and sketch the structured movement — because that is where the women are outlines of a strong women's movement presently. But how does it transform itself? Partofourchaltenge is toforge new alternatives that canenvelop The broadest formation that exists is the Women's National the many different realities we face. Debates like those in the pages Coalition (WNC), which recently produced the Women's Charter. following help us rise to that challenge. White the WNC represents an extremely wide cross-section of SA's • Pat Hom is a long-standing union and women's activist based in women, it does not have the common purpose that enables it to Durban.

WORK IN H PROGRESS Head office: 9th Floor. Auckland House. 185 Smll Street. Editor Chris Vick Brumlontehi Assistant Editor: Hein Marais PO Box 32718, Braimfonteln 2017 Writers: Kerry Cullinan Phono: 1011) 403-191? Mpho Mosimane Fnt (til 1403-2534 Adminstration: Thenjrwe Nhlapo Cape Town office: PO Box 13309. Mowbray 7705 Phono 4 tax: (021)4483727 Distribution: Lawrence Ntsamai April/May 1994 • A Work In Progress supplement • Page 3 Crossing the line

When they teamed up at the multiparty negotiations, men dubbed them The Broomstick Brigade, But, asks MARK GEVISSER when SA's new wave of female politicians sweep into Parliament, will they still stick together as women?

HEN THE FEMALE REPRESENTATIVES "Housewives use broomsticks and so do Assembly will have between 120 and 150 ai last year's Multiparty Negotiat­ witches; when they start applying the witch women sitting on its benches. W ing Council joined forces lo lobby label to you, you know you're powerful." Those female MPs who persistently for gender equity, some of their male col* A broom* she says, is the perfect met­ raise gender issues will no doubt be labelled leagues began referring to them as The aphor "for sweeping away gender oppres­ shrill, obstructive and — that ultimate in­ Broomstick Brigade. sion". And nowhere, perhaps, will such a sult — divisive by some male colleagues. "I found this fascinating/* says weapon be more neccessary than SA's first But many have been through these battles Martheannc Finncmore, a Democratic Par­ democratically-elected parliament. before in their respective parties. ty negotiator* who heads her party's East­ There have never been more than a Bridgette Mabandla (66th on the ern Cape list for the National Assembly. handful of female law-makers in our histo­ ANC's national list) believes "the ANC's ry: the last iricamerat parliament had a total male leadership is now firmly committed to of eight. Current National Party MP Sheila gender equality as an essential component Camerer (13th on her party *s PWV nation­ of reconstruction and development", ANC al list) says parliament has been a "boys* National Working Committee member club"; an institution "wholly geared to­ Cheryl Carolus agrees with her, but be­ wards men." lieves "there's a window of opportunity for gender Issues now". The Last Male Parliament "Suddenly," she says, "all the old men She cites the example of the parliamentary have woken up and realised that women are gym, "where you have to walk past open the majority in this country and that they urinals to get to the showers. They just need women's votes. It might be opportun­ didn't think of women when they designed ism, but what the hell, we should make the it". But, largely due to the ANC's quota most of it." system which reserves a third of ANC scats The high profile of gender issues in the for women, parliament is set to lose its election campaign is unprecedented* In ear­ locker-room saltiness. The Last White Par­ ly March the ANC struck out with a double- liament was also the Last Male Parliament, page print ad featuring an image of micro­ and the forthcoming 400-mcmber National phones attached to a mop, with the text: "Ourplanwillgivcwomcn a much stronger voice/' Quick as a flash, the NP hit back with an ad featuring its candidate Nana Masango with the slogan, "We women need more than just laws to protect us. We need a society that respects us."

Time to stop fighting But a look behind the scenes of this NP salvo shows up the difficulties of a cross- party women's lobby in parliament. Listen to Masango, a maternity nurse and Mabopane businesswoman who, placed 16th on her party's PWV national list, has a fair chance of making it to parliament: "Yes, I think all laws discriminating against women must be scrapped, but the NP has done this already. Now women should stop fighting and go ahead and enjoy them­ selves. If a woman keeps on fighting she's Page 4 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

Ten women who will make a difference in parliament

PATRICIA OE LILLE (PAC) tee, she is a dogged and doughty fighter for the rights As head of the PAC's negotiating team, she emerged as of rural women. Unlike many of her urban, educated one of the most articulate female voices at the World colleagues, MamLydia actually hails from the Trade Centre. Her fieryrhetori c occasionally lands her in constituency she represents, and holds immense trouble, but on the whole she is one of the more respect among rural women. considered members of the PAC team.

DE LILLE MAVIVI MANZINI (ANC) MARTHEANNE FINNEMORE (DP) With a masters degree in Womens' Studies she is one She rose to national prominence as a member of the of the ANC's most impressive feminist intellectuals. DP's negotiating team and is very popular in her home- Before joining the TEC's Subcouncil on the Status of region of the Eastern Cape, wtiere she heads the DP's Women, she worked at the Gender Project of the national list She's not shy about labelling herself as Centre for Applied Legal Studies, doing important "aggressive". research into women and customary law.

FRENE GINWALA (ANC) GOVENDER THENJIWE MTHINTSO (ANC) She must be credited for setting in place a womens' An SACP stalwart, she was an MK commander in movement in SA. with the establishment of the Botswana, and is the only woman on the Intelligence Womens' National Coalition. She also heads the ANC's Subcouncil of the Transitional Executive Committee. Commission on the Emancipation of Women. She has Most impressive, she commanded respect—and become this country's foremost—and most articulate adoration—among the thousands of unruly MK —spokesperson for womens' rights. cadres in Uganda when she was Chief of Mission there between 1989 and 1991. As convenor of the PREGS GOVENDER (ANC) MTHINTSO SACPs gender secreteriat, she espouses socialist Still young (she is 33) she made her mark as project feminism. manager of the Women's National Coalition. An uncompromising but contemplative feminist and a DENE SMUTS (DP) former unionist, she now works on Cosatu's election The former editor of Fair Lady \s an unlikely feminist commission. she is conservative on the abortion issue and firmly opposed to quotas. Nevertheless, she has been a BALEKA KGOSITSILE (ANC) tireless advocate for womens' rights and was a Under her stewardship as secretary-genera!, the ANC MANZINI founder of the National Women's Coalition. Womens' League fought—and won—the battle for B O female representation in leadership structures of the NKOSAZANA ZUMA (ANC) ANC and at the multiparty negotiations. Her advocacy A Natal-based medical doctor, she headed up the was also central to the integration of gender issues into Womens' League in that province. She has moved into

her party's Reconstruction and Development Plan. health policy, doing important research on Aids. She is m O tipped to be the next Minister of Health.

fighting her husband and her son* litis reluctantly opened by force/' she says, "and feminist thing is going to drive men into the alt sons of subtle mechanisms were de­ sea ixnd. lefs lace it. we need men/* ployed to keep us in our place- You would So strongly does Musango feel aboul go in and you would say lo yourself. Tin litis thai she refused to put her name to the here, but I'm sitting next toa leader and I'm ad unless the word "light" was removed not really empowered to say anything/" from Ihe copy. And SO strongly does she Still, she says, "our very presence there feel about abortion that she sent a Maze of forced parlies to seek and find women letters lo newspapers after ANC PWV lead­ within their structures who were gtxnl and er Tokyo Sexwale had publicly affirmed who could contribute. Of course that had his parly's pro-choice stance, significant impact in terms of preparing 1 "This Tokyo,*1 she says, "man as he is, women for leadership positions/ soldier and macho, what does he know Indeed, many of Ihe women who cut aboul abortion? They should gel a woman their teeth in ihe negotiations process — 10 talk, a woman who knows aboul the pain like Kgosilsile, Mthintso, Finnemore. Ihe of abortion, aboul how it destroys the body." Natal Indian Congress* Lla (ihandi and the Masaugo says one of her main goals in Pan Africanist Congress" Patricia de Lille parliament will be to scuttle abortion law —will be elected to next month's parlia­ reform. Shi;'II bcupagainsl women who do ment. know aboul the pain of botched hacksireel Most of them are adamant, however. abortions and who, for that very reason. lhal they are nol going in lo parliament will fight to have the procedure legalised. exclusively as representatives of women. It's pretty hard to imagine Masango in any Sankie Nkondo (84th on the ANC's nation­ kind of coalition with feminist firebrands al lisl) says she will be "moving in first as an like FrcncGinwala, Baleka Kgositsileand ANC member elected to serve the broad Thenjiwe Mthinlso. interests of the ANC. Of course, because I'm a woman. I cannot avoid relating to Spill allegiances womens' issues. And whatever desk I land Most female candidates — Masango in­ up al. 1*11 have lo make sure lhat women's cluded— look back on Ihe womens* lobby questions are placed on the agenda". Like at the negotiating council as something of a her Mabandla will resist being ghelloi/cd model for how women might work luge I her in a 'gender lobby": "We want to govern and make a difference. I wouldn't like losee in parliamenL But Cdnterer makes thepoint female MPs focussing only on gender. Im­ that "our purpose at the WorldTrcide Centre agine Ihe significance in this patriarchal was to work together, to find consensus. country, for example, of a female Minister Parliament, on (he other hand, is an Institu­ of Law and Order!" tion that is powered by confrontation* Cau­ cusing will be more difficult". We have to take a deep ThenjiweMlhintso133rdontheANCs breath, go into that Feel Ihe noise national lisl and convenor of the SA Com­ We'll probably have to keep on imagining munis! Party's gender department, agrees, existing power structure that, The truth is that women will have to bin for olher reasons: "Our primary alle- and transform it fight hard lo make their issues and voices giancesare to OUT political parties and their heard in ihe din of ihe firsl democratic programmes. I'm going to parliament to — PREGS GOVENDER parliament, raise the issues of the working class, and Al best, ihe NP will have 11 women in sometimes I have problems w ith (his notion Us XO-membcr caucus, and Ihere will be of Sisterhood Td vote for a Chris Hani had to say that I was firsl a woman and then three women in the DPfS 2(l-member cau­ before Td vote for a bourgeois woman any a traditional leader," cus. The PAC will probably only have one day/' Sigcau, ITthontheANC's national list woman MP - De Lille. Even the ANC. In ihe negotiating process, female del­ and a former premier of ihe Transkei, cred­ with its one in Ihree quota, has bunched egates sometimes broke with their parlies its lite victory to the quota system that mosl Of the women in its first ItKI names lo support issues that directly affected wo- compelled every delegation to have one down near ihe bottom. lite top of the ANC mens* rights. When the negotiating council male and one female member. But Dene list remains a sea of testosterone. Seemed set lo capitulate to traditional lead­ Smuts, third on ihe DP's national list, slams The challenge facing women, con­ ers and exempt customary law from ihe hill quotas: "When you send a person into cludes Pregs Govendcr (851h on Ihe ANC of rights* equality clause, an ad-hoc group public life under a quota system." she says, list) "is how to deal with power. For those of female delegates look up the cudgels — "you automatically send her in wilh a ques­ of us who arc feminists, there h;is been the < and won. It was ihe fins!effectiv e display of tion hanging over her head aboul her com­ tradition of seeing the existing power struc­ S female lobbying power this country has petence." ture as a corrupt one. There has been a Efl seen. The dispute put Stella Sigcau. an Baleka Kgositsile, who was on the desire to Operate indifferent waysand resist ANC member but a traditional leaders" (-) ANC negotiating team and is now 34th on it. Now^ we have to takea deep breath and go delegate, in a difficult position. "I had to Q its naiional candidates* list, fell the weight into that existing power structure and trans­ make a choice/" she says. "At lhal point I i en of that pressure; *The doors had been form it." • Page 6 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

Building a women's movement

Voting into power people sensitive to women's issues is a first step. But it will take a strong, organised women's movement to hold even the most sympathetic government to its word, writes NOZIZWE MADLALA

N THE EVE OF OUR FIRST NON-RACIAL election. South African women have O broken (heir silence. The fear of being marginalised even further helped spur women into united ac­ tion. Though the Women's National Coali­ tion (WNC), women from all walks of life — black and white, rich and poor, urban and rural — have joined in a campaign to draw up their demands. Known as the "Women's Charter for Effective Equality", the document marks an important phase in the slruggle for hu­ man liberation. The Women's Charter is the result of a process where women collectively defined themselves and their needs. "It has empow­ ered women to engage in the process of change; it is a product for the nation/' Ivy Matsepe-Cassaburi, chair of the SABC board, told the WNC conference that draft­ FROM PROMISES TO PRACTICE: Women will have to fighl tor gender equality ed the document in late February. As we approach this historic change of The struggle for emancipation depends lives requires access to political power. government, all South Africans need to on one key tool: organisation. The changes Thisapproach recognises that people'slivcs pause and consider what this change entails thai are taking place in SA have come about are shaped through political power. for women, especially black working class as a result of sustained struggle and resist­ women. ance by the oppressed. The Womcn'sChar- The roadi s long The system of racial, class and gender ler itself is a product of struggle — waged The April elections are an important mile­ domination has effectively marginalised over Ihe years against removals, poor wag­ stone in the struggle for our liberation in the majority, excluding ihem from major es, detention without trial and violence SA. But they will not coincide with wom­ decisions affecting Iheir lives. In the work­ agaiasl women. Thcclausc on gcndcrequal- en's emancipation and economic justice. place they are abused and exploited by their ity in the interim constitution is a victory Voting into power a government sympa­ bosses. In the community they suffer polit­ won through struggle waged at the negoti­ thetic to (he needs of the majority is a ical and social repression. In their homes ations. starting point. A democratic, non-sexist they experience domination and violence Through the charter, women are claim­ constitution and bill of rights creates a from their male relatives—their husbands, ing Iheir rights as full members of society. favourable environment for the genderst nig­ partners, brothers and sons. When more than 70 women's organisa­ gle. It docs not in itself eliminate gender Voting into power people who will be tions two years ago committed themselves oppression. 9 3 sensitive to these issues is the first step to work together despite their disparate One of the first challenges confronting towards addressing the problems. But, as origins, they were acknowledging the im­ the new government will be to translate the shown in other countries, the right to vote portance of legal recognition as a starting constitution into laws that address the legal, does not automatically bring about wom­ point in the struggle for emancipalion/ITiey economic, political and social status of en's emancipation and economic justice. understood that meaningful change in their women. i April/May 1994•A Work In Progress supplement • Page 7

view, is the key tool for transformation of sociciv. Although I talk of a movement, singu­ lar, there could be more than one. Move­ ments form when organisations decide to- opcraie around specific issues at points. The aim, obviously, is to use their collective strcnglh to achieve specific goats. So when I talk of a mass-based women's movement I'm referring lo a strategic popular alliance of women'sorganisations, united in action. In our context, where race, class and gender domination has resulted in extreme poverty and disadvantage for the majority of women, il makes sense for working class women'sorganisations and rural women lo come together in an alliance.

Collective power The alliance would be strategic, enabling the most disadvantaged to use their collec­ tive power to assert and win their demands. It would be strengthened by the participa­ tion of women from the more privileged classes, provided there is a clear under­ standing that leadership should be drawn from the disadvantaged themselves. There would have to be a clear understanding that black workingclass and rural women should be at the centre of such a movement. For this to happen we must be sensitive to the effects of the years of subjugation endured by women. It means allowing women to speak in a language they feel comfortable in. Il means holding meetings al limes and venues that suit the majority of women. We know many women in SA cannot read and write. Many cannot attend meetings because they spend their time travelling long distances to fetch fuel and water, or commuting to work. For a women's movement to be mass- The interim constitution provides for a and seeing to it that women arc informed based, it has to prioritise the issues thai the "commission on gender equality". This about their rights is another crucial task. majority of women feel strongly about. It commission should be part of a multi-pro­ The police, courts and judges must be sen­ must recognise that women arc not a uni­ longed strategy for effective equality. Its sitised to the issues of gender. These judi­ form species. They do not sufferoppression powers and functions will have to be very cial structures should be easily accessible to in the same way. While women can and carefully worked out. women and be monitored to ensure that should form alliances, it is important that differences be allowed to surface, rather As part of the package, women's desks they arc woman-friendly- than be brushed under the carpet in the should be set up in all the government Women's rights must be popularised interests of unity. For unity to be sustained, ministries to see (o it that gender issues arc in broader society. We know that even debate must be encouraged, integrated at every level There is some when laws arc changed, altitudes and prac­ controversy over the idea of a women's tices persist which negate their very es­ Cooperation does not mean women ministry. One of its key disadvantage** is sence. In a country like ours, where male must shed their multiple identities. More that it tends to be marginalised and under- domination, racism and class exploitation importantly, in my view, women's unity resourced- A key function of these worn* have become intertwined and where cul­ will be enhanced if they are open and trans­ en'sstructureswill be to conduct research, ture and tradition have become tools of parent about their political beliefs. There is jy advise, lobby and monitor all aspects of oppression, it is even more urgent to deal no place here for hidden agendas. Women 3 government policy and programmes in or- conceitedly with oppressive social norms, should face up to the reality thai, for years, a few have enjoyed advantages while the 8 dcr to make them gender sensitive. We can altitudes and practices. majority have suffered disadvantages. We J leamfromothcrcounlrics'cxpcricnccswith Most urgent, though, Ls for women to must be sensitive to the power relations that o similar bodies. organise themselves inlo a strong mass- exist among us which implies also that Monitoring the implementation of laws based women's movement. This, in my Page 8 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994 women should create space lo enable Ihe and class, wc have diverse experiences and less-privileged lo grow and gain confi­ interests. dence. We must acknowledge that, where ihe re We Can Do It! When the easy' pari is done is inequality, there will be tension and con­ Having volcd, wonten must ensure thai flict. The unity we build must be based on their party honours its promises. Does it a common understanding of the terms of integrate women's demands into the new our cooperation. constitution, the bill of rights and legisla­ tion? Women should monitor parties' re­ First things first spective policies and programmes. What of the immediate future, the elec­ Within parliament, women must lobby tions? for change in attitudes and practices that The challenge is to get women to the perpetuate male domination. This implies polls. When the majority have never voted, taking into account the different ways in how do we make sure that all voters know which men and women have been social­ theirrighis?Thal they they realise their vote A checklist ised, as well as the additional responsibili­ can make a difference? ties women carry.such as child-bearingand Many organisations have been carry­ for organising child care. ing out voter education. But more work Whether inside or parliament, women needs to be done. There must be more must support one another. Those outside emphasison reaching women votcre, work­ must try and bolster the efforts of women in ers on while farms and rural people. South • The key lo asserting and parliament to represent our demands. So African women have not been encouraged the women's movement must, while safe­ to participate in politics. Violence and fear achieving women's rights guarding its independence from govern­ have compounded this problem. For people In SA is the extent to which ment, make sure it wins the support of the to feel safe going to the polls, security must women are organised government. be stepped up. Women must be made to That will be determined, firstly, by know that their vote counts, that it will be • Building a strong mass- how women use their vote and. secondly, secret and that no-one has the right lo based women's movement by the strength and effectiveness of the prescribe to them what party to vote for. requires that we prioritise women's movement. When choosing their party, women the Issues that affect the We cannot assume that the govern­ should not only look at party election man­ majority ment will automatically be sympathetic to ifestos. What really matters is the party's our demands as women. In fact, we will track record on gender equality. We should • Alliances must be created, have to apply our united powerto make sure ask how many women are on the party *s list government heeds them. and how committed the parly is to uphold­ but not on the basis of false unity ing women's interests. More than a wing & a prayer A significant number of women in And, to challenge the hegemony of white positions of power is an important step • They should acknowledge male domination mosteffectivcly, the wom­ towards women's emancipation. But it is the different experiences en's movement must be mass-based; it must not a question of putting any women into and needs ol women broaden its base by building alliances with those positions. It matters what kinds of other sectors of society. women are chosen. ITicv should be deter- • Space must be made (or the By now it is clear that the kind of mined to stand up for the rights of all most oppressed women to women's movement I am advocating is women; black and white, rich and poor, broader than women's wings of political urban and rural, able-bodied and disabled. Brow and develop leadership skills parties or women's desks of non-govern­ So I don't believe women should simply mental organisations. These wings and vote for women. desks are important tools for influencing • Women should be selective We should also remember that it mat­ and monitoring policy decisions and prac­ ters where political power lies. In the gov­ in deciding who lo vote for tice within the organisation. ernment of national unity, the party with the Gender desks have become a common most votes will have Ihe biggest say in • Women committed to feature in many organisations. But getting decisions on policies and social pro­ changing the plight ol all the organisations to prioritise gender issues grammes. Women's interests will be best women must be voted into is an ongoing, uphill battle. protected if women win the support of ihe positions of power To be effective in mixed organisations, most influential party in parliament. Voting women need the support of other women. for a party simply because it calls itself a • But having voted a And it is only a strong women's movement women's party would, in my view, further that can give women in mixed organisa­ marginalise women. sympathetic government tions the support they require, and bring into power, women will In our context I doubt whether a wom­ about the kinds ofchang e which effectively en's parly can claim to represent the major­ have to monitor it and make will transform their status and material con­ ity of women. We do not represent a uni­ sure It sticks to lis ditions. form species. promises • Madlaia is high up an the ANC's list for Historically divided along lines of race the national assembly April/May 1994 • A Work In Progress supplement • Page 9

More is better

The bill of rights, a gender commission, a women's ministry — it all moves the struggle for women's rights forward. But success, writes PANSY TLAKULA will ultimately depend on other, broader innovations

OUTH AFRICA MOVES INTO A NBW I=RA perception that these rights are not of major on women's issues if there is thorough with a hill of rights thai prohibits public concern, that they do not rank high monitoring and analysis of women's status S discrimination on the basisof gender among the new government's priorities. and constant pressure to safeguard wom­ In a Tew months there will be a ministry of Women who take up positions in parlia­ en's rights. This presumes consultation and women's affairs and a gender commission. ment will have lo keep gender equality on liaison with a wide rangeofwomen'sgroups We've seen the Women's National Coali­ the agenda. They must ensure that the pro­ and community organisations. tion (WNQ adopt a Women's Charter for motion of women's rights remains central There is therefore an urgent need lo Effective Equality. lo the human rights agenda of the new build a strong women's movement which, Are these measures enough lo ensure government as a source of support and pressure, can that women's issues and concerns stay on enable women lo struggle more effectively the new govenment's agenda? Reach out for their rights* In my opinion, they lay a solid founda­ The interim eorislitution calls for the estab­ I realise that forming a women's move­ tion for the achievement of gendcrequality. lishment of a "commission on gender equal­ ment will not be easy, especially in view of But there is an urgent need to translate them ity" which it tasks with promoting gender the political diversity among women. But into reality. equality by monitoring and recommending these problems are not insurmountable. Discrimination on (he basis of gender legislation that affects the status of women. A women's movement should be en­ is deeply embedded in our society. For It will function most effectively if it coop­ trusted with advocacy and lobbying work centuries men have maintained control over erates and collaborates with other struc­ on-1he-ground* Leaving these tasks to the women by appealing lo tradition. These tures committed lo promoting women's women's wing of a particular political or­ new constitutional and legal measures a lone rights. ganisation will, in my opinion, not be ap­ will not eradicate gender stereotypes and The commission's mosl important task propriate. The movement should not be oppression in our society. Strategics must will be to ensure that all laws which dis­ attached to any one political party. It will be be devised to take forward this struggle criminate against women are repealed. Ii counter-productive if women's rights poli­ within and outside parliament also will have to guarantee that all laws cies become a partisan political issue. To be In doing this, though, we dare not lose passed by parliament comply not only with effective, the movement should be as inclu­ sight of our realities. South African women the new constitution's provisions protect­ sive as possible, representing women across are not monolithic. Our strategies should ing women, but with standards set out in the political, social, economic, racial and not ignore the many relevant international sexual spectra. ways in which we relate instruments like ihe This movement should involve a wide to culture, race, class, Convention on the Elim­ range of women who are rooted in their sexuality and history. ination of All Forms of communities, Appropriate programmes and Eliminating practices Discrimination Against strategics will have to be implemented at thai oppress women re­ Women. Hopefully, ihe those levels to protect rural and disadvan­ quire that strategies new government will taged women against gender discrimina­ which respond lo the ratify that convention tion. needs of women in di­ without delay. A women's movement will need to verse cultural settings. To achieve its monitor and review continuously a very If we fail to remember goals, the commission wide range of matters relating to women's this, for instance, we risk will need to formulate rights. But it will only achieve its goals weakening women's and influence govern­ through cooperating with the government, desires and capacities lo ment policy on wom­ non-governmental organisations, commu­ forge a strong women's en's rights byt for in­ nity-based structures and other agencies movement. stance, soliciting the committed lo the advancement of women. For change to support and commit­ The women of SA have a mammoth CD meaningful, women's ment of other govern­ < task ahead of them. But with committment rights must be integrat­ ment departments. imagination and perseverance we will sure­ ed fully into the govern- Also, the commis­ ly succeed! B ment's development BANGING THE DRUM: Agitating tor sion is more likelv to •Tlakuli Is deputy director and education O programme. There is a change is part of the struggle formulate sound policy officer at the Black Lawyers' Association Page 10 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

Feminists fighting from the fringe 'Women's rights* are on just about every politician's lips these days. But. warns MIKKI VAN ZYL, women's struggles are still faced with many 4no-go areas', with issues that are deemed to be 'nobody's business1. And it's from the fringes that they can be tackled best

HROUGH HARD-FOUGHT STRUGGLES THE women's movement has earned itself T political legitimacy and placed crucial gender issues on the agenda, Bui many vital questions are still treat­ ed as political hot potatoes. Struggles that focus on gender relations like marriage and sexuality are accused instantly of interfer­ ing in personal zones or importing coloni­ alist ideus. No surprise then, that these struggles typically are fought on the fringes of the political arena, as they vie for legitimate political space.

The personal is political li is easy to understand why definitions of politics avoid interpersonal relationships: to democratise marriages and respect wom­ en's sexual and reproductive rights over their bodies, require fundamental changes in our value systems. Political movements rarely mushroom from the grassroots overnight. They tend to emerge as small groups of people tease out an understanding of the social relations which bind them into everyday life. By naming the double standards which operate between different groups, the underlying values are exposed. In this way people's personal experiences become politicised. Harly feminist activism defined the personal as political, overcoming patriar­ ALL CHANGE: chal definitions of politics which were fo­ Mass action has cused on militarism, formal government won legitimacy £ : and the economy. By insisting that interper­ lor debate on :; sonal relationships were also social institu­ women's | tions, feminists highlighted private life as personal safety. 2j part of the political realm. 6ay struggles ^ It look the Violence Against Women have had some J Movement here more than a decade to win success, but still political recognition. Spokespcople for the have to wort al g progressive political movements insisted challenging 5 prejudices °- April/May 1994 • A Work In Progress supplement • Page 11

thai it was not a political issue, thai il in SA which are siill balding for did not affect grassroots women. Ycl political legitimacy. Many of them ordinary women from different com- concern gender relations. By deny­ munilics, who mostly would noi de­ ing legitimacy lo certain struggles, fine themselves as 'political', voiced we absolve social institutions from these needs repeatedly: "Stop rape! addressinglhe issues. This helps keep Slop our men from hitting us! Stop intact the existing, discriminatory sys­ child sexual abuse!" tem of values. Eventually "politically correct" For inslancc. struggles for lesbi­ women's organisations had to listen. an/gay rights arc labelled as threats lo Women'salliancesona/twi/H.vMSSue Ihe social fabric — attacks on the were formed across race and class moral or traditional order. Therefore barriers. Now, in a number of coun­ these battles are waged through chan­ tries special laws have been enacted to nels of civil socicly like churches, protect women from this violence. popular culture and the media. The A double standard for women's dominant images of family life in our and men's sexual behaviour was ex­ society render homosexual identity posed in different cultural groups, and "morally deviant'. "private" relations such as marriages One of the aims of the lesbian becamea focal point for political strug­ and gay struggle is lo challenge these gle. prejudices by creating positive iden­ tities, in ihe style of black conscious­ Til ttafi us do pari ness- and feminist consciousness- The process of naming and defining raising. As a minority group they one's oppression is an integral part of any dissenting African women of being hood­ need strong alliances lo enable ihem to political struggle. By enduring and accept­ winked by while feminists. In this way. change society's homophobic attitudes. A ing conditions of oppression for a long alliances between women can be conven­ major success was lo gel a protective clause lime, we lend to adopt the dominant values, iently minimised in the crossfire of racist inlo ihe bill of rights; in fact. SA Is the first and collude in our own oppression. A sig­ and colonialist rhetoric. African country lo adopt an officially dem­ nificant victory lies in a redefinition of Despite linul protests Irom inulitiim.il ocratic stance on lesbian and gay righls. identities: who arc we. and how do we want leaders (men), rural women successfully to fit inio Ihe world? arc challenging polygamy in customary Identity crises Any person's social status is deeply law, by focusing especially on (heir rights Bui struggles of ideniity can be messy. linked to ideniitv: as a woman I become to land and inheritance. Who defines the group and its interests? locked into social relations where othersare By highlighting the contradiction be­ Often there Is an assumption that a group is likely to respond to me as a "mother". tween Ihe gender equality clause in ihe Bill uniform. Black men may feel entitled lo "whore", "wife", "housewife", "spinster" of Rights and traditional practices, they speak for black women, and gay men for or "widow". They will judge me according haveshownupa fundamental double stand­ lesbians. Many contradictions could be to their underlying expectations about these ard around gender in the rhetoric of democ­ buried in the underlying social organisation 'sorts'of women. racy. of the group. Tncse values seep into our everyday This explains the many contending lives, affecting our formal and informal It's BIT body struggles thai are happening simultaneous­ relations. They are often tied to appearance. It's only during the last century thai wom­ ly wilhin and amongst an identified group If you have breasts you're not able to make en's fight for the right to control their own such as women. important decisions: if you arc dark-skinned, bodies has been acknowledged. Until re­ Different struggles find themselves at you mast be slupid. Such pseudo-scientific cently, rapelaw s protected a man'S proper­ loggerheads, and issues are in different differences become the "formal" basis of ty — his wife — from being despoiled by stages of achieving broader legitimacy. much discrimination. another. Rape in marriage was first out­ Some arc already being fought in the polit­ Marital status is central to defining lawed internationally barely 15 years ago. ical arena; others are slill being disputed on women's social, political and economic and only last year in South Africa. A man moral grounds. standing. Whether urban or rural, while or can now no longer assume he has sexual In ihe process of struggling for wom­ black, most women's access to land and access lo his wife without her consent en's rights, issues arc undoubicdly rede­ resources is mediated through men. and the Even [hough a woman may have some fined. Each political struggle has its season, most common mechanism is marriage — righls over her scxualily. we are just start­ and as one gains ascendancy, il may be used whether under civil law or customary law. ing Ihe struggle lo control our own fertility. as a weapon lo discredit another. In the While many people on Ihe gendcrband- The prospect of entrusting women with Ihe competition for relevance and legitimacy, wagon criticise African customary mar­ right lo decide what to do about unwanted political discourses play into these contra­ riages, they remain blind lo the patriarchal pregnancies, triggers hysterical reactions. dictions. assumptions in Western custom. On the If il weren't for a few tenacious feminists 1 ne challenge for the women's move­ oiher hand, many African men will assume ihe issue would long ago have been suc­ ment is lo identify these gender contradic­ that ihcy can speak for women in defending cessfully booted from Ihe political arena. tions — this "unevenness*'—and prevent African marriage traditions. They accuse Inevitably Ihere are a number of issues them from dividing women. • Page 12 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

Out of sight

It's in rural areas that most black women live and work — and where they find themselves most marginalised, most forgotten. SUE WIXLEY set off to see how parties are faring in the bundus and what reception rural women's demands are getting

iu- CHANT, "ONE WOMAN, ONE MAN — one husband, one wife," has become a Tpopular way to end voter education workshops in rural parts of the Transvaal. The refrain highlights the thorny issue of polygamy - which rural women groups want to see addressed after the elections Thus far, though, even the parties cam­ paigning fiercely for the rural vote arc steer­ ing clear of it. There are so many differences between and within communities that it is difficult to talk about "rural women" in ageneral sense. Yet, there's no avoiding the fact that several common issues face women and their or­ ganisations in rural areas.

Reaching out 'I"he most active campaigning in rural areas is being done by the ANC, which has also identified women's rights as one of the main election issues (along with education, housing and jobs). But despite the ANC's slick newspa­ per ads publicising their plan to improve the lives of women by "guaranteeing women the right to home and land ownership", their American-style roadshow has not been adapted for rural women. Their "peoples' forums"—aimed at stimulating grassroots participation — do not reach women who are traditionally left at home while their men make the decisions under the kgolla tree. "Very little is really happening ... no political parly is really taking the initiative to organise rural women and show them how to vote. We've heard about a mobile education van; we haven't seen it," says MamLydia Kompe. a rural activist and founding member of the Rural Women's Movement. She is also an ANC candidate for the national parliament. Access to education forums is a crucial issue because women traditionally have STANO UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS: The Community land Conference agreed: 'We must work tor played a minimal role in community meet- 50/50 representation of men and women' April/May 1994* A Work In Progress supplemenl • Page 13

ings,whtMlicrlhcy;ireA^//«A<»rltK*i*lcom* Living in daftness want, not just who iheir husband, father, miUcX's/llicJrp;irlicip;Hionislimilcdciihcr Women are like washing lines: uncle or brother tells them." hy formal prohibitions or by sheer male they carry the load, almost every These educator* suggest that women domination. Their excessive work burden adopt the line of least resistance: agree to — including collecting firewood and wa­ lea*' — Retina Ntongana, vole the way (heir intimidators suggest and ter, childcarc and "men's work", like tend­ Surplus People Pro)ect then go and vole for iheir own choice. ing livestock— seldom leaves women wilh • Rural South Africans make m Some voting problems are shared by any lime to attend workshops or meetings. women and men alike, for example the Even if a woman is willing and able lo almost 50% ol voters harassment of voter education workshops participate, ihe chief retains a power of • At least 60% ot them are in IJophulhalswana. Men and women work­ ing on farms arc being left behind as farm- veto; if be d»n:s not give 'he go ahead for women voter education, il does not happen. Hll is a crs resist the electoral process. On top of disgrace (bal political parlies have done • Only one In seven people In this* admits Dave Husy of the Farmwork­ inching to stop this/" says Kompc. rural areas has access to ers' Research and Resource Project, "or­ ganisations have nol done enough educa­ Another complicating factor is illitera­ proper sanitation tion aimed specifically at farm workers, cy: MWe are talking about women who partly because of the geographical isolat ion can't read and write and people who have • Less than half the rural popula­ never been exposed to these things/* says tion has access to sate water, of farm labourers.*1 Kompc. "Women don't know the parties, with women shouldering the tbe> don't know the ANC „. they only Make a plan know Mr Mandela. And they don't know burden of collecting the water It is difficult lo gauge how well-prepared the NP. they only know Mr De Klerk/' for drinking, cooking, washing women in rural areas are for the election, "It is not in their interests to vote for the and sanitation says De Vlieg. "There is a great variance in 0\ but (in mock votes) many are putting • At least 54% of South African bltCfCSl and confidence of voters between I heir cross next to the CPVnamc/'shc adds. the regions, which is partly due to Ihe These women have nol been able to households do not have access patchiness of voter education." follow ihe priKresscs leading up lo the elec­ to electricity — the vast Hut Barry Glider of Mat hi Trust and tions and are unfamiliar with siructures like majority of them live In rural the Independent Forum For Voter Hduea- Ihe Transitional Executive ( ouncil and the lion is more positive: "The feeling is thai Government of National Unity and con­ areas women in the rural areas are going lo vote, cepts like proportional representation, Vot­ although the statistics for women voters are er educators find themselves hard-pressed llie men tend to dominate proceed­ slightly Iowa than for men," to convince women w ho have experienced ings, even when women are in the majority, "I think the way the election is being homeland elections thai the April 27 vole as a recent experience of Kompc \ shows: organised will help women •-• ihe fact that will be different. "We were having our workshop under the there will be a public holiday, lhat the tree- We were mainly women. Then a small elections w ill lake place over Iwo days and Making their mark group of young guys came to disrupt. They thai stations won't be further lhan 10km asked irrelevant questions and they wanted "It is difficult lo break down the barrier away, will help people gel to Ihe pulls. lo know about monitoring* because it in- between men who see they have the right to Gilder adds. "Hy stressing in our pro­ vol ves money and ask the questions and women w ho feci they jobs. They didn'i wain to grammes lhat women should vole, we're have to lake a backseat in politics," com­ give us space/* hoping they'll make a plan.** ments Gill de VI ieg. national coordinator of One way of solving ibis problem is to Black Sash's voter programmes. run separate workshops for women.: "Wom­ And after the election? The Black Sash has trained women en in rural areas don't have the chance lo But. even if we see a strong turnout of rural from Ihe Rural Women's Movement —the discuss their problems all together. They women at the polK the question remains only community-based organisation tack­ only discuss them in small groups when whether a new government will take their ling ivsucsof land, gendcrand development they are collecting the II re wood or fetching concerns seriously water from the river," explains Kompc. "So both nationally and locally — to run voter Two documents spell out an ANC-led we ask ihe men (oexcuse us. And thisopens education programmes in their communi­ government's stance on women's issues: ihe road for women lo say what they want-" ties. the Interim Constitution and Ihe Recon­ The fact that the trainers are women In their workshops, trainers concen­ struction Development Programme (RDP) drawn from local communities encourages trate on dispelling the widespread fears of the ANC alliance. other women to take part in the education aboul Ihe process of voting, by staging The Interim Constitution does not deal programmes. It has also brought difficul­ voting exercises. separately wilh rural or land issues but ties of its own. "The workshop begins wilh a short Contains a number of clauses which will Most of ihe women who run the work­ play dialogue between two women people affeci rural women directly the property shops are semi-illiterate and on some occa­ can identify with and this breaks the ice," rights clause, (he restitution clause and Ihe sions men. from the local civic for example, says IX' Vlieg. equality clause. take over Ihe resource materials and begin "We speak a lot about intimidation — The sections that deal with property running Ihe workshops themselves. Their run only about political intimidation but rights and Ihe restitution of land have been attitude seems lo be: "You are women, how intimidalionofwomenbymen.Weempha- rejected by representatives of rural and 1 can you teach us? sisclhat women must vole for whoever ihcy landlesseommunilies. They predict thai Ihe Page 14 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

The Battle of Bloemfontein clauses will, among other things, render land reform too expensive to be carried out Rural women fought the battle of the sexes and came out winning at the in any meaningful way. landmark Community Land Conference held in Bloemfontein in mid-February. Communities want the clauses scrapped Unquestionably the tieriest debates at the conference were those that or radically changed, and what they sec as tackled polygamy. constitutional right to restitution and land The conference shot down a demand tor an end to polygamy, along with reform recognised. a call to abandon the tradition that a women is "inherited" by her brother-in- Thanks to a last minute agreement at law when her husband dies. the multiparty negotiations last year, wom­ But delegates went on to accept radical demands which could imply the en now have full legal status and will have demise of these traditions. access to land in their own right. Tradition­ ally they have been denied independent Once the women's commission had made its report, the first shot had been rights to land, and were eligible only for fired. Then, Pat Shangase stood up: "We will never agree with what the women allocation through men — either their hus­ are saying. There must be a choice (between polygamy and monogamy)." bands or sons. Then it was the women's turn. They spoke of their suffering in polygamous The debate at the World Trade Centre unions. "We have understood how men oppress us as women. When you many negotiations was revealing in itself. On the as the first wife you become your husband's mother," said Maggie Matlala. one hand, traditional lenders demanded that The argument for keeping the tradition of marrying one's late husband's constitutional recognition of custom and brother was brought home by Milton traditional law should go un­ challenged, despite the gender Ncube: "Women should know that as inequality it entrenched. Or­ Zulus we pay 11 cattle for a wife. ganised women's groups in­ That's why a person should be sisted that gender equality inherited by her husband's brother." should override customary law Then, Mike Kalipa made his plea: and culture in the bill of rights. Women'sopposit ion to the "We are going into a new SA. And we clause was well-organised, in­ are saying we are going to be equal. volving groups like the Rural Let us not exploit women." Womens' Movement and a Still, the two most controversial women'scaucus from all polit­ demands were shelved. ical parties. It argued its case Significantly there were no voices of soundly, and women won the day. opposition from the men in regions such as the Transvaal where (through the Rural Womens' Movement) women have become a force to be reckoned with. The ANC's RDP offers a blueprint for MamLydia Kompe, who was sitting in the Transvaal delegation, describes future development programmes to address how the men in their delegation were told to "sit down and shut up" because the socio-economic problems faced by they had already had a chance to raise their problems in regional and women in the rural areas. community meetings. "It calls for the establishment of elec­ trification programmes, water and sanita­ An inspiration for women tion projects and health facilities in rural The conference agreed, among other things, that women should be able to own areas — all of which will go a long way towards alleviating the burdens shouldered land whetherthey are married orsingle, thatthey should have equal represen­ by women. The programme also identifies tation with men on local government and that they should be the main women as the beneficiaries of government recipients of development programmes and training. support services and the need for "good Although not all the women's demands were passed, the debates provided representation on local government". inspiration for womens* organisation. For the first time rural women were able How — and whether — these plans to issue their demands and argue them at the national level. It's a remarkable will be see the light of day, though, is achievement, especially given the many factors that restrict their participation. another matter. If the experience at the Michelle Friedman, gender coordinator of the National Land Committee multiparty negotiations is anything to go which convened the conference, offers a few pointers about what was done to by, women will have to keep up the pres­ ensure this positive outcome for women: sure to make sure their concerns don't go onto the backburner. • At local meetings women's groups had the chance to meet on their own. According to Kompe, that's just what • Communities were asked to choose one woman and one man to represent they plan to do. them. "We're giving the new government • Child care was provided at the conference. five years. • Regional reports in the plenary were presented by one woman and one man. "If they don't deal with our issues they i • A separate commission was held for women at the conference. mustn't even bother to campaign again," • The need for translation (which greatly affects women) was dealt with. she says. "We will be out protesting about 1 our issues." • April/May 1994 • A Work In Progress supplement • Page 15

Changing the counby

Rural women count among the most oppressed — and ignored — sectors in our society. Changing this requires that their presence is felt and their demands are heeded. But how? MAMLYDIA KOMPE has a few ideas

URAL WOMEN LACK TOE FAC1U11ES AND rural areas. tances — tasks which can take most of the conveniences of iheir urban sisters. This means rural women's issues and day. Not owning land means that women R TTieiraccess lo land is limited andean concerns must be put and made lo stay on cannot kctfp their own cattle or grow their usually only be gained through marriage. the political agenda. Politicians must made own crops. They also have no independent Traditional law severely limits their rights. aware of these women's needs and they access to financial backing. In many villages they arc prevented from must prioritise them. This can only happen Lack of education limits their options participating in traditional decision-mak­ if politicians are exposed to the issues and in all respects, making them dependent on ing. to constant pressure. husbands or on more educated people — The election brings new hopes for So it is vital that rural women are like state officials who often turn out (o be change. But rural women cannot assume elected into positions that enable Ihem to corrupt. (Women's ages, for instance, are they will gain political, economic and so­ address the needs of their constituency — often reduced by officials who issue ID cial righLs after the vote. That will require nationally, regionally and locally. These books so that their eligibility for a pension political pressure, both now and beyond women should come from strong grass­ is postponed.) April 27. The question is: How can this be roots organisations, to which they are an­ Customary laws and tradition: Worn - achieved? swerable. en are treated as minors. They have no say If the new government is serious about Along with pushing for women to be in the home, yet they carry full responsibil­ improving women's lives, il must be com­ elected into government, we need to ensure ity there — particularly while their hus­ mitted to addressing living conditions in that we maintain strong pressure on politi­ bands arc away as migrant labourers. As a cians so that they are always aware of the result, they tend to have low self-esteem issues and problems rural women face. The and feel inferior to men. voices of rural women must be heard and TTicy cannot sel I a goat. let alone a cow, understood by politicians, other interest without the husbands1 permission. Often MAM­ groups, the media and the public at large. they arc victims of battery, but they don't LYDIA Rural women can organise around sev­ have places to go to when such problems KOMPE: eral key matters. Many of them fundamen­ arise. tally affect women's lives: access lo clean Rural Polygamy is a major problem, with water, the lack of health care and education­ women men often having several wives in both al facilities, and more. Indeed, the issues rural and urban areas. Women know that must be that confront rural women around the coun­ heard there are insufficient resources lo support ty arc so similar that rural women's organ­ more than one wife. But they feel unable to isations can unite women rela­ escape their marriages, because it would tively easily from all over the mean surrendering their access to land or a country. house. Lack of resources: Health The fact that customary marriage does care facilities, water, education not have the same legal weight as civil and land arc sorely lacking. marriage leaves women married under cus* Daily, rural women's lives are tomary law with very few rights. They affected for the worse by the simply can be kicked out of the home when absence of resources necessary the husband brings home a new civil-law to maintain the household and wife. family- Chiefs often dictate to women and Water and fuel must be demand their free labour. Under customary fetched and carried great dis­ law, a woman has no right to choose the Page 16 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

man she wants to live with after her hus­ band's death. She has to live with the hus­ band's brother, who treats her as a posses­ The Polygamy Debate sion. Work In Progress asked some olthe leading political players lor their views And migrant labour requires that wom­ on polygamy. Here's what they had to say: en have to fend for themselves, the children and the elderly. Rural women's husbands • DEMOCRATIC PARTY might desert them for an urban woman, The DP does not have a specific policy on polygamy; it does not believe the leaving them as breadwinners of a family state should interfere In the question of marriage. However, as a women's but with very little ability to earn money. activist movement, the DP has encountered wives who have problems with Despite these common concerns, it is polygamy. The issue of inheritance still needs to be discussed and may lead often very difficult for rural women to to legislation on the care of customary wives. Wives from civil marriages tend become organised. Because of the patriar­ to be the ones who benefit when the husband dies, and this is not acceptable. chal system they live under, they do not have the experience in talking publicly or The DP believes it is the state's duty to intervene in regard to customary forming structures. Organising usually takes wives and their children on Ihe question of inheritance and maintenance. quite some time and starts quietly, often "disguised" as a burial society and the like. • INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY Yet to develop a policy. Departure points There are a number of ways for rural wom­ • NATIONAL PARTY en to exert political pressure and push for improved conditions. Already they have Haven't developed a policy as it is not an Issue for this election'. staged marches around issues like health care facilities and water supplies. Authori- • PAN-AFR1CANIST CONGRESS ties have been forced to take women seri­ Couldn't be contacted, as their phones and fax had been cut off. ously. Women have shown they have pow­ er. • AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS In many areas women's groups have This is a complex issue as it deals with disadvantaged people in a family. established contacts with local civic associ­ It would not be correct to ban polygamy — what would happen to the wives ations in an effort to cam greater recogni­ and children in customary and civil marriages? This problem cannot be tion. Sometimes this has led to their con­ tackled overnight and legislation alone is not the right option. Government cerns being heeded. should only intervene if human rights are violated. Cultural life in most Networking with other structures (lo­ societies creates antagonistic relationships between men and women. cally and further away) has also earned stronger recognition. The forging of strong links with youth groups has proved suc­ • SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY cessful also. Often these groups share the The struggle to end polygamy must be seen in the fuller context of the views of women's groups on issues like struggle for human rights. If women in our country are to be able to claim polygamy. their full legal and social rights, they must be freed of the tyranny of However, these sorts of successes arc 'traditional' practices which imprison them. not necessarily the general rule — many Our new constitution guarantees equality (or all South Africans; we musl groups still feel threatened by organised women's groups and tend to resist them. ensure that no traditional or customary practices steal that equality from But through experiences such as these, women. We cannot allow 'custom' to hold precedence over women's rights. rural women have gained (he confidence to Polygamy today is one of the most disempowering mechanisms of women's take up leadership positions at national and oppcession. As such it must be openly challenged, not swept under the carpet as one local levels. of those issues which is loo sensitive to discuss at this stage'. II is important that women should go (Edited extract from an SACP gender department discussion document) into government where they can shape laws and policies (hat affect rural women. • AZANIAN PEOPLES ORGANISATION But (his alone is not enough. Rural Azapo recognises the sensitive nature of this issue. Notwithstanding this, Azapo is women cannot go into parliament as indi­ viduals. They must maintain strong grass­ of the opinion that such practises have tended to commodity women. roots support which can empower them to In a patriarchal sexist society like ours, we find these practices are take on a system that has always worked steeped within an ideology that subjugates women. These practices need to against them. be scrutinised very closely, with communities engaging in debate around And Ihey must he backed by women's them. Hopefully, this would be one of the major aspects in a non-sexist lobby groups that can keep the pressure on society that would set it apart from the present one. In other words, it would politicians and parliament. be very reductionist to simply say these practices should be abolished • Kmpets a fftM worker with TRAC and without mass education and conscientfsation. Women and men would be in a founding member ol the Rural Women's a position to make a genuine choice. — Researched by Thenjiwe Nhlapo Movement April/May 1994 • A Work In Progress supplement • Page 17

Making friends in a war-zone

In a province torn apart by war, the National Women's Coalition has been able to bring together — and keep together — women from a range ot political parties. ESTELLE RANDALL looks at how it happened

T'S A TYPICAL AUTUMN AFTERNOON IN gramme of the Centre for University Aca­ 129 children, with the money to do so Pictermaritzburg. It's Saturday, and Ihe demic Development. coming from donationsand payments from I sun beats down on ihe deserted city "The coalition gave me the opportuni­ parents. "Maybeyou'd like tomakeadona- streets. ty to participate in my own right," she tion?" she suggests. Half an hour away, at Mpendle, there's explains. "If I'd gone as a delegate from a Bhcngu has been a member of the IFF a showdown between members of Inkatha political organisation, I'd have had to be and its Women *s Brigade for two years and and the ANC in which several people die. allocated to this task. This can be restrict­ believes there's no conflict of interest be­ But in a restored red-brick building in ing. As an individual. I didn't have to wait tween the coalition and the brigade. Piclermaritzbufg* women from Ihe two to be assigned to attend WNC meetings. "I'd like to be part of the coalition, political organisations (and women ofoth- "This region has been open to women because it's talking aboul women and up er political persuasions) are sitting down participating as individuals from the start, lifting women. We're trying to do the same together to talk about their future. and this encouraged a broader layer of in the Women's Brigade. It's a good thing The occasion is a report-back meeting women—who might not be in structures the coalition is bringing all women together of the Natal Midlands National Women's — to come in and learn. Some people arc — I think it will encourage others to at­ Coalition, and il has brought together about genuinely afraid of political organisations tend," 30 women of diverse political views. In a because of the polarisation on the ground." province which has become known for Notmbela says it would be wrong to We need the coalition political intolerance, the coalition — and ignore women in political organisations. Annette Grobelaar is less keen to talk aboul this meeting—provide a living example of But, she adds, "a strong women's move­ her political involvement. That might be working across the barricrof party politics. ment could even empower women to chal­ because of the embarrassing error the Na­ The women attending this meeting lenge gender issues in their own narrow tional Party made when it briefly withdrew come from very differcnl clavs, political political camps. The mere bringing togeth­ from the coalition in March, based on the and social backgrounds. Yet they share one er of diverse resources has empowered wrong assumption that one of the coali­ hope: that the strength and tolerance they women. 1 don *t think oneorganisation could tion's Midlands members was a candidate have buill will not disappear after June, have gathered so many needs and demands on the ANC elections list. when the coalition is due to disband. What so quickly." form, if any, the coalition will take after Since that incident, Grobelaar — who June remains to be seen. Some sec a wom­ used to represent the NP at coalition meet­ en *s movement as a possibility. First-timer ings— doesn'tseem keen to talk about her It'sthe first time 56-year-oldCynthiaBhcn- affiliations. gu has attended a coal ilion meeting, but she But she is keen on one thing: that the lorn of choice feels she'd like to come to future events. women 'scoalition should continue its work. ANCactivist Phumclele Ntombela believes She grew up in Sweetwaters, an IFPstrong* "I would hate tosee the coalition stop," the coalition has been able to work in the hold, and still lives there. she says. "When I first attended, I did so Midlands because it has allowed women "It's a rural area," she says. "We have simply as an NP delegate. But now I believe Ihe choice of participating as political party no electricity, although they arc starling to it is doing good things in bringing together representatives or as individuals. Ntombela put it in. And there arc no proper roads. But women from all walks of life. has been involved with the coalition since we do have water." "It's made me realise how much we its inception, and represented the region at With few facilities and high unem­ have in common. I, myself, got close to the WNC national conference in March. ployment life is tough in Sweetwaters. women from the ANC and 1FP. Politics But her involvement was almost by "But whether I like it or not," she points out, wasn't an issue. chance: she heard about the coalition from "at my age, what can I do?" one of the students at Natal University, There's little difference in our aspira­ where she coordinates the internship pro* Since 1965, Bhcngu has been running tions. Women can make a difference — a creche. She and nine other women carcfor they should just get off their bchinds." • Page 18 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

i

We cannot march on one leg or clap EQUALITY for the party of their choice because with one hand." reminds part of the • Much of the abuse women suffer — husbands, fathers, in-laws or chiefs preamble to the Women s Charter for structural, physical, emofional and tell them whom to vote for. Effective Equality. Yet. women — more verbal — stems Irom the low status • Women are prevented from partici­ than half of SA '$ people — are system­ they have in South African society. pating in planning and implementing atically prevented from fully • Women are deprived of the right to developmenf programmes. contributing to the society's develop­ independence and autonomy in civil ment. society. THE ECONOMY The Women's National Coalition Black women, especially, experience • In the home, many women want to (WNC) set out 18 months ago to draw intense discrimination — at home, be paid for domestic labour, while South African women into the process work and society in general. others feel it is their duty to perform of change by launching the most this work. comprehensive and ambitious research LAW AND JUSTICE • Women employed outside the home project ever into their lives. Women want fo be treated as equals say they have two full-time jobs. The study had to establish what before the law. • An especially heavy burden weighs women from all walks of life want to • Many reject their status as minors on women in rural areas where the see changed in their lives. The findings and want to be able lo enter into lack of services and infrastructure would then be fed into the constitution- contracts without their husbands' compound hardships. making process and other attempts to permission. • Discrimination is evident in salary achieve women's equality. • Inheritance law discriminates scales, employment benefits and The research report presents a against women. working conditions. dizzying catalogue of oppression. The • In polygamous situations, women • Black women say they are paid less subjugation of women, it finds, is living in rural areas feel strongly than men and white women with systemic and confines women to the that both wives should be entitled to equal qualifications. domestic arena whilst men are left to inherit if the husband dies. • They are the last lo be hired, Ihe first wield political power and authority. • In the eyes of many women, their to be fired. Women tend to be resolutely barred own rights are closely tied to the • Most black women support affirma­ from decision-making processes, both needs and rights of their children, tive action, while white and Indian in the private and public realms. suggesting that the issues of women view it more sceptically. The study's tone is defiant and women's and children's rights • Women are overlooked for promo­ positive, as befits a project that wants cannot easily be separated. tions and given scant opportunity to to promote decisive interventions to develop their skills. alter the low status of women. POLITICAL AND CIVIC LIFE • The fact that women bear children is And. as much as respondents • Women must be more politically often used against them in the speak 'with one voice" in censuring active in order to bring about social workplace, while Ihe lack of child- the roles and treatment they are and political change. care and aged-care prevents them subjected to. there is a keen awareness • There is from finding employment or accept­ of the complexities of this oppression a great need for women to be informed of their political and ing promotion. — especially when culture and civil rights, and • All women must receive maternity tradition enter the Irame. a strong sense that they are under-represented in benefits. This is a brief summary of some of government. • Women are subjected to sexual the main findings of the WNC research • Women complain that their hus­ harassment by male colleagues and study. bands prevent them from attending superiors. meetings and somelimes even church, accusing them of infidelity il EDUCATION they persist. • Women, especially black women, • Many women say they cannot vote feel they lack education and skills, a April/May 1994 • A Work In Progress supplement • Page 19

1 1

handicap that leaves many with the lack of concern shown by police limited job opportunities or trapped CUSTOM, CULTURE AND and other officials when they report in unsatisfying jobs. RELIGION attacks. This stems from systemic discrimi­ Customary law is deemed • Women who have been affected by nation — education and vocational oppressive by many women because political violence appear to outnum­ training is male-oriented and biased it deprives them of basic rights, ber those who are aware of violence towards whites. though some women defend aspects against women perse. • Women want government and of customary law. At a major WNC conference in late companies to develop programmes • Many black women want lobola February, women representing a broad and provide bursaries for further abolished. array of organisations distilled from education. • Many women view the extended these research findings a "Women's • Childcare facilities should be family as a burden on their Charter for Effective Equality", a set of provided at education and training marriage, a problem that is remedies aimed at achieving equality institution. exacerbated by the shortage of in all spheres of women s lives. • Women want better education for adequate housing. "Women want to control their their children. lives." the document announces at the HEALTH outset. "We bear important SOCIAL SERVICES • Women are frustrated about their responsibilities but lack the authority to make decisions in the home and in • The lack of adequate health care, lack of control over their own bodies, society." water, sanitation, recreational especially when it comes to family The Charter will now become the facilities, electricity and transport planning and childbearing. basis for a broad range of initiatives services (especially in rural areas) • Contraception should be a woman's aimed at achieving women s equality, restricts women's lives in innumera­ own decision, since she is responsi­ among them efforts to effectively ble ways, with rural and disabled ble lor the birth and growth of the integrate the demands into the Recon­ women especially neglected. child. struction and Development Programme. • Health care services, where they FAMILY UFE AND exist, seldom meet women's specific PARTNERSHIPS health needs. • Partnership and joint decision­ making are highly valued. VIOLENCE • Most women want childcare and • Women are deeply concerned about parental responsibilities to be rape, though some teel it is brought shared. upon when women move about • They are frustrated that they have no outside the home. rights in the home and in making • Most women have themselves decisions regarding their children. suffered, or know someone who has • Women are angry at being prevented suffered wile battery. from controlling the household's • They want the police to intervene in money, even when they are the sole cases of wife battery, which they breadwinners. view as a human rights issue, • Some women teel the law should though some are concerned that recognise different forms of police might not be adequately families, such as couples living trained to handle the problem of together, single-parent families etc.. domestic violence. • There is a strong feeling that men • Women want better protection should be forced to maintain their against violence and are angry about children in and outside a marriage. Page 20 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

Looking for Hie gender gap

In the USA. politicians are acutely aware of the gender gap that separates men and women's attitudes on certain issues. Do South African women respond distinctively to political issues? According to AMANDA GOUWS it all depends what you call 'political'

INCE THE 1980S US WOMEN COULD BE distinguished asascparatcvotinghloc. SSteady differences between men and women in voter turnout, candidate choice and attitudes on certain issues could be sighted* These became known as the gender gap, which US women now use to pursue certain policy goals. Analyses of Markinor polls do not show a notable gender gap here in SA. Men and women differ on certain issues only, and even then gender seems to be subordi­ nate to other factors. What the surveys do show is that wom­ en have a multiplicity of identities — and our gender identity does not always weigh the heaviest. We are not always women first; religious or racial identitiesoftcn move the fore. In fact, the data seems to reinforce some stereotypical beliefs about women's political altitudes and behaviour — sug­ gesting that women are apolitical, unin­ formed, apathetic and that they tend to personalise politics! He's so cute A substantial body of literature argues that women's political participation is actually apolitical, citing studies done in North America and Europe which claim most women are consistently less interested in politics than men- Women are said to personalise politics by voting for male candidates according to attractiveness, for instance. Feminist scholars point out that most people are quite apolitical if you apply a conventional understanding of "political". Conventional politics include voting, campaigning for parties or candidates, par­ ty membership* attending meetings and so EN MASSE: The 'gender gap' Is hard to see in South Africa April/May 1994 • A Work In Progress supplement • Page 21

on. Empirical studies show clearly that with salary inequality based on race and discussing their political views outside the fewer women vote or belong to parlies, and gender, with unpaid domestic labour in family circle. (A different type of question­ men participate more in campaigning. their own homes and wilh sexual harass­ naire which did not enquire about such But when we broaden our concept of ment. They demanded maternity benefits fears probably would have yielded more politics to include processes outside institu­ from their employers and childcare facili­ "evidence" of women's disinterest in dis­ tionalised politics, women's participation ties. They were concerned about their lack cussing politics.) increases dramatically. of control over their own bodies and their Black respondents were concerned with Often women's activities focus on is­ lack of freedom of movement. local issues (like electricity supply, water, sues of local or community concern — like From the research I consensus was roads and garbage removal), while white housing campaigns, child care projects, derived that women should have equality women found environmental issues of more "take-back-the-nighf (anti-rape) marches before the law, equal treatment in the work­ concent- and the improvement of infrastructure. place, control over their bodies and better This supports the notion thai basic needs Women arc far more involved in these basic needs. have to be satisfied before people move on types of local protest/wlitics. And they are to issues further removed from their imme­ involved in local associations that may Engaging pictures diate circumstances. appear apolitical but network specific com­ An even more fascinating picture emerges The majority of the respondents disa­ munities on local issues. when women who already have a political greed with the statements th;it "men are consciousness arc singled out for research. superior to women" and that "women should Tfte personal is political Feminists insist on a more appropriate def­ inition of politics: "the personal is politi­ cal". It's a definition which implies that issues which occur in the "privacy" of the home have political significance for wom­ en, although it is often argued that they arc excluded from the publicor political sphere. This definition turns pregnancy, do­ mestic violence, nipc and childcare into political issues — issues which often spur women into taking part in less conventional sorts of politics and projects. The Markinor polls stuck to conven­ tional political matters and did not ask pertinent questions about issues women may find important. Different research methodologies pro­ duce radically different pictures, though. While the research I discuss next only in­ volved women, I would speculate that if men had taken part also, a gender gap may have emerged. The National Women's Coalition (NWC) represents 80 women's organisa­ tions and 2-miltion women. Todrawupa Women's Charter, it used several research tools like single issue ques­ tionnaires, small focus groups, a chain let­ TAKING IT TO THE STREETS: Women's political activity has centred on local issues ter, as well as community report cards (see "What Do Women Want?" on page 18). From this research a list of demands In an exercise organised by the Wom­ run homes and men should run the coun- were distilled, representing the core issues en's Lobby, Markinor put questionnaires to try". women feel strongly about. Many of them a sample of 455 respondents chosen on the Conventional survey research neither relate to basic needs or what arc termed basis of their positive stance toward wom­ unearths these sentiments and concerns, "ttCOOd generation rights" — the right to en's issues. Fully 31** said they were qual­ nor does it reveal to what extent women's housing, education and health care. ified for elected or appointed positions. Of awareness of their situations and their im­ _ The research results show clearly that them, 33% were prepared to raise cam­ mediate surroundings is "politicised". cr paign money, 28% to establish a campaign When our researchers learn to cover *±i women are strongly aware of the violation organisation and 19% to seek party candi­ Ihesc sorts of blind spots, we might well s of their rights, and have a clear sense of dacy. discover more clearly our very own South g discrimination in the public and the private If s worth noting that the majority of African gender gap. sphere. This often translates into anger and them held political opinions different from • Bouws leaches politics at Stellenbosch 5 discontent, those of family or friends, and many feared University £ Women expressed their dissatisfaction Page 22 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

COOKING UP A NEW DEAL With all those household responsibilities, will women have time lor local government issues? Local heroes?

If the civics are anything to go by, women's tradition of struggle at the local level will not be enough to guarantee them a strong role in local government. But if we apply quotas, warns JO-ANNE COLLINGE, they might just backfire on the women's movement in unexpected ways

EMEMBER Al L THOSE WHITE SHIRTS AND local government, as set out in the interim load. This is especially the case in big cities tieslined up at the U>cal Government constitution and transitional legislation, lo where policy-making comes in big, com­ R Summit? Strangely, there hasn't been women's participation? plex loads. But. since women almost invar­ much politic;)) soul searching since Ihen to The find thing to recognise about being iably hear the brunt of household responsi­ find out why men so thoroughly dominate a councillor is that it's a demanding second bilities and head most single parent fami­ this "level of government closes! l*> (he (or third) job with no pay. In contrast to lies. Ihcy are much more likely than men to people". Nor do we hear the odds on this membcrsol parliament and provincial gov­ make the calculation that the burden of stale or affairs changing. ernment, town and city councillors get no public office would be ttx* heavy to bear. The argument is often advanced that salary. And this won't change soon. Of course, if s not only gender hut also class that features in this picture. Graham. women are "naturals" for local government What councillor* gel is an allowance. who has come closer to wearing Jo*burg*s because, as household managers and nur- But, says Johannesburg's deputy mayor mayoral chain than any woman since 1945, turers of children, they have a vital interest Rac Graham, even in the largest city in the has not had to earn a living— her husband in the kinds of functions town councils land this amounts to about R2(K(Oa month. is the family's sole breadwinner. She quite usually perform. They are said to be more It's scarcely enough lo cover phone bills freely admits that she could not run her likely than men to get worked up about and other costs the Job incurs. unreliable refuse removal, blocked sewer­ home and serve her constituency in the way Clearly. Ihen. hoth men and women i age pipes and unpredictable water cuts. she does now if she were compelled lo work who enter local government must be pre­ for an income* But how accessible is the institution of pared to shoulder an extraordinary work April/May 1994 • A Work In Progress supplement • Page 23

The practical barriers lo women serv­ same way". ing in local government case slightly when Tsenoli fears that the difficulties wom­ you look higher up the socio-economic en have participating in Sanco activities scale, where women either do nol have lo (even when regions gel explicit directives earn their way or have relative autonomy in lo include women in their delegations) could professional life. The really lough question be a warning of the impossible demands is how to achieve meaningful representa­ that the democratic movement has been tion for the huge urban constituency of making on activistsin general. While wom­ working class women. en might be inclined to simply drop out, To a large degree this problem has men lend to endure the pace until they burn been foreshadowed by the gender-bias out, he argues. "The inability to maintain which the civic movement has displayed cadres is one of the weaknesses of the over the years — and continues to display- democratic movement, broadly speaking. In contrast to the constitutional Negotiating When they bum out there is little support or Council, which appliedquotas in relation to sympathy**. women at an early stage, the Local Govern­ ment Negotiating Forum (LGNF) was not Nine crucial months subject to such representational recipes. It Whether or nol the reasons for weakly went its unrestrained, overwhelmingly male developed female participation in civic way. structures are fully understood. Ihe impli­ And the non-statutory side of the table cations for the first phase of local govern­ (in effect the South African National Civic ment restructuring are pretty clear. Organisation, Sanco) was no less gender- Since women bear the brunt of During this phase (which will be 9-12 exclusive than the establishment, despite household responsibilities, they months) non-racial appointed structures are its claim to be the "people's" voice. to be put in place, to link towns and town­ may feel the burden of public ships, and to begin lo redistribute local lax Was It suicide or murder? office is just too heavy to bear revenues. The non-racial structures will When one calls to mind the mass protests either replace existing racial local authori­ and the community meetings that are part ties (and be known as transitional local or and parcel of the growth of the civic move­ metropolitan councils), or they will co­ ment, women feature strongly among the of the Soweto Civic Association and chair­ exist with racial local authorities, but lake participants. Think of the rent marches, the person of its Dube branch. Phalalse says it over certain planning and budgetary func­ water marches, the fights for community was her style of participation in general tions from these councils (and be known as health services and schools. Think of the meetings that attracted the attention of oth­ local government coordination commit­ women who attempted to save their homes er Dube residents. But when they ap­ tees). from destruction — sometimes by strip­ proached her to stand for office, she initial­ In both cases inclusive local negotiat­ ping naked in the face of the demolition ly declined. "Most women feel very reluc­ ing forums, comprising representatives of squads. These women all seem to have tant to lead. They feel that men arc sure to the old local authorities, civic associations, suffered an obscure political death. The be very highly critical when women make loc I I (>n|jtical parties and ratepayers' groups, question is: Was it suicide or murder? a mistake.* will nominate the members of these new Sanco's Lcchesa Tsenoli says it's a bit Both Phalatse and Tsenoli believe that structures according lo the famous "50/50" both. He concedes the heavy male domina­ what happens in the domestic realm still formula. Which means half the members of tion of Sanco — notwithstanding Winnie tends to dictate the terms on which women transitional local councils will come from Mandela's presence in the number two participate in public life, be it in civil soci­ the statutory side (organisations which par­ position — and says the organisation has ety or in government. ticipated in apartheid local government) been doing some soul-searching on the Tsenoli observes that "husbands in the and half from the non-statutory side (those question. When women activists were asked struggle" are often those least likely to who cither opposed or did not directly about their limited participation at higher welcome their wives treading the same participate in the apartheid dispensation). echelons "the issues which they raised re­ route. Phalatse, a divorcee and mother of There is no underestimating how sig­ lated to Ihe time of meetings, the lack of five, reckons that her choices were simpli­ nificant it is that the civic associations will provision for child care and even sexual fied by the fact she was no longer married. provide nominees for transitional councils harassment". She says women in public life have to (and local co-ordinatingcommittccs). While Some,saysTsenoli,even felt thai wom­ cultivate an almost dual personality. Public political parlies in the liberation tradition en were not supportive of each other. He life demands an ability lo deal in a hard- have varied greatly in terms of their en­ remarks lhal women may be "quite aggrcs- nosed way with Ihe Issues. This toughness gagement with local government issues, 3a: sive and forceful" in mass meetings, but contrasts rather harshly with the roleswom ­ civic associations right across the country very few accept nomination when it comes en are expected to play socially and in the have been immersed at this level. to electing office bearers. home. "You cannot intimidate men in the In protracted local level negotiations Angie Phalatse is one of the few wom­ struggle and go home and intimidate your with establishment councils, civic repre­ en who have advanced through the ranks of own husband", she notes. "You cannot be sentatives have accumulated a good deal of X the civic movement. Today she is treasurer strong outside and inside the home in the knowledge about local government and Ihe Page 24 • A Work In Progress supplement • April/May 1994

technical questions town and city council­ there is thai you want participaiion ou( of wards — in effect, to place the party's lors have to make policy judgements on. him or her". success or failure in such wards largely in TTiey have served a kind of apprenticeship Tsenoli concedes that the generally women's hands. and are well-equipped to counter-balance high levels of education in the Nordiccoun- Local government is widely recog­ the experience of the old-time councillors tries "help to even out gender inequality" nised as oneof the bona fideroute s lo higher in structures set up on the "50/50" model. and make the quota system more workable. government office. A failure by women to TTie upshot Is that women who have secure meaningful participation in this first not been actively involved in local level round of local elections will ripple upwards negotiations are unlikely to be appointed as When it comes to the second phase of local in government. And it will not be subject to councillors on transitional local and metro­ government restructuring (the first elec­ change for at least three, and possible even five, years. politan councils. If they are now introduced tions for non-racial local government), the under some quota-style consciousness, they quota question becomes foggy, In the present phase, candidates' con­ enter at a distinct disadvantage and will Those local elections, which probably tributions to the liberation struggle are a have to work like hell to close the gap, will take place within the next year, will be critical factor. This will play a lesser part in TsCnoli says the question of quotas quite different from national and provincial subsequenlclections, as more conventional remains a "hotly debated" issue in Sanco. elections. The latter are run purely on pro­ political career paths will begin to develop. "Personally", he favours the device. His portional representation and all members Women, as much as men, are going to attitude has been shaped by a recent study of government arc taken from party lists. In have to serve their political apprentice­ tour to the Nordic countries, where women local elections, 40% of councillors will be ships, making their way to the top by prov­ must comprise at least 40% of local govern­ chosen by proportional representation (on en service and ability. And quotas—if they ment officials. "We only met one single- the "list" system) and the remaining 60% continue lo exist — should merely be an sex delegation in our entire touf — and (hat will have to contest specific wards. additional incentive for women to accumu­ delegation was all women". Therefore, while parties may decide lo late the relevant experience. Phalatse does not think quotas are the implement quotas in choosing candidates In ihe end, quotas that enable whole­ right route. She says that in talks within the to stand in Ihe various wards, Ihe final sale political leapfrogging will backfire on SowetoCivic Association and local branch­ choice of councillors will be left to the the women's movement. This considera­ es of the Tripartite Alliance about possible voters. It is one thing for parties to affirm tion, asmuchasaconcern for fully-rounded candidates for transitional councils the bot­ women by giving them a certain number of community representation, should compel tom line is "(hat we arc looking for quality "list" positions; ilisa much greatermeasu re women to take up the challenge of taking candidates; (he purpose of putting a person of confidence to name women to contest part in local government now. •

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