Relocation, Relocation, Marginalisation: Development, and Grassroots Struggles to Transform Politics in Urban South Africa
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Photos from: Abahlali baseMjondolo website: www.abahlali.org and Fifa website: Relocation,http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/ticketing/stadiums/stadium=5018127/ relocation, marginalisation: development, and grassroots struggles to transform politics in urban south africa. 1 Dan Wilcockson. An independent study dissertation, submitted to the university of derby in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of bachelor of science. Single honours in third world development. Course code: L9L3. March 2010 Relocation, relocation, marginalisation: development, and grassroots struggles to transform politics in urban south africa. Abstract 2 Society in post-apartheid South Africa is highly polarised. Although racial apartheid ended in 1994, this paper shows that an economic and spatial apartheid is still in place. The country has been neoliberalised, and this paper concludes that a virtual democracy is in place, where the poor are excluded from decision-making. Urban shack-dwellers are constantly under threat of being evicted (often illegally) and relocated to peri-urban areas, where they become further marginalised. The further away from city centres they live, the less employment and education opportunities are available to them. The African National Congress (ANC) government claims to be moving the shack-dwellers to decent housing with better facilities, although there have been claims that these houses are of poor quality, and that they are in marginal areas where transport is far too expensive for residents to commute to the city for employment. The ANC is promoting ‘World Class Cities’, trying to facilitate economic growth by encouraging investment. They are spending much on the 2010 World Cup, and have been using the language of ‘slum elimination’. Services to shacks were halted in 2001, and shack-dwellers in the Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) social movement feel that they are being forced out of the city of Durban. Development practice in Durban seems to be based on physical development for economic growth, rather than human development. After analysing the socioeconomic climate, and neoliberal development path, of South Africa, this paper concludes that much can be learnt from AbM’s political theorising, and that the ANC should listen to the poor if they want more equality, and a stable, functioning democracy in the future. South Africa is in a much healthier economic position than other African countries, and thus has more of a chance to make positive social changes for its poorest citizens. Contents List of figures 7 List of tables 8 Acknowledgements 8 3 Acronyms 9 Chapter 1 Aims, objectives and methodology 10 1.1. Introduction, and rationale to the study 10-11 1.2. Aim of the study 12 1.3. Objectives of the study 12 1.4. Methodology 12-14 1.5. A ‘utopian’ politics 15 Chapter 2: South Africa in the process of globalisation, or neoliberalisation? A ‘virtual democracy’ 16 2.1. Introduction 16 2.2. The ANC and neoliberalism 16-18 2.3. Virtual democracy 19-20 Chapter 3: Neoliberalism and Development in South Africa 21 3.1. Geographical overview of South Africa 21-23 4 3.2. Social and economic challenges in South Africa 23-25 3.3. Growing profits, but who is gaining? 25-27 3.4. Neoliberalism and a ‘home-grown’ SAP 27-30 3.5. Human development 30-31 Chapter 4: New Social Movements in post-apartheid South Africa 32 4.1. Introduction 33 4.2. A natural reaction to neoliberalism? 33-34 4.3. Social movements: old and new 35 Chapter 5: Subaltern resistance from the imijondolos of Durban: Abahlali baseMjondolo and a politics of the poor 36 5.1. Introduction 36-38 5.2. A brief history of imijondolos in Durban 38 5.3. The 1980s: The poor recapture a place in the city 39 5.4. Life in Durban’s imijondolos 39-43 5 5.5. Evictions and relocation 43-45 5.6. The 2007 KZN slums act 45-48 5.7. Imijondolo fires: Abhorrent ‘accidents’? 48-50 5.8. Abahlalism: A living politics, and a politics of the poor 50-53 5.9. Conclusions 54-55 References 55-68 List of Figures Figure 3.1: Map of South Africa 21 Figure 3.2: Percentage contribution of turnover per industry to total turnover for March and June 2009 27 Figure 3.3: Antiretroviral therapy coverage, among people with advanced HIV infection, in top 23 countries of Africa (%) 29 Figure 4.1: Social movements in South Africa: Primary objectives and strategies of resistance 33 6 Figure 5.1: Location of Durban; and map of Durban with suburbs 37 Figure 5.2: Kennedy Road and Foreman Road settlements 41 Figure 5.3: Types of eviction carried out by eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality 44 Figure 5.4: Distance from Durban Central to Parkgate 45 Figure 5.5: Housing rights: From internationally recognised rights and the South African constitution, to the ‘Breaking New Ground’ policy. 47 Figure 5.6: Attacks on Kennedy Road, 26 September 2010 48 Figure 5.7: AbM’s demands in conclusion to Birkinshaw’s ‘shack-fires’ report 50 Figure 5.8: Theories from the ground up: The key political ideas of Abahlalism 52 Figure 5.9: The pitfalls of development experts in community participation: empowerment for whom? 53 List of Tables Table 3.1: Country overview of South Africa, with some comparisons 22 Table 3.2: Three broad classes in South Africa 24 Table 3.3: Profitability of top 23 countries’ private non-financial corporations, 2000/2001 26 Table 4.1: Distinguishing ‘new’ and ‘old’ social movements 35 7 Table 5.1: Levels of housing and services by population 42 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr Dina Abbott and Dr Heather Moore. Their knowledge and support is very much appreciated. Additionally I would like to thank Dr John Stubbs and Dr Francis Jegede, who both gave me some support with the initial idea for this paper. I would also like to thank Abahlali baseMjondolo, and all the other social movements in South Africa who are struggling to bring positive change in a country with a history of immense injustice. Acronyms AbM Abahlali baseMjondolo AEC Western Cape Anti Eviction Campaign ANC African National Congress APF Anti Privatisation Forum BBBEE Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment strategy BEC Branch Executive Committee BNG Breaking New Ground policy CALS Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Johannesburg) CAX Coalition Against Xenophobia (Johannesburg) CBO Community-Based Organisation CC Constitutional Court (South Africa) COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions 8 eMM eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy HDR Human Development Report IFI International Financial Institution IMF International Monetary Fund KRDC Kennedy Road Development Committee KZN KwaZulu Natal LPM Landless People’s Movement NEDLAC National Economic Development and Labour Council NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NP National Party PGKZN Provincial Government of KwaZulu Natal PIE Prevention of Illegal Eviction and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act PPA Poor People’s Alliance SA South Africa SECC Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee TAC Treatment Action Campaign Chapter 1: Aims, objectives and methodology 1.1. Introduction, and rationale to the study Globalisation, socioeconomic development and urbanisation are all interrelated. Post-apartheid South Africa’s urbanisation policies reflect these relations. In a highly interconnected, competitive and interdependent global economy, semi-industrialised South Africa (see figure 3.1 on page 21 for map of South Africa) is striving to compete and attract investment into its cities. The African National Congress (ANC) government of South Africa (SA) aspires to foster what it calls ‘world class cities’. Since the ending of the morally repulsive racial apartheid system in 1994, one could 9 argue that a socioeconomic and spatial apartheid has remained in place. This paper will feature social and economic analysis which indeed alludes to increasing inequality in SA, not helped by the neoliberal nature of ‘economic development’; but it will additionally ask if the ANC government has been forced into this neoliberalism, by dominant powers in an uneven global economy, in which SA is arguably still only semi-peripheral. SA is an extremely complex and interesting country regarding development. Many phenomena in the country interact with development. Theses include neoliberal capitalism and the socioeconomic inequality this might cause; social boundaries of race, class, ethnicity and gender; urban spatial inequality; and a colonial and apartheid history of what Hunter (2006) calls “racial capitalism”. The ANC is attempting to leave this legacy behind, although this paper will show that inequality is still omnipresent in SA, with black women being the most economically disadvantaged. On average, whites are still much richer than blacks, with the median income for whites being $11,000 compared with $2,000 for blacks (New Internationalist report, 2010, p. 34). As the paper progresses towards a more local level of analysis, the questions will be about ethical, moral and political issues affecting people’s everyday lives. Development is inherently political. However, technocrats often fail to realise this, and party politics is not as democratic as some might assume. The main social movement analysed in this paper, Abahlali baseMjondolo (literally translated to People living in shacks) focuses on local political, ethical and moral issues. Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) have opted out of party politics, and attempted to form their own autonomous, participatory politics, after feeling betrayed by ANC politicians, who promise them much in the run-up to elections, but often fail to deliver. AbM’s slogan is “no land, no house, no vote” (AbM, 2006a, on-line), after they controversially boycotted elections in 2006 (ibid). The movement have democratised the local governance of many imijondolos (shack settlements); stopped evictions in many imijondolos; stopped the industrial development of land promised to residents of the Kennedy Road settlement; won access to schools; and forced numerous government officials and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to ‘come down to the people’ (ibid).