DOCSLIB.ORG

The Smoke That Calls: Insurgent Citizenship, Collective Violence and the Struggle for a Place in the New South Africa

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Smoke That Calls: Insurgent Citizenship, Collective Violence and the Struggle for a Place in the New South Africa CSVR Final Cover 7/6/11 1:36 PM Page 1 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K The smoke that calls Insurgent citizenship, collective violence and th violence citizenship, collective Insurgent Insurgent citizenship, collective violence and the struggle for a place in the new South Africa. in the new a place for and the struggle violence citizenship, collective Insurgent Insurgent citizenship, collective violence and the struggle for a place in the new South Africa. The smoke that calls that calls The smoke The smoke Eight case studies of community protest and xenophobic violence www.csvr.org.za www.swopinstitute.org.za Karl von Holdt, Malose Langa, Sepetla Molapo, Nomfundo Mogapi, Kindiza Ngubeni, Jacob Dlamini and Adele Kirsten Composite CSVR Final Cover 7/7/11 9:51 AM Page 2 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Published: July 2011 Copyright 2011 ® Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation | Society, Work and Development Institute The smoke that calls: Insurgent citizenship, collective violence and the struggle for a place in the new South Africa. Eight case studies of community protest and xenophobic violence Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation Society, Work and Development Institute 4th Floor, Braamfontein Centre, 23 Jorissen Street, Braamfontein Faculty of Humanities PO Box 30778, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017 University of the Witwatersrand Tel: +27 (0) 11 403 5650 | Fax: +27 (0) 11 339 6785 Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050 Cape Town Office Tel: +27 (0) 11 717 4460 501 Premier Centre, 451 Main Road, Observatory, 7925 Tel: +27 (0) 21 447 3661 | Fax: +27 (0) 21 447 5356 email: Shameen.Govender@wits.ac.za www.csvr.org.za www.swopinstitute.org.za Composite CSVR - Chapter 1 - 5 7/6/11 1:52 PM Page 1 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K The smoke that calls Insurgent citizenship, collective violence and the struggle for a place in the new South Africa. Eight case studies of community protest and xenophobic violence Karl von Holdt: Associate Professor - Director of SWOP, Commissioner - National Planning Commission Malose Langa: Community psychologist - Wits University & CSVR, PhD candidate Sepetla Molapo: PhD fellow - SWOP Nomfundo Mogapi: Clinical psychologist, Trauma & Transition Programme Manager - CSVR, Acting Executive Director - CSVR Kindiza Ngubeni: Senior community facilitator - CSVR Jacob Dlamini: Author, journalist, PhD candidate - Yale University Adele Kirsten: Violence prevention practitioner & public policy analyst, Executive Director - CSVR (2008 - 2010) July 2011 Composite CSVR - Chapter 1 - 5 7/7/11 9:18 AM Page 2 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Acknowledgements This innovative research project would not have been possible without the willing and engaged participation of community members across the eight sites. They provided the research team with invaluable information and rich insights into the current dilemmas and challenges facing poor communities across South Africa. The researchers were a dedicated and energetic team who explored creative approaches to gathering information and were mutually supportive of each other’s work: Jacob Dlamini, Malose Langa, Moloantoa Molaba, Sepetla Molapo, Kindiza Ngubeni, Hamadziripi Tamukamoyo, Malehoko Tshoedi, and Karl von Holdt. Trudy Ajibogun of CSVR and Christine Bischoff of SWOP ably provided some much-needed administrative support. Professor Jacklyn Cock needs special mention for being a catalyst and helping initiate the project. Her intellectual contribution throughout the duration of the project—from the first tentative idea mooted soon after the May 2008 xenophobic attacks to the publication of this report in July 2011— is highly appreciated. Lara Jacob for her rigorous editing of the sprawling text presented by the researchers. Sally Dore of Design Aid for her ability to meet unrealistic deadlines with equanimity, and for the creativity of her design. And finally a very big thank you to the donors—The Royal Norwegian Embassy and the C.S. Mott Foundation—for their enthusiastic support of this project and without whom this important work could not have been undertaken. Composite CSVR - Chapter 1 - 5 7/6/11 1:52 PM Page 3 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Contents Acknowledgements Acronyms and Abbreviations 1 Introduction 2 Overview: Insurgent citizenship and collective violence: analysis of case studies 5 Case Studies Voortrekker: The smoke that calls 33 Kungcatsha: Sending a message to the top 45 Azania: Violence is the only language that this governement knows 57 Slovoview: Citizenship, the Nation and collective violence in South Africa after Apartheid 70 Gladysville: Xenophobic violence in South Africa after Apartheid 83 Trouble: Mobilising against xenophobic attacks 97 Bokfontein: The nations are amazed 106 Collective violence and collective trauma: The traumatic past of Apartheid and the paradox of the new democracy 119 Recommendations 130 Bibliography 133 Composite CSVR - Chapter 1 - 5 7/6/11 1:52 PM Page 4 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Acronyms and Abbreviations ANC African National Congress BDF Bokfontein Development Forum CDW Community Development Workers CSVR Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation CG Concerned Group CPF Community Policing Forum COPE Congress of the People COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CT Collective Trauma CWP Community Work Programme DA Democratic Alliance DG Director-General DRA Displaced Residents Association DSMIII Diagnostic Statistical Manual III DUSA Democratic Union of South Africa EPWP Extended Public Works Programme FAWU Food and Allied Workers Union FET Further Education and Training IEC Independent Electoral Commission IFP Inkatha Freedom Party GCRO Gauteng City-Region Observatory MEC Member of Executive Council NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NIA National Intelligence Agency OW Organisational Workshop OWC Organisational Work Crew PAC Pan African Congress PASO Pan African Students Organisation PAYCO Pan African Youth Congress PEC Provincial Executive Committee PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme REC Regional Executive Committee SANCO South African National Civics Organisation SACP South African Communist Party SDU Self-Defence Units SRC Student Representative Council SWOP Society Work and Development Institute TRC Truth and Reconcilation Commission UDM United Democratic Front VIP Very Important Person VVIP Very Very Important Person WHO World Health Organisation ZANU-PF Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front ZAPU Zimbabwe African People’s Union 1 Composite CSVR - Chapter 1 - 5 7/6/11 1:52 PM Page 5 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Introduction Project Leaders: Adele Kirsten and Karl von Holdt There are several innovations to the research projects captured in this report. Firstly, it consists of studies of both xenophobic violence and community protests, drawing the links both empirically as one of collective action spawns or mutates into another, and theoretically through the concept of insurgent citizenship (Holston, 2008). Secondly, the research was conceived of, and conducted, through a collaboration between an NGO, The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) and an academic research institute, the Society Work and Development Institute (SWOP) at University of the Witwatersrand. This brought together scholars and practitioners, psychologists and sociologists, in a challenging and productive partnership to try to understand collective violence and its underlying social dynamics. Thirdly, it combines an attempt to probe and understand the repertoires and meanings of collective violence with a wide-ranging analysis of local associational life, local politics and class formation. The origins of this research lay in the appalling violence of the wave of xenophobic attacks which swept across the country in May 2008, and the response of both organisations to this. CSVR was rapidly drawn into coordinating the relief work of NGOs across Gauteng, while in SWOP there was a sense that this violence connected to current research on strike violence and social precariousness. For both of our organisations, it seemed increasingly important to look at this outbreak of violence with a fresh eye for ways in which it challenged our understanding of the depths of anger, fragmentation, exclusion and violence in our society and, more specifically, the intervention practices which still drew much of their inspiration from the negotiated transition to democracy in South Africa. Ready assumptions about violence as pathological or criminal, about ‘lost generations’, about ‘community organisations’ and ‘civil society’, conflict mediation and educational workshops, needed to be tested with empirical research and new theoretical perspectives. While we were developing the research proposals and beginning discussions with potential funders, a new wave of conflict swept across the country, with the epicentre—as in the xenophobic violence—in Gauteng. The community protests against poor service delivery, corruption and the lack of consultation with communities by government often flared into violence between protesters and police, and not infrequently involved episodes of xenophobic violence as well. The research project was re-conceptualised to explore the differences and linkages between these different forms of collective action and violence and, with funding secured, researchers were in the field in late 2009. Our research methodology was designed to achieve the benefits both of in-depth qualitative research to explore the meanings, relationships and contestations within a specific research site, and the insights of
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Decolonial Reading of Psalm 137 in Light of South Africa's Struggle Songs
    464 Ramantswana, “Reading of Psalm 137,” OTE 32/2 (2019): 464-490 Song(s) of Struggle: A Decolonial Reading of Psalm 137 in Light of South Africa’s Struggle Songs HULISANI RAMANTSWANA (UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA) ABSTRACT This article engages in a decolonial reading of Ps 137 in light of South African songs of struggle. In this reading, Ps 137 is regarded as an epic song which combines struggle songs which originated within the golah community in response to the colonial relations between the oppressor and the oppressed. The songs of struggle then gained new life during the post-exilic period as a result of the new colonial relation between the Yehud community and the Persian Empire. Therefore, Ps 137 should be viewed as not a mere song, but an anthology of songs of struggle: a protest song (vv. 1-4), a sorrow song (vv. 5-6), and a war song (vv. 7- 9). KEYWORDS: Psalm 137, Songs of Struggle, protest song, sorrow song, war song, exile, Babylon, post-exilic, Persian Empire. A INTRODUCTION Bob Becking, in a paper entitled “Does Exile Equal Suffering? A Fresh Look at Psalm 137,”1 argues that exile and diaspora for the exiles who were in Babylon did not so much amount to things such as hunger and oppression or economic hardship; instead, it was more a feeling of alienation which resulted in the longing to return to Zion. Becking’s interpretation of Ps 137 tends to minimise the colonial dynamics involved in the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed, the coloniser and the colonised, which continually pushes the oppressed into the zone of nonbeing.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Tweeting in Solidarity': a Corpus Linguistics-Driven Analysis of Tweets
    Linguistics Department School of Literature, Language and Media University of the Witwatersrand ‘Tweeting in Solidarity’: A corpus linguistics-driven analysis of tweets during the South African student protests By Amé Bolton 674657 A Master’s Research Report submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s in Linguistics Supervisor: Tommaso Milani Date of Submission: 31 March 2018 ❖ Contents ⁂ Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 3 0. Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 5 2. Literature ................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 The Internet as social ....................................................................................................... 7 2.2 The Internet as political ................................................................................................. 13 3. Key concepts and definitions ................................................................................................. 19 3.1 On identity politics ......................................................................................................... 19 3.1.1 Identity and community online ..............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Songs and the Liberation Struggle in South Africa
    ISSN 2039-2117 (online) Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences Vol 5 No 27 ISSN 2039-9340 (print) MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy December 2014 Voices of Liberation: Songs and the Liberation Struggle in South Africa Rachidi Molapo University of Venda, RSA Rmolapo@univen.ac.za Doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p985 Abstract Many communities around the world have taken part in songs and dance or have witnessed roles played by songs. However, scholarly focus on such a field of study has been very limited. This study challenges for a new consideration of what songs are and the roles they play or played in contemporary society. Songs have been means of communication, education and importantly played important roles in the struggle against apartheid. When the apartheid regime became repressive by banning or exiling leaders, suppressing information, songs in vernacular or indigenous languages flourished in promoting resistance texts. These songs flourished like graffities in repressive environments. They were used as propaganda tools by the liberation movements and at the same time dealing with state propaganda. They were platforms of propaganda in a dialectical relationship with the state but also embodied other elements beyond these parameters. Songs have been fundamental instruments of resistance, heritage and history. This study looks at how South African activists used songs and the struggle against apartheid and the post-apartheid scenario. Focus will be on the pre-1960 period, exile and the post- apartheid dynamics. A qualitative research methodology has been useful for this study because of the human agency aspect. Keywords: Apartheid (racial discrimination), Nkosi sikelel’ i-Africa (Lord bless Africa), siyanqonqoza (knocking) umshini wami, ibhunu (white farmer), dubula (shoot), exile.
    [Show full text]
  • Polokwane Conference
    No. 87 January 2008 POLOKWANE CONFERENCE- Searchlight on Highlights 1. The Rowdiness at the Conference 2. “My Comrade, my brother….my Leader.” 3. Purge in the National Executive Committee 4./…. 1 4. Dr Dube and Zuma 5. “Umshini Wami” 6. Large number of Votes for the NEC does not always mean Power 7. Newly elected NEC gives Pride of Place to Fraudsters and Thieves 8. A Plague on both their Houses APDUSA VIEWS e.mail: malentro@telkomsa.net P.O. Box 8888 website: www.apdusaviews .co.za CUMBERWOOD 3235 2 1. The Rowdiness Toward Senior ANC members The rowdiness exhibited by a large section of the ANC conference towards Minister Lekota was a measure of the hostility the Zuma supporters showed towards the Mbeki faction symbolised by Lekota as its chief spokesman in the battle against the Zuma faction. According to Mbeki, the image that behaviour “conveyed to the country, the continent and the world was a bad image.”1 In his closing speech, Zuma described the behaviour as “a negative”. According to Mbeki: “The matter was addressed and delegates were told that their behaviour was unacceptable and indeed the behaviour improved.”2 Those of us viewing these “disturbing” scenes on television would have noticed that that behaviour was being exhibited in the very presence of Jacob Zuma. The question on everybody lips is: Why did Jacob Zuma not get up from his seated position and direct/instruct /request his supporters to stop behaving in that unacceptable manner? There appears to be only one answer: It was orchestrated rowdiness which had the full approval of Jacob Zuma! Postscript.
    [Show full text]
  • Native Foreigners’
    From ‘Foreign Natives’ to ‘Native Foreigners’ Contents, Neocosmos2.pmd 1 29/04/2010, 17:26 Contents, Neocosmos2.pmd 2 29/04/2010, 17:26 From ‘Foreign Natives’ to ‘Native Foreigners’ Explaining Xenophobia in Post-apartheid South Africa Citizenship and Nationalism, Identity and Politics Michael Neocosmos Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa Contents, Neocosmos2.pmd 3 29/04/2010, 17:26 First published under the CODESRIA Monograph Series, 2006 © CODESRIA 2010 Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop, Angle Canal IV BP 3304 Dakar, 18524, Senegal Website: www.codesria.org All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission from CODESRIA. ISBN: 978-2-86978-307-2 Layout: Hadijatou Sy Cover Design: Ibrahima Fofana Printed by: Graphi plus, Dakar, Senegal Distributed in Africa by CODESRIA Distributed elsewhere by the African Books Collective, Oxford, UK. Website: www.africanbookscollective.com The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is an independent organisation whose principal objectives are to facilitate research, promote research-based publishing and create multiple forums geared towards the exchange of views and information among African researchers. All these are aimed at reducing the fragmentation of research in the continent through the creation of thematic research networks that cut across linguistic and regional boundaries. CODESRIA publishes a quarterly journal, Africa Development, the longest standing Africabased social science journal; Afrika Zamani, a journal of history; the African Sociological Review; the African Journal of International Affairs; Africa Review of Books and the Journal of Higher Education in Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • K Thomas the Power of Naming Senseless Violence
    Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation CSVR was founded in January 1989 and has offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. CSVR adopts a multidisciplinary approach to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects, and build sustainable peace locally, continentally, and globally. CSVR’s work includes a focus on transitional justice, peacebuilding, criminal justice reform, trauma studies and support, victim empowerment, and violence prevention, with a specific focus on the prevention of gender-based, youth, and collective violence. The organisation is increasingly working on a pan- continental basis to share expertise, facilitate learning exchanges, and strengthen the capacity of Africa’s civil society and regional organisations. Centre for Humanities Research Since its inception in 2006, the CHR has emerged as a meeting point for researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences throughout southern and, more recently, eastern and western Africa and beyond. The CHR strives to develop unifying and interdisciplinary themes in the humanities that will enable a renewal of its study in Africa. Its flagship fellowship research platform, the Programme on the Study of the Humanities in Africa, brings together master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral fellows and faculty into a discussion on constructing new directions in humanities research. Through a series of focused research projects on law and violence, aesthetics and politics, anti-racism and the critique of race, and the postcolonial university in Africa, the CHR strives
    [Show full text]
  • South Africa
    MOSAIC SOUTH AFRICA Illustration by1 Christina Liang Albert Gallatin Scholars The Arts in Times of Social Change Stephen Brown | Lisbeth Carney | Brandon Green EDITORS Maomao Hu | Patrick McCreery DESIGNER Maomao Hu Melissa Daniel Publication Managers Brandon Green This issue of Mosaic represents the collaborative efforts of many people. We wish to thank: Michael Dinwiddie | Patrick McCreery Scholars Advisers, 2010-2011 Nicole Cohen | Joseph Pisano Susanne Wofford | Lisa Goldfarb Gallatin Deans Linda Wheeler Reiss | Kimberly DaCosta Masauko Chipembere | Kevin Hylton | Ricardo Khan Faculty and Guest Mkhululi Mabija | Sibusiso Mamba | Vasuki Nesiah Speakers, Fall 2010 Jabulani Chen Pereira Adam Carter and his colleagues In the United states at Destination Partners Sedica Davids | Sue Krige | Zanele Muholi | Riason Naidoo In south africa Michael Stevenson Gallery (Cape Town) | Zulwini Tours Market Photo Workshop (Jo’burg) We wish to offer a heartfelt special thanks to Thomas Harms, our guide ex- traordinaire, who went above and beyond to help us understand his country. Table of contents 1 Introduction Brittany Habermehl & Paolina Lu 3 The Flux of Tongues and Power Cameron Martin 8 Schools of Struggle Revolutionary Student Leadership in Soweto Daniel Jones 12 class and race Contemporary South africa Lauren Wilfong 16 Finding Evita Ryan Weldon 21 Fighting aids in south africa tradition meets modernity Dipika Gaur 25 Connection or contrivance? Apartheid and the Holocaust Matthew S. Berenbaum 30 South Africa and South Korea Gina Hong 34 I’M just
    [Show full text]
  • Struggle Music: South African Politics in Song Andra Le Roux-Kemp, City University of Hong Kong
    City University of Hong Kong From the SelectedWorks of Andra le Roux-Kemp 2014 Struggle music: South African politics in song Andra le Roux-Kemp, City University of Hong Kong Available at: https://works.bepress.com/andra-leroux-kemp/20/ DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5235/17521483.8.2.247 (2014) 8(2) Law and Humanities 247–268 Struggle Music: South African Politics in Song Andra le Roux-Kemp* 1. INTRODUCTION From ‘The Marseillaise’ to ‘We shall overcome’, there has probably never been a revolution that did not use songs to give voice to its aspirations or rally the morale of its adherents.1 This power of music in politics was recognised by Plato in The Republic when he warned that any musical innovation that endangers the State must be prohibited because ‘when modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the State always change with them’.2 It is probably all the more true on the African continent, where music is ‘intricately inter- woven with development issues … a dynamic and highly charged force that affects and embraces intellectual property rights, democracy, economic growth, censorship, media, tradition, globalisation, and education’.3 In South Africa, music also played a central role in the struggle for liberation from white domination.4 This struggle not only liberated, it also culminated in a new political and legal order based on a supreme Constitution and Bill of Rights. However, the new order did not automatically eradicate the painful history of South Africa and can best be described as transformative in nature—it is the normative and legal framework that must guide South African society along the way of reconciliation, eradication of poverty, reali- * Assistant Professor, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong; Visiting Research Scholar, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Protests and Water Service Delivery in South Africa
    Social Protests and Water Service Delivery in South Africa _.., ___IYBNIIIMA W'IIAOirlf9oo- []-- WATER llESEAACM CC.Mf$$1011f Social Protests and Water Service Delivery in South Africa Report to the WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION by BARBARA TAPELA Assisted by Bukiwe Ntwana and Darlington Sibanda Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) University of the Western Cape WRC Report No. TT 631/15 ISBN 978-1-4312-0672-8 May 2015 Obtainable from: Water Research Commission Private Bag X03 Gezina, 0031 orders@wrc.org.za or download from www.wrc.org.za The publication of this report emanates from a project entitled Social Protests and Water Service Delivery in South Africa (WRC Report No. K5/2133) DISCLAIMER This report has been reviewed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the WRC, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. © Water Research Commission ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since 2004, South Africa has been hit by high volumes of social protests. Protestors claim that they protest over lack of ‘service delivery’ and water is one of the elements of service delivery. In 2012 the frequency, geographical spread and violence of service delivery-related social protests in post-apartheid South Africa reached unprecedented levels. Water service delivery issues rose in prominence among various reasons cited for protests. While this ascendance is remarkable, grievances over water services are not new. Water service delivery issues have been (and still are) a part of a range of conflated grievances that masquerade under the general rubric of ‘service delivery’ issues and underpin many rallying calls for social protest action.
    [Show full text]
  • South Africa Country Report BTI 2018
    BTI 2018 Country Report South Africa This report is part of the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) 2018. It covers the period from February 1, 2015 to January 31, 2017. The BTI assesses the transformation toward democracy and a market economy as well as the quality of political management in 129 countries. More on the BTI at http://www.bti-project.org. Please cite as follows: Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2018 Country Report — South Africa. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2018. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Contact Bertelsmann Stiftung Carl-Bertelsmann-Strasse 256 33111 Gütersloh Germany Sabine Donner Phone +49 5241 81 81501 sabine.donner@bertelsmann-stiftung.de Hauke Hartmann Phone +49 5241 81 81389 hauke.hartmann@bertelsmann-stiftung.de Robert Schwarz Phone +49 5241 81 81402 robert.schwarz@bertelsmann-stiftung.de Sabine Steinkamp Phone +49 5241 81 81507 sabine.steinkamp@bertelsmann-stiftung.de BTI 2018 | South Africa 3 Key Indicators Population M 55.9 HDI 0.666 GDP p.c., PPP $ 13225 Pop. growth1 % p.a. 1.6 HDI rank of 188 119 Gini Index 63.4 Life expectancy years 61.9 UN Education Index 0.720 Poverty3 % 35.9 Urban population % 65.3 Gender inequality2 0.394 Aid per capita $ 25.8 Sources (as of October 2017): The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2017 | UNDP, Human Development Report 2016. Footnotes: (1) Average annual growth rate. (2) Gender Inequality Index (GII). (3) Percentage of population living on less than $3.20 a day at 2011 international prices. Executive Summary In the period under review, South Africa faced some of its most stringent economic-, social- and political challenges since its democratic transition in 1994.
    [Show full text]
  • Submission by CASAC to the Marikana Commission of Inquiry
    Submission by CASAC to the Marikana Commission of Inquiry The role of the South African Police Service in the Marikana massacre on 16 August 2012 January 2013 www.casac.org.za CASAC SUBMISSION to MARIKANA COMMISSION OF INQUIRY 1 Executive Summary Context & Compass of the Submission 1. This submission by the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) to the Marikana Commission of Inquiry led by Judge Ian Farlam is located within the context of civil liberties as articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the South African Constitution. 2. The submission is primarily concerned with the manner in which the South African Police Service (SAPS) acted at Marikana on the 16th of August 2012. The submission addresses a number of the issues which form part of the Terms of Reference (TORs) of the Farlam Commission. 3. The scope of the submission encompasses: The actions of members of the SAPS and officials of the South African government that contributed to the course of events on the 16th of August. It also covers action taken by members of the SAPS and/or government officials that led to the death of ANC councillor Pauline Masuhlo who died as a result of injuries that she sustained on the weekend of 15-16 September. 4. In this submission CASAC respectfully requests the Commission to examine whether: It can be inferred that a policy of "maximum force" has been introduced into the operational practice of the SAPS, contrary to the Constitution; There is a direct or indirect causal link between the articulation of such a policy and the events at Marikana on 16 August 2012; In any event, whether the statements and acts referred to in this submission have contributed in any manner, whether directly or indirectly, to the events at Marikana on 16 August 2012.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparative Analysis of the Suitability of South Africa's Current
    Fit to Govern? A Comparative Analysis of the Suitability of South Africa’s Current Proportional Representation Electoral System versus the Majority System. Thembelani Mazibuko 2145-8129-5 Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Sciences in Political Science at the School of Social Sciences. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus November 2017 i Declaration I, Thembelani Sabelo Mahluli Mazibuko, declare that this dissertation – Fit to Govern? A Comparative Analysis of the Suitability of South Africa’s Current Proportional Representation Electoral System Verses the Majority System – is my own work and that all sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Signature: ……………………………………… Date: ……………………………………… ii Abstract The debate around the type of electoral system that South Africa should use has been ongoing for some time. The debate started during the Congress for a Democratic South Africa negotiations. While the negotiations resulted in South Africa settling on the list proportional representation system, the debate around which electoral system South Africa should use continues. This particular research evaluates two particular types of electoral systems. The first type is the first-pass-the-post majority system, where politicians are elected directly by voters, and the second type is the current list proportional representation system, in which voters vote for a political party which then deploys the politicians into elected office. More particularly, the research asks which of the two electoral systems is better equipped for the purposes of running South Africa’s elections given the normative goals of advancing accountability, ensuring a diverse and representative set of elected representatives and mitigating against the influence of private money on the political system.
    [Show full text]