Protests hurt poor, not the deceivers they’re aimed at

IN THE recent day-long taxi strike, poor communities in Cape Town were left with the unpalatable sight of rubbish, burned tyres and rocks littering roads in order to cause their closure.

I will not go into depth about the human suffering that protests cause in poor communities, which is often not considered by protesting associations, social movements and residents. Somehow, the demands of the protests justify the damage wrought on the communities’ poor infrastructure – including the violence inflicted on black people.

While observing the damage caused on Monday, September 18, one old woman commented: “Thina bantu abamnyama sobhadla kudala.” She explained that if we have demands we wish to bring against the government, trashing poor and already dirty communities is not going to change unwanted conditions. If we have to protest, why don’t we take it to the doorstep of the government and leave poor communities alone? There is no sense in damaging communities during strikes even if someone tries to justify it.

Her comment is not something new. Social media is usually abuzz with such statements when protesting residents, associations or social movements damage communal facilities during protests. It is a debate that often does not have a conclusion.

A week after the taxi strike, residents of informal settlements in Lwandle blocked the N2 to compel the government to electrify their areas. This protest reportedly resulted in the arrest of 19 people for public violence. Like the taxi strike, in the end, their need for

There has to be a point at which poor black communities evolve towards self-sustainable methods of communication against the real injustices suffered.

electricity was not met. Why?

Since colonialism, protesting and marching have been the ultimate forms of black resistance against colonial injustice. When radical anti-colonial leaders, from Hintsa to Chris Hani, fought fire with fire, they met violent deaths. This is the African heritage since colonialism.

However, with the formation of the ANC in 1912, its founding members started the culture of formalised and institutionalised programmes to end colonial injustices.

The founding members were Western-educated black elites who studied the system from within. They understood that the colonial machine was armed in every way imaginable and, therefore, the formalisation of their programme into an organisation with codified behaviours was a necessity if they were to undo the institutionalised damage done to African people.

Protesting and marching in the streets was unsustainable and fruitless without the codification of behaviour into institutions.

Since I read the history of colonialism and the formation of the ANC, I under- stand when Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe calls for the members to tow the party line. However, the party line is now blurred, 23 years into the ANC’s democratic government.

The organisation has degenerated to the lowest levels of self-sabotage with the rise in the politics of self-enrichment instead of advancing the mission and actual values the ANC was founded upon. Lacking a clear vision and mission, the ANC is now at the mercy of those who can still remember its founding mission.

The suffering poor black masses are now left to fend for themselves against a machine that is unrelenting at reducing them to non-beings. Consequently, they have repeatedly taken to the streets to voice their enduring historical concerns.

The question remains, though – how does damaging infrastructure, public facilities and other amenities in poor communities help solve the problems? This is not a question that seeks to police protests; it is about the effect of damaging communal facilities. Once this is done, does the government develop a sense of urgency to address the stated concerns? If not, why continue destroying the already damaged roads and facilities in poor communities?

Service delivery protests are not new in South Africa, but they have primarily been effective with institutionalised organisations, particularly Cosatu, whose protests have historically led to sweeping changes in government policies. By simply withdrawing the labour of its members from the economy, they can drive the system to a standstill in order to effect changes in policies for the benefit of marginalised communities. It is, however, their own doing in that they have lost relevance with the masses. Like the ANC, Cosatu is now at the mercy of those who can still remember its vision and mission in the alliance.

New guidelines

It will now take new and refreshing codification of behaviours, into institutions, to achieve the necessary changes in the conditions of poor communities. The protests and their damaging culture are neither sustainable nor desirable with their negative effect on poor communities.

After the protests, residents are left to navigate the debris, waiting for municipal workers to clean it up. This is the inherited culture of protests and primarily the reason I am against street protesting.

There is yet-to-be-realised black power coming together in communities to formulate action plans to clean up their communities and reorganise them into futuristic institutions with social, economic, legal, health, education, labour and political organisations.

The power of the system to continually create unfavourable conditions for poor and black communities lies in its use of institutionalised authority to express its will. Its power is effective because it does not have to lift and empty one rubbish bin to have its concerns met. This is because they work with codified plans and procedures to implement their programmes. And it takes press briefings to avert or reverse unwanted experiences.

In effect, unwanted conditions in poor communities will not be changed by legions of protesters that often amount to nothing but unnecessary injuries. There has to be a point at which poor black communities evolve towards self-sustainable methods of communication against the real injustices suffered. Those methods must be in the form of self-organisation into institutionalised visions and plans. Protests are not revolutionary; they are regressive as far as black people’s needs are concerned. All that energy needs to be put into a concerted effort of building authoritative institutions for the advancement of the needs of their poor communities.

If and when it is the government that needs to respond to demands for change, it is logical then that protests disrupt the processes of the government, not the already poor and under-resourced black communities. It is those in government who need to answer, not poor communities. Besides, we need to evolve to a level higher than protests now, as conditions necessitate.

Govt promises

In the role played by the ANC in further perpetuating and creating new conditions that force black people into the streets to protest, the ANC needs to pay special attention to the following, (i) frustrated communities needing urgent government attention; (ii) conditions in Marikana are a manifestation of a long existing social issue; (iii) there is no proper advice given to the ANC government on how to better understand the now urgent needs of black people; and (iv) the ANC keeps making promises to the real and historically tragic needs of black people but never delivers on them. Now communities feel that no one is listening in the government or the ANC and they are reverting to self-help policing methods in communities.

The ANC must now reconsider its promises and never deliver an election campaign strategy again. Its deceitful nature is causing emotional damage and resentment in black people, as their dreams and aspirations are being played with.

The ANC wins its power based on its promises to the people. Now there is the need for a leadership that will account to the people and not to private business interests. The focus on self-preservation politics instead of on the needs of the people should be severely shunned and frowned upon. The ANC must rekindle its founding principle that the people shall govern.

Lindiswa Jan is a researcher and Masters candidate in the department of social anthropology, University of Cape Town