#Blacklivesmatter comes to Makhanda

By LILLIAN ROBERTS

The second in the Makhanda Community Forum series addressed #Blacklivesmatter. RMR89.7 Station Manager Raymond Mojapelo hosted the discussion ‘Black lives matter in Makhanda’.

Sindi Dingana (Upstart Youth) spoke first and said for the young Upstarters, Black Lives Matter translated to scarce resources and uncertainty about their futures.

Ayanda Kota (Unemployed Peoples Movement) quoted Steve Biko’s definition of Black and Kwame Nkrumah’s thoughts on neocolonialism. Using examples of the evictions in Durban, Cape Town and police brutality in response to student protests at Rhodes, or service delivery protests, Kota argued that in South Africa, the government itself is anti-black.

Sandiso Bazana (Lecturer in Organisational Psychology) spoke of the psychological death, the ‘struggle to breathe’ in proximity to whiteness in metropolitan areas, as well as physical death, as in cases such as George Floyd’s.

Nomalanga Mkhize (historian and Makhanda resident) spoke about the power of class. “My experience of the racism is somewhat mediated by the fact that I can opt out of having to have direct confrontation, either with the state or with white people, I can buy my way out of it.”

Robbie Van Niekerk (Wits School of Governance) spoke about social organising, and the importance of an initiative such as National Health Insurance to address the “faultlines of inequality in our society”.

Questions from the audience and rich discussion followed. You can view the full webinar at this link: https://web.facebook. com/grocotts/videos/285216702627922/ Next Makhanda Community Forum: Friday, 26 June, 12pm-1pm: The Makhanda local economy post-covid-19.