Global protests

South Africa is sometimes referred to as the “protest capital of the world”, because of our affinity for taking to the streets. This is both a weakness and a strength. On the one hand, it underscores just how much is wrong with our country and the leaders who govern it; on the other hand, it highlights how committed our citizens are to standing up for their rights and effecting positive change.

But, even a cursory glance at international news headlines will reveal that this double-edged distinction is under threat as the world becomes increasingly restless.

This month alone, there have been massive, unprecedented anti-government protests in Chile and Lebanon; countrywide protests in Iraq in which 149 people were killed by police; pro-independence protests in Spain’s restive Catalonia region; continuing anti-China protests in Hong Kong; continuing gilets jaune (yellow vest) protests in Paris, dispersed by riot police; climate crisis protests in the United Kingdom, during which 1,828 people were arrested; protests by indigenous groups in Ecuador which forced the government to temporarily relocate from the capital, Quito; opposition-led protests against constitutional amendments in Guinea, in which at least two people were killed; and protests across four Ethiopian cities in support of a leading activist, coming just weeks after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel peace prize.

This list is not exhaustive: it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up.

Of course, each protest action is unique, with its own underlying causes.

In Santiago a hike in the cost of public transport was the immediate spark; in Hong Kong it was an attempt to pass a controversial new extradition law. …

As the economist Jeffrey Sachs observed in a recent column for Project Syndicate: “Each protest has its distinct local factors, but, taken together, they tell a larger story of what can happen when a sense of unfairness combines with a widespread perception of low social mobility.”

In South Africa, protest capital of the world, the resonance of that argument is impossible to ignore.