Localised Protests in South Africa: A Rebellion or a Fight for a Relationship with the Government?

Authors

  • Kenny Chiwarawara University of the Western Cape

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6689/10318

Keywords:

Protest, Service delivery, rebellion, relationship, government

Abstract

Localised protests are a key feature of South African townships. Protests have been considered insurrectionary, prompting scholars to consider the protests as a rebellion of the poor. However, the question is: Do these protests ensue from revolutionary politics? Based on the findings of this study, I argue that although these protests are sometimes dramatic and militant, some of these protests may be regarded as a struggle for a relationship with the government.

References

Abahlali baseMjondolo. 2006. “A Short History of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the Durban Shack Dwellers’ Movement.” Accessed March 17, 2018. http://abahlali.org/a-short-history-of-abahlali-basemjondolo-the-durban-shack-dwellers-movement/.

Alexander, P. 2010. “Rebellion of the Poor: South Africa’s Service Delivery Protests: A Preliminary Analysis.” Review of African Political Economy 37 (123): 25–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056241003637870.

Ballard, R., A. Habib, and I. Valodia. 2006. Voices of Protest: Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Scottsville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.

Bebbington, A. 2007. “Social Movements and the Politicisation of Chronic Poverty.” Development and Change 38 (5): 793–818. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2007.00434.x.

Benford, R. D., and D. A. Snow. 2000. “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology 26 (1): 611–639. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.611.

Bénit-Gbaffou, C. 2008. “Are Practices of Local Participation Side-lining the Institutional Participatory Channels? Reflections from Johannesburg.” Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa 66 (1): 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1353/trn.0.0003.

Bond, P., A. Desai, and T. Ngwane. 2012. “‘Uneven and Combined Marxism’ within South Africa’s Urban Social Movements.” Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal. Accessed December 28, 2019. http://links.org.au/node/2757.

Booysen, S. 2007. “With the Ballot and the Brick: The Politics of Attaining Service Delivery.” Progress in Development Studies 7 (1): 21–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/146499340600700103.

Boudreau, V. 1996. “Northern Theory, Southern Protest: Opportunity Structure Analysis in Cross National Perspective.” Mobilization: An International Quarterly 1 (2): 175–189. https://doi.org/10.17813/maiq.1.2.9573307817475237.

Butler, A. 2013. “Conspiracy Theories Tell us much about South Africa.” Business Day, 23 August.

Chiwarawara, K. 2014. “Contestations, Connections and Negotiations: The Role of Service Delivery Protests in Gugulethu, Cape Town.” MA dissertation. Bellville: University of the Western Cape.

Choe, H., and J. Kim. 2012. “South Korea’s Democratization Movements, 1980–1987: Political Structure, Political Opportunity, and Framing.” Inter-Asian Cultural Studies 13 (1): 55–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649373.2012.636874.

Collier, P., and A. Hoeffler. 2001. “Greed and Grievance in Civil War.” Accessed June 16, 2019. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=B64B4EA5801F11CD42967FAEDFB711C7?doi=10.1.1.194.7525&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

Dawson, H. J. 2014. “Patronage from below: Political Unrest in an Informal Settlement in South Africa.” African Affairs 113 (453): 518–539. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adu056.

De Souza, M. L. 2006. “Together with the State, despite the State, against the State: Social Movements as ‘Critical Urban Planning’ Agents.” City 10 (3): 327–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604810600982347.

Della Porta, D. 2008. “Research on Social Movements and Political Violence.” Qualitative Sociology 31 (3): 221–230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-008-9109-x.

Department of Public Service and Administration. Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele White Paper). 1997. Pretoria: Government Printer.

Duncan, J. 2014. “People’s Protest is Being Criminalised. Mail & Guardian, w May.” Accessed May 1, 2018. http://mg.co.za/print/2014-05-01-peoples-protest-is-being-criminalise.

Gibson, N. 2011. Fanonian Practices in South Africa: From Steve Biko to Abahlali baseMjondolo. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.

Goffman, E. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of the Experience. New York: Harper & Row.

Greenberg, S. 2004. “The Landless People’s Movement and the Failure of Post-apartheid Land Reform.” University of KwaZulu-Natal and Centre for Civil Society.

Karriem, A. 2009a. “The Brazilian Landless Movement: Mobilization for Transformative Politics.” In Hegemonic Transitions, the State and Crisis in Neoliberal Capitalism, edited by Y. Atasoy. London, New York: Routledge.

Karriem, A. 2009b. “The Rise and Transformation of the Brazilian Landless Movement into a Counter-hegemonic Political Actor: A Gramscian Analysis.” Geoforum 40 (3): 316–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2008.10.005.

Karriem, A. 2016. “Grassroots Politics and Social Movement Mobilizations for Development in Brazil.” In Poverty and Inequality in middle Income Countries: Policy Achievements, Political Obstacles, 184–204, edited by E. Braathen, J. May, M. Ulriksen, and G.C. Wright. London: Zed Books. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350221871.ch-009.

Karriem, A., and L. M. Benjamin. 2016. “How civil Society Organizations Foster Insurgent Citizenship: Lessons from the Brazilian Landless Movement.” VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Non-profit Organizations 27 (1): 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-015-9549-3.

Kitschelt, H., and S. I. Wilkinson. 2007. Patrons, Clients and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511585869.

Khoisan, Z. 2016. “80 000 Live in Cape Town’s Backyards.” IOL, 2 October. Accessed March 11, 2018. https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/80-000-live-in-cape-towns-backyards-2075135.

Korf, B. 2005. “Rethinking the Greed-grievance Nexus: Property Rights and the Political Economy of War in Sri Lanka.” Journal of Peace Research 42 (2): 201–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343305050691.

Larana, E. 1994. “Continuity and Unity in new Forms of collective Action: A Comparative Analysis of Student Movements. In New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity, 209–233, edited by E. Larana, H. Johnston, and J. R. Gusfied. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Larana, E., H. Johnston, and J. R. Gusfied. 1994. New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Lodge, T. 2014. “Neo-patrimonial Politics in the ANC.” African Affairs 113 (450): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adt069.

McDonald, D. A. 2008. World City Syndrome: Neoliberalism and Inequality in Cape Town. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Mitlin, D. 2006. “Social Movements and Urban Chronic Poverty.” CPRC Working Paper No64. Manchester and London: Chronic Poverty Research Centre.

Mottiar, S. 2013. “From ‘Popcorn’ to ‘Occupy’: Protest in Durban, South Africa.” Development and Change 44 (3): 603–619. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12037.

Mottiar, S. 2014. “Protest and Participation in Durban: A Focus on Cato Manor, Merebank and Wentworth.” Politikon 41 (3): 371–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2014.975933.

Nleya, N. 2011. “Citizen Participation and Water Services Delivery in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.” PhD thesis. Bellville: University of the Western Cape.

Oldfield, S. 2002. “Partial Formalisation and its Implications for Community Governance in an Informal Settlement.” Urban Forum 13 (2): 102–115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-002-0016-z.

Oldfield, S., and K. Stokke. 2004. “Building Unity in Diversity: Social Movement Activism in the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign.” University of KwaZulu-Natal. Accessed December 1, 2016. http://ccs.ukzn.ac.za/files/Oldfield%20&%20Stokke%20WCAEC%20Research%20Report.pdf.

Paret, M. 2015. “Violence and Democracy in South Africa’s Community Protests.” Review of African Political Economy 42 (143): 107–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2014.995163.

Paret, M. 2018. “The Politics of Local Resistance in Urban South Africa: Evidence from three Informal Settlements.” International Sociology 33 (3): 337–356. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580918764837.

Perreault, T. 2006. “From the Guerra del Agua to the Guerra del Gas: Resource Governance, Neoliberalism and Popular Protest in Bolivia.” Antipode 38 (1): 150–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0066-4812.2006.00569.x.

Phakati, B., T. Kahn, and S. Menon. 2018. “Ramaphosa Says Land Expropriation Does not Mean ‘Smash and Grab opportunities.’” Accessed May 10, 2019. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2018-03-14-ramaphosa-says-land-expropriation-does-not-mean-smash-and-grab-opportunities/.

Phillips, R., and R. Pittman, R. 2008. An Introduction to Community Development. New York: Taylor and Francis.

Pithouse, R. 2013. “Conjunctural Remarks on the Political Significance of ‘the Local’.” Thesis Eleven 115 (1): 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513612470536.

Rubin, M. 2011. “Perceptions of Corruption in the South African Housing Allocation and Delivery Programme: What it may Mean for Accessing the State.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 46 (5): 479–490. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909611403706.

Sassen, S. 2002. Global Networks, Linked Cities. New York: Psychology Press.

Schon, D. A., and M. Rein. 1994. Frame Reflection: Toward the Resolution of Intractable Policy Controversies. New York: Basic Books.

Sinwell, L. 2011. “Is ‘Another World’ really possible? Re-examining Counter-hegemonic Forces in Post-apartheid South Africa.” Review of African Political Economy 38 (127): 61–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2011.552588.

Smith, N., P. Caris, and E. Wyly. 2001. “The Camden Syndrome and the Menace of Suburban Decline: Residential Disinvestment and its Discontents in Campden County.” New Jersey. Urban Affairs Review 36 (4): 497–531. https://doi.org/10.1177/10780870122184975.

Staniland, L. 2008. “‘They Know me, I Will not Get any Job’: Public Participation, Patronage, and the Sedation of Civil Society in a Capetonian Township.” Transformation 66 (67): 34–60. https://doi.org/10.1353/trn.0.0005.

Tarrow, S. 1988. “National Politics and Collective Action: Recent Theory and Research in Western Europe and the United States.” Annual Review of Sociology 14 (1): 421–440. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.14.080188.002225.

Tarrow, S. 1994. Power in Movement: Collective Action and Politics. New York: Cambridge Press.

Tarrow, S. 1998. Power in Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tilly, C. 1999. “From Interactions to Outcomes in Social Movements.” In How Social Movements Matter, 253–270, edited by M. Giugni, D. McAdam, and C. Tilly. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa. 1998. Report. Pretoria: Government Printers.

Tyner, J. A. 2006. “Laboring in the Periphery: The Place of Manila in the Global Economy.” In Relocating Global Cities: From the Center to the Margins, 101–137, edited by J. V. Beaverstock, K. S. Beavon, P. Boonchuen, C. Cariola, M. Douglass, M. Hoyler, M. Lacabana, J. Moyersoen, K. Pain, S. Salmon, and S. Sassen. Rowman & Littlefield.

UN Habitat. 2020. “World Cities Report 2020. The Value of Sustainable Urbanisation: Key Findings and Messages.” https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/11/world_cities_report_2020_abridged_version.pdf.

Wa Azania, M. 2014. “A Revolution’s Dreams Betrayed.” Sunday Independent, 30 March. Accessed February 10, 2016. https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/a-revolutions-dreams-betrayed-1668254#.UzjvlfmSzY4.

Wainwright, O. 2014. “Apartheid Ended 20 Years ago, so why is Cape Town still ‘a paradise for the few’?” The Guardian 30 (4).

Western, J. C. 1996. Outcast Cape Town. Oakland: University of California Press.

World Bank. 2021. “The World Bank in South Africa.” Accessed May 19, 2021. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview.

Zikode, S. 2006. “We are the Third Force.” Abahlali baseMjondolo. Accessed November 16, 2017. http://abahlali.org/node/17/.

Downloads

Published

2023-08-18

How to Cite

Chiwarawara, Kenny. 2023. “Localised Protests in South Africa: A Rebellion or a Fight for a Relationship With the Government?”. Politeia 41 (1 & 2):21 pages. https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6689/10318.

Issue

Section

Articles