The 2009 Wave of Local Rebellions (June to August)

For an archive of news articles on the rebellions click here.There is also a new piece in the New York Times here and a report in the Mercury on a study by the Centre for Sociological Research here.

Press Statements

  • Athlone AEC Sunday Protest, Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, 8 June 2009
  • Symphony Way march to High Court tomorrow joined by Joe Slovo, Macassar, Gugulethu and Valhalla Park, Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, 8 June 2009
  • Our Struggle for Liberation Remains…Poor Peoples’ Alliance to Re-enact June 1976 Soweto Uprising March, The Landless People’s Movement, 14 June 2009
  • 14 Protesters Shot With Rubber Bullets: An urgent update on AbM Western Cape Protest, by Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape, 14 July 2009
  • 15 Settlements to March in Support of the Macassar Village Land Occupation, by Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape, 14 July 2009
  • June 16th Commemoration to be Held at the Macassar Village Occupation, by Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape, 15 July 2009
  • Memorandum of Demands Presented to Dan Plato by AbM Western Cape, by Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape, 21 July 2009
  • A week of radical actions including a march on Parliament, Sikhula Sonke, 27 July 2009

    Links to Information by and on Relevant Organisations

  • Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape
  • The Landless People’s Movement
  • The Macassar Village Land Occupation
  • Sikhula Sonke
  • South African Unemployed People’s Movement
  • Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign

    Op-Ed Pieces

  • Burning message to the state in the fire of poor’s rebellion, by Richard Pithouse, Business Day, 23 July 2009
  • ANC Plays Fiddle as Our Country Burns, by Max Du Preez, Cape Argus, 23 July 2009
  • It’s not xenophobia, by Peter Alexander and Peter Pfaffe The Sowetan, 29 July 2009
  • People are demanding public service, not service delivery, by Steven Friedman, Business Day, 29 July 2009
  • A Cry for Deep Structural Change, by Imraan Buccus, The Mercury, 29 July 2009
  • Will Zuma administration open its ears to the streets?, by Jane Duncan, Business Day, 4 August 2009
  • What Communism?, by Blessing Karumbidza, The Witness, 4 August 2009
  • The Elite and Community Protests in South Africa, by Shawn Hattingh, Mostly Water, 5 August 2009
  • What the State’s Response to the Anger of Protesting Communities Is Not Telling Us, by Ibrahim Steyn, South African Civil Society Information Service, 6 August 2009
  • Revolt a symptom of historical pain, by Josette Cole, Cape Argus, 8 August 2009
  • Politics is about service, not plundering the state purse, by Imraan Buccus, The Mercury, 12 August 2009
  • Hard Choices Ahead, by Richard Pithouse South African Civil Society Information Service, 13 August 2009

    Speeches & Other Responses

  • On the Arrest and Assault of Mzonke Poni, by Mark Butler, 2 June 2009
  • Fanonian Practices and the politics of space in postapartheid South Africa: The Challenge of the Shack Dwellers Movement, by Nigel Gibson, Frantz Fanon Colloque, Algiers, 7 July 2009
  • Meaningful Engagement, by S’bu Zikode, 27 July 2009