Some Time for Reflection after the Election

The reduction in political pressure after the elections created some space for less pressured reflection. Here is a short article from The Witness newspaper reflecting on the high cost to local democracy of the March 2005 local government elections. There are also two longer articles that reflect on the struggle to this point. The first article gives an overview of the first year of the Abahlali struggle situating it with in the rich history of shack dwellers resistance in Durban and some of the debates about resistance from the shanty town. It is followed by an article by Alex Beresford which is based on careful interviews with Bahlali and trade union officials and which explores the prospect for a worker shack dwellers alliance. It’s conclusions are not exactly positive but the paper provides important unsight into the thinking in Abahlali and some of the bigger unions (and it has the enormous merit of being based on what the people being written about think rather than, as with so much work, being entirel speculative). This section ends with a transcipt of the remarks made in English by S’bu Zikode during his Harold Wolpe Memorial Lecture. The Lecture used to be held every month in Durban. Usually important intellectuals spoke about the poor. Zikode’s lecture was the first time that some one living in a shack had access to this kind of platform.

‘Democracy Under Assault’ Article from The Witness:
Democracy_Under_Assault_in_Durban.doc  26 KB

‘Our Struggle Is Thought, On The Ground, Running’ by Richard Pithouse:
thought_running.doc  365.5 KB

Trapped in Corporatism? Trade Union Linkages to the Abahlali BaseMjondolo Movement in Durban by Alex Beresford: