Sunday, October 10, 2010

 

ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS:
ZABALAZA:
The following notice of a recent publication is from the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front in South Africa.

SASASASASA
Zabalaza No. 11 now available online
We, at the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) are pleased to announce that issue number 11 of our organ Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism is now available online.

Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism


In this issue:

Editorial - by the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front
South Africa:
At the End of the Baton of South African Pretentions - Warren McGregor (ZACF)
Electricity Crisis in Protea South - Lekhetho Mtetwa (ZACF)
Conned by the Courts - Sian Byrne, James Pendlebury (ZACF), Komnas Poziaris
Death and the Mielieboer - Michael Schmidt
The Crisis Hits Home: Strategic Unionism or Revolt? - Lucien van der Walt
Sharpening the Pangas?: Understanding and Preventing future Pogroms - Michael Schmidt
Riding to Work on Empty Promises - Jonathan P. (ZACF)
Africa:
Short-changed: Egyptian Struggle for Democracy Founders on Obama's Stinginess - Michael Schmidt
Massacre as a Tool of the African State - Michael Schmidt
International:
Chile and Haiti after the Earthquakes: so different yet so similar - Jose Antonio Gutierrez D.
Obama's Imperial War: An Anarchist Response - Wayne Price (NEFAC)
Theory:
Anarchism vs Liberalism: Whose Powers are Separate? - James Pendlebury & Sian Byrne (ZACF)
History:
Industrial and Social Foundations of Syndicalism - Michael Schmidt
Counter-Culture
All in the Name of the Beautiful Gain: A ZACF Statement on the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa



Related Link: http://www.zabalaza.net/pdfs/sapams/zab11.pdf

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# posted by mollymew @ 10:58 PM 0 comments

Thursday, July 22, 2010

 

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT SOUTH AFRICA:
ANARCHISM - THE MOVIE:


There's an interesting project brewing down under and a bit to the west. Anarchists in South Africa are planning to film a documentary on anarchism. Not specific incidents or individuals but the whole movement and its history. No doubt their task will be made easier because South African anarchists hardly recognize some of the gross deviations that that word has entertained as "anarchism", and they will concentrate on the 'class struggle' heritage of anarchism. Still... this is quite the ambitious project. I wish them well. Here's their announcement from the website for the project. There is also a pretty much mirror group for the project at Facebook.
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Anarchism: A Documentary
A wide-ranging introduction to anarchist history and ideas, a message of hope and a call to action!
ABOUT
To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive documentary about anarchism has ever been made.

Of the often very dated films on anarchist themes that are available, most either misrepresent anarchism (1981’s pro anarcho-capitalist ‘Anarchism in America’), are focused on specific moments in anarchist history (‘Living Utopia’, ‘The Angry Brigade’, ‘Lucio the Anarchist’, etc), or discuss the wider social justice / alter-globalisation movements (‘Fourth World War’).

Such an absence is unfortunate, for we think that now, more than ever, a broad, accessible documentary introduction to anarchism would be of tremendous value to those of us who wish to share the history, ideas and promise of our diverse, protean movement with a general audience.

Instead of complaining though, we’re just going to knuckle down and make it ourselves…with your help!

We envisage creating, over the next year or so, an engaging, entertaining, relatively mainstream film that will cover – via interviews with prominent anarchists mixed with archival footage, narration, person-on-the-street discussions and explanatory animations – a historical overview of anarchism, an explanation of the core principles (anti-authoritarianism, anti-capitalism, mutual aid…you know the stuff!) and an exploration of all the contrasting but ultimately complementary views held by contemporary anarchists from around the world.

We’d also like to deliver a message of realistic hope and a call for action in this time of social and ecological crisis.

Being long-time anarchists ourselves, we recognise the importance of a supportive community in ensuring our project succeeds in fairly portraying both contemporary and historical anarchism and does not fall prey to personal biases or prejudices. We will thus be communicating openly and honestly with the broad anarchist community about our progress and underlying vision.

More pressingly though, we also recognise the importance of mutual aid and so, even though we’re soliciting it through capitalist channels, we humbly request your modest donations. These will help us with our frugal travel, eating and living expenses, as well as with editing and post-production costs. Those who cannot help financially are more than welcome to offer couches for the night. Shared dinners and good company will also be essential to the completion of this ambitious task we’ve set ourselves, and if you donate some music to the soundtrack we’d be eternally grateful :-)

We eagerly await your participation, your suggestions and your constructive criticisms. We promise to weigh them up fairly as long as you promise not to pepper pie us if, in some cases, we respectfully disagree.

With love and hope,
Steffi, Aragorn ( NOT the North American "Aragorn" by a far stretch-Molly )and friends
LOCATION
Johannesburg, South Africa

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# posted by mollymew @ 8:05 PM 0 comments

Saturday, June 12, 2010

 

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS/SPORTS:
STATEMENT FROM SOUTH AFRICA ON THE GAMES:
Molly has to admit it. She's been following the World Cup games in South Africa fairly religiously (if you can ascribe such a term to Molly). So far it is as I said before. Ties dominate the field even though South Korea has defeated Greece 4/0 and Argentina has defeated Nigeria 2/0 in group B. groups A is nothing but ties so far. One wonders how they will make decisions if this trend continues.
Meanwhile there is a lot going on "behind the scenes" that doesn't end up telecast to your local bar. Here's a statement from the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front about the effect of the games on the ordinary person in South Africa. the following comes from the Anarkismo website.
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All in the Name of the Beautiful Gain
A ZACF statement on the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa

The 2010 Soccer World Cup must be exposed for the utter sham that it is. The ZACF strongly condemns the audacity and hypocrisy of the government in presenting the occasion as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for the economic and social upliftment of those living in South Africa (and the rest of the continent). What is glaringly clear is that the “opportunity” is and continues to be that of a feeding-frenzy for global and domestic capital and the South African ruling elite. In fact, if anything, the event is more likely to have devastating consequences for South Africa’s poor and working class – a process that is already underway.


In preparing to host the World Cup the government has spent close to R800 billion (R757 billion on infrastructure development and R30 billion on stadiums that will never be filled again), a massive slap in the face for those living in a country characterized by desperate poverty and close to 40% unemployment. Over the past five years the working poor have expressed their outrage and disappointment at the government’s failure to redress the massive social inequality in over 8,000 service delivery protests for basic services and housing countrywide. This pattern of spending is further evidence of the maintenance of the failed neoliberal capitalist model and its “trickle down” economics, which have done nothing but deepen inequality and poverty globally. Despite previous claims to the contrary, the government has recently admitted this by doing an about turn, and now pretends that the project was “never intended” to be a profit making exercise [1].

South Africa desperately needs large-scale public infrastructure, especially in the area of public transport which is in some cities, including Johannesburg, is almost entirely absent. The Gautrain, which was launched on Tuesday the 8th June (just in time for the big event) is probably the biggest irony here: in a country where the large majority rely on unsafe private mini-bus taxis to travel long distances on a daily basis, the Gautrain offers high speed, luxury transport for tourists and those travelling between Johannesburg and Pretoria… who can afford it if a single trip between the airport and Sandton will set you back a massive R100. The same picture reveals itself everywhere: the Airports company of South Africa (ACSA) has spent over R16 billion on upgrading the airports, the commercialised South African National Road Agency Ltd (SANRAL) has spent over R23 billion on a new network of toll roads – all of which will implement strict cost-recovery measures to recoup the billions spent, and most of which will be of little benefit to poor South Africans. All over the country municipalities have embarked on urban regeneration schemes… accompanied by corresponding gentrification schemes, as the government attempts to hastily paper over the harsh South African reality. Over 15,000 homeless people and street children have been rounded up and dumped in shelters in Johannesburg alone, in Cape Town the municipality has evicted thousands of people from poor areas and squatter camps as part of the World Cup vanity project. The City of Cape Town (unsuccessfully) attempted to evict 10,000 Joe Slovo residents from their homes in order to hide them from the tourists travelling along the N2 highway, and elsewhere they are being removed to make space for stadiums, fan parks or train stations [2]. In Soweto, roads are being beautified along main tourist and FIFA routes, while adjacent schools sport broken windows and crumbling buildings.

Although many South Africans remain unconvinced, others are inundated and swept along by the deluge of nationalist propaganda aimed at diverting attention from the circus that is the World Cup. Every Friday has been deemed “soccer Friday”, in which the “nation” is encouraged (and school children forced) to sport Bafana-Bafana t-shirts. Cars are kitted out in flags, people learn the “Diski-dance” which is performed regularly at every tourist restaurant, and buy Zakumi mascot dolls. Anyone sceptical of the hype is denigrated unpatriotic, the prime example being when appeals were made to striking South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) workers to shelve their concerns “in the national interest” [3]. In a context where close to a million jobs have been lost over the course of the past year, government celebrations that the world cup has created over 400 000 jobs are empty and insulting. The jobs that have been created in the run up have been mostly casual or “Limited Duration Contracts (LCDs)”, taken by workers that are not unionised and paid well below the minimum wage.

Apart from the repression of unions, social movements have received similar hostility from the state, which has unofficially put a blanket ban on all protest for the duration of the event. In fact there is some evidence that this has been in place since as early as the 1st March. According to Jane Duncan:

A snap survey conducted at the end of last week of other municipalities hosting World Cup matches revealed that a blanket ban on gatherings is in operation. According to the Rustenberg municipality, "gatherings are closed for the World Cup". The Mbombela municipality was told by the SAPS that they were not going to allow gatherings during the World Cup. The Cape Town City Council claimed that it continues to accept applications for marches, but indicated that it "may be a problem" during the World Cup period. According to the Nelson Mandela Bay and Ethekwini municipalities, the police will not allow gatherings over the World Cup period [4].


Although it is clear that the constitution, often hailed for its “progressiveness” is far from the guarantor of freedom and equality that government claims it to be, this new form of repression is clearly in contradiction with the constitutional right to freedoms of expression and gathering. However, social movements in Johannesburg including the Anti-Privatisation Forum and several others have not given up so easily, having managed to get authorization for a protest march on the day of the opening with the help of the Freedom of Expression Institute. However, the march is being forced to be held three kilometres from the stadium where it will not attract the sort of media attention the government is worried about.


Not only has the state been repressively severe on the poor and any anti-World Cup demonstration or activity, all within the guise of painting South Africa as a host flinging its arms open in invitation to those flocking to its upmarket hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and cocktail lounges, but it does so under the guidance of Sepp Blatter & Friends’ legal criminal empire called FIFA (wonderfully referred to as THIEFA by the Durban Social Forum). Not only are they expected to benefit from a 2010 windfall of nearly € 1.2 billion, but have already gained over € 1 billion from media rights alone.

The stadia, and areas around the stadia, which were handed over to FIFA for the duration of the tournament (“tax-free cocoons” literally creating FIFA-controlled and monitored areas exempt from normal taxation and other State laws), and all routes to and from the stadia have been forcibly cleared of anyone selling non-sanctioned FIFA products and those eking out an existence in squatter camps along airport roads. As such, people who would have banked on World Cup sales to boost their survival incomes are left out in the "trickle down" cold.

FIFA, as sole owner of the World Cup brand and its spin-off products, also has a team of approximately 100 lawyers scouring the country for any unauthorised selling of these products and marketing of the brand. These products are seized and sellers are arrested despite the fact that most in South Africa and on the continent purchase their products from the informal trading sector, as very few have R400 to dole out on team t-shirts and other gear. It has also has effectively gagged journalists with an accreditation clause that prevents media organisations from bringing FIFA into disrepute, clearly compromising freedom of press [5].

The major irony is that soccer was once truly the game of the working class. Viewing games live at stadia was cheap and easily accessible to people who chose to spend 90 minutes forgetting about the daily drudgery of their lives under the boot of the boss and the State. Today, professional football and the World Cup bring exorbitant profits to a small cabal of a global and domestic elite (with billions spent unnecessarily and in a time of a global capitalist crisis) who charge patrons thousands of rands, pounds, euros, etc. every season to watch disgustingly overpaid footballers fall and dive all over manicured pitches at the slightest tug and who squabble, via parasitic agents, over whether or not they are deserving of their huge salaries. A game, which in many respects maintains its aesthetic beauty, has lost its working-class soul and has been reduced to just another set of commodities to be exploited.

Bakunin once said that “people go to church for the same reasons they go to a tavern: to stupefy themselves, to forget their misery, to imagine themselves, for a few minutes anyway, free and happy”. Perhaps, amongst all the blindly nationalistic flag waving and vuvuzela-blowing, we can add sport to his equation and that it might seem easier to forget than to actively partake in combating injustice and inequality. There are many who do, though, and the working class and poor and their organisations are not as malleable to illusion as the government would want to believe. From temporary squatter camp constructions at the doors of the stadia, to mass protest and demonstrations, to countrywide strike action, unsanctioned or not, despite the taunts and jeers and the labels of being “unpatriotic”, or blanket bans on freedom of speech, we will defiantly make our voices heard to expose the terrible inequalities characterising our society and the global games played at the expense of the lives of those upon whom empires are built and will be, ultimately, destroyed.

Down with the World Cup!
Phansi state repression and divisive nationalism!
Phambili the people's struggle against exploitation and profiteering!
This statement was issued by the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front
For more information and other articles of critique see:

http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,2037
http://antieviction.org.za/
http://www.abahlali.org/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
1. See Star Business Report, Monday 7th June, 2010
2. http://antieviction.org.za/2010/03/25/telling-the-world-that-neither-this-city-nor-the-world-cup-works-for-us/
3. http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71654?oid=178399&sn=Detail
4. For article see http://www.sacsis.org.za/site/article/489.1
5. http://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/blog/?p=2336



Related Link: http://www.zabalaza.net/

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# posted by mollymew @ 5:43 PM 0 comments

Saturday, May 01, 2010

 

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR- SOUTH AFRICA:
VICTORY FOR SOUTH AFRICAN MUNICIPAL WORKERS:
After a week long general strike municipal workers in South Africa gained a victory as the association of municipalities has agreed to a standard job evaluation across the country. The victory was won because instead of trying to bargain individually the workers launched the general strike across the country, preventing the local authorities from picking them off one a group at a time. A lesson to be learned here ? Here's a report of what happened from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
SASASASASASASASA

Victory for South African Municipal workers
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) has concluded a seven day general strike. The call to action was due to the employer’s refusal to implement a standard wage system. For seven days SAMWU members remained on the streets for fair wages while the union negotiations team bargained intensely with the South African local government association (SALGA).

“The success of the seven day national strike to ensure that all municipal workers are paid fairly is a great accomplishment,” said CUPE National President Paul Moist. South African municipalities had been able to exploit workers by paying below the correct wage level. As a result of the mass action SAMWU members now have an agreement on wage curves starting 1 July 2010.

Key issues that gave rise to the strike were: SALGA’s refusal to introduce a job evaluation system that will grade all jobs in the sector. The absence of this system allowed individual municipalities to arbitrarily grade jobs and assign their own salary to that job. This led to massive abuse and favouritism. Although SALGA was willing to introduce a job evaluation system it was only prepared to pay at half of the market rates for jobs such as nurses, plumbers, electricians, engineers and technicians. This underpayment of staff led to a loss of skills from the sector as workers seek better paid jobs elsewhere.

Following seven days of general strike action, SALGA conceded to the union’s demands. “CUPE is impressed with the action SAMWU members have taken to stand up for a fair wage system and to push SALGA to use their resources to fund public service delivery for the communities they serve,” added Moist.

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# posted by mollymew @ 5:32 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

 

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT - SOUTH AFRICA:
BLACK FLAME: CAPE TOWN LAUNCH:
This is one book that is sure to become immensely influential in the international anarchist movement in years to come. What it may be styled as is something of a manifesto of international class struggle anarchism in opposition to many of the the distortions of anarchism that have been promulgated by both its opponents and some who claim to be "anarchists", particularly in the USA. I can't say that I agree with everything the authors say, especially as I am a rather convinced gradualist who sees the benefit in the cooperative model of mutualism (one thing that the authors attempt to "read out" of the mainstream of anarchism, with at least some justification). Still, I find it interesting that the anti-social wing of those who like to call themselves anarchist have yet to launch one of their usual vituperative attacks. Maybe I am missing something as I am not a member of the cult and don't follow the cult writings very closely.
Still, what the authors have done is impressive, whether I agree with all of it or not. To put forward a rational basis for the international anarchist movement based on the actual struggles of real people and showing how this has manifested itself across the world is a great achievement. Personally I am still in the process of reading the book. One of the authors, Michael Schmidt, is presently engaged in a book promotion tour of Ontario and Quebec, as has been mentioned previously on this blog.The book has been launched before in numerous countries across the world, including in the authors' native country of South Africa.
Here's an announcement of yet another book launch in South Africa, this time in the city of Cape Town. From the Anarkismo website:
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Cape Town Launch of 'Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism'
 The Book Lounge presents the Cape Town launch of 'BLACK FLAME: revolutionary class politics of anarchism and syndicalism' by Lucien Van Der Walt & Michael Schmidt

'Black Flame' examines the anti-authoritarian class politics of the anarchist/syndicalist movement, and its 150 years of popular struggle on 5 continents. An indispensable conceptual and historical road map, with close attention to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, looking at its:
* Opposition to hierarchy, capitalism and the state
* Strategy: building revolutionary counter-power
* History: labour, community, anti-imperialism
* Agenda: participatory, cooperative economics
* Revolutions: Mexico, Spain, Ukraine, Korea
* Revival: today's struggles

This groundbreaking volume has been praised by reviewers as "deeply impressive", "fascinating, revealing and often startling", "a grand work of synthesis", "remarkable" "outstanding", "inspired" and "a welcome antidote to Eurocentric accounts".
THURSDAY 11 MARCH 2010 @ 5.30 for 6.00
The Book Lounge, 71 Roeland Street (corner of Buitenkant), Cape Town
ALL WELCOME!
With thanks to Leopard's Leap Wines.Please RSVP to booklounge@gmail.com
021 462 2425.
MORE INFO:
http://black-flame-anarchism.blogspot.com/
The LAUNCH POSTER:
http://www.mediafire.com

Related Link: http://black-flame-anarchism.blogspot.com/

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# posted by mollymew @ 9:59 PM 1 comments

Monday, January 25, 2010

 

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-SOUTH AFRICA:
STAND WITH SOUTH AFRICAN SAB MILLER'S WORKERS:
The following appeal for online solidarity is from the international union federation the IUF. Since before Christmas workers represented by the Food and Allied Workers' Union (FAWU) have been on strike against the SAB Miller's ABI division. They are asking you to help pressure the company to deal fairly with its workers. Here's the appeal.
SASASASASASASASA
FAWU on Strike at SAB Miller South African Soft Drinks:
Three thousand members of South Africa's FAWU have been on strike at SAB Miller's ABI Soft Drinks Division since December 22. The union is demanding better wages, fair overtime payment for Saturday work and an end to the further use of labour brokers and the "Driver-Owner Schemes" which convert lorry drivers into "independent" owner operators and their crews into casual workers without working conditions or job security. The company has chosen confrontation over negotiation, preferring allegations of worker violence to constructive negotiations. The union has won strong support for their struggle inside South Africa - and is now asking for international solidarity. You can support FAWU's fight for decent conditions and their demand for an end to the extension of precarious work.
SASASASASASASASA
THE LETTER
Please go to this link to send the following message to ABI management.
SASASASASASASASA
To:
Graham Mackay, CEO, SAB plc, UK
To:
Norman Joseph Adami, Chairman and Managing Director, SAB Ltd
To:
Steve Bluen, Human resources director SAB Ltd, South Africa
To:
John Ustas, Managing Director, ABI, South Africa
To:
Ed Potter, Director of global labor relations, TCCC,
Dear Mr Mckay, Mr Adami, Mr Bluen, Mr Ustas,
I am writing to you to express my concern about the uncompromising position of ABI management in the ongoing industrial dispute with FAWU. The workers who are expected to work for the company during the upcoming World Cup with full motivation deserve a fair wage increase, fair regulation of work schedules, and a stop to precarious work conditions for transport crews as expressed in FAWU's demands.

The company should immediately sit down and negotiate a fair agreement with FAWU based on the union's just demands, rather than blackmailing the union and its members with unsubstantiated allegations of violence which cover the refusal to bargain in good faith.
Sincerely yours,

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# posted by mollymew @ 7:13 PM 0 comments

Monday, January 11, 2010

 

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SOUTH AFRICA:
UPDATES FROM ZABALAZA BOOKS:
The South African Zabalaza Books may be the best online source for downloadable anarchist pamphlets in the world. Here, from the Anarkismo site, is the latest update on their offerings.
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Zabalaza Books Update - 7 January 2010:
As of 7 January 2010 the Zabalaza Books website has just been updated with the following:

Labour Section:
* Workers Without Bosses: Workers’ Self-Management in Argentina by José Antonio Gutiérrez
Various Section:
* Obama’s Imperial War: An Anarchist Response by Wayne Price
* The U.S. Deserves to Lose in Iraq but Should We “Support the Iraqi Resistance”?: A US Anarchist’s Opinion on the Iraqi War by Wayne Price
* The Palestinian Struggle & the Anarchist Dilemma and... Lessons for the Anarchist Movement of the Israeli-Lebanese War: The Anarchist Debate about National Liberation - 2 Essays by Wayne Price
Women's Liberation Section:
* The Not Very ‘Natural’ Oppression of Women by Aileen O’Carroll
* “How Can I Be Sexist? I’m an Anarchist!” by Chris Crass
* Men, Sexism and the Class Struggle by Men Against Sexist Shit (M.A.S.S.)
Leaflets Section:
* Neighbourhood Associations: A Personal Experience by Larry Gambone
* Religion and Revolution by Wayne Price
Posters Section:
* Rampant Robbery or... how Mr. Capital gets his daily bread (new updated version)
Related Link:
http://www.zabalaza.net/zababooks/x_latest_updates.htm

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# posted by mollymew @ 10:31 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

 

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-SOUTH AFRICA:
SUPPORT HOTEL WORKERS IN SOUTH AFRICA:
This appeal for solidarity with striking hotel workers in South Africa comes from the online labour solidarity site Labour Start.
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South Africa: Sun International must negotiate with strikers - not try to break their union:
More than 3,500 SACCAWU members at the Sun International South Africa have been on strike since 4 December 2009 for wage increases and improved working conditions. The country has become one of the premier tourist destinations in the world and saw the company more than doubling over the last few years. Throughout the period of negotiations which stretched over months now, management has demonstrated extremely bad faith, continuously derailing the negotiations, this is despite all efforts by the union to settle the strike. Since the beginning of the strike more than thirty union members have been arrested while other workers are continuously being provoked, harassed and subjected to all sorts of racial insults from the police and private security firms as the attempts to break the strike continue. The last negotiations, just when it appeared that a agreement was reached, short of both parties agreeing on the text of the resolution and signing it the company once again returned to a pre-strike position as the final position. The union is of the opinion that this is a deliberate strategy by the company to break the strike.
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Here's an update from the SACCAWU about the present situation.
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South Africa: An update on Sun International Strike - from SACCAWU:
Send off your message here!
The international campaign of solidarity with striking workers at Sun International have substantially boost the morale and determination of workers and we have witnessed an increase in numbers of striking workers on the picket-line and other activities. However we have also witnessed a growth in the use of violence, intimidation and provocation of striking workers coupled with other means to break the strike.
• At Sun City hundreds of SACCAWU and COSATU members were harassed and prevented by the South African Police Services from picketing during a peaceful demonstration at the Miss Teen South Africa. When confronted by the local COSATU leadership the police the police alleged that they were instructed by the Sun International Human Resource Director to prevent the demonstration. On calling the HR Director he told police that they should not interfere with the picketers as their action is legal.
• In the meantime we've been informed that the former full-time shop-steward who tried breaking the strike on behalf of management was given a car and booked into Hotel in Durban by the company. His attempts to sabotage the strike back-fired as all the workers in his department have now decide to join the action and the Restaurant that he worked at are closed. • At Board Walk and Fish River in the Eastern Cape the police have removed all the picketers from the premises of the company and they are also not allowed to picket outside the company premises. Further all permission by the strikers to protest has been refused by the Local Municipality including planned protest marches to company premises to hand over a memorandum with their demands.
• At Grand West in Cape Town the company approached the High Court to obtain an interdict against 700 striking workers on the picket-line to prevent striking workers from picketing outside the company premises. The application to interdict our members at Grand West Casino will be heard by the Cape Town High Court today.
• At Morula Sun on Sunday striking workers demonstrating at a Jazz show were attacked and assaulted by the organisers disrupting the picket-line.
• At Wild Coast, Naledi, Windmill, Carousel and Carnival City our members are still strong and participating in picketing despite harassment and intimidation by the private security and SAPS (South African Police Service).
The international solidarity are playing an important role in this struggle by workers against an intransigent Sun International management. We wish to express our gratitude for the support and call on our comrades throughout the world to intensify the international solidarity.
red regards
Mike Abrahams
media@saccawu.org.za
Send off your message here!
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THE LETTER:
Please go to one of the links above or to THIS LINK to send the following message to Sun International management.
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Dear David Coutts-Trotter
It is with extreme concern that I note the hostility with which the company have engaged with SACCAWU, the union representing the striking workers at all Sun International establishments throughout South Africa. I'm also concerned with the violence experienced by striking workers on the picket-line, including the arrests of a union official, full-time shop steward, thirty-six workers and a guest at one of your hotels. I'm aware that the company has made excessive profits over the last few years and can grant workers' demands. I call on you to ensure that Sun International negotiate with the union in good faith towards a speedy resolution of the ongoing strike.

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# posted by mollymew @ 11:15 AM 0 comments

Saturday, October 03, 2009

 

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SOUTH AFRICA:
ZABALAZA FRONT ON LGBTI PREJUDICE:
The following communique from the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front came to Molly's attention via the Anarkismo website. Molly has to say that this communique shows a certain political courage insofar as the Zabalaza Front wishes to agitate amongst the average person in South Africa. In that part of the world there are no liberal shibboleths amongst the general populace that prevent attacks on gay people. At the same time the question of "sexual identity" has been presented to the average South African via the persecution of the athlete Castor Semenya. Hence the "I" for "Intersex" in the above title. There has never been a greater opportunity to advance the interests of gay people in South Africa, and the Zabalaza Front has to be commended for their political sense of advancing this issue at this time. At the same time I would like to add my own "disagreement" to what follows below. Just like the ZACF I am in favour of "sexual liberation". My position, however, puts such things before some presumed anarchist or socialist "revolution". I am fully confident that our present ruling class, the managers, can more or less "solve" such "questions", whether, they be racial, sexual or any thing else in nature. My own opinion is that we are still very much in the stage of "completing the managerial revolution", and that the "managers" are the best ruling class that that we have seen in human history. These people can and will solve the demands of the general left as to opportunities for racial minorities, sexual minorities and gender. They will also solve any other problem that does not require the surrender of their power of decision.
This, of course, is far from the subject of the present item. Here it is from the Zabalaza Front. I cannot but help admire their skill at raising this issue at this time in their country.
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Anarchists are Queer and Proud:
Anarchism is an ideology that fights against exploitation and all forms of oppression. We fight for a world in which women will be equal to men, a world without racism and class inequality, a world in which LGBTI and queer people are treated with respect. These struggles are part of the anarchist struggle against hierarchy and inequality, for an equal and free world.

Anarchists have been at the forefront in the struggle against LGBTI discrimination
From the beginning of anarchist theory, anarchism has been the first ideology to actively support LGBTI people long before other ideologies. It is believed that one of the key anarchist thinkers, Mikhail Bakunin, was rumoured to have been homosexual and that this was one among many reasons Karl Marx threw him out of the First International, which caused the split between authoritarian communism and anarchism.
Also, Oscar Wilde, who called himself an anarchist( Full stop here via Molly; Wilde never called himself anything but "great". His connection to anarchism is weak to say the least. ), criticised Marx. His famous trial and conviction of sodomy in 1895 prompted anarchists to engage in an examination of the social, moral, and legal place of same-sex desire. The efforts of the famous anarchist and feminist Emma Goldman (the first advocate for homosexual rights in America) and other anarchists on Wilde's behalf constitute the first articulation of a politics of homosexuality in the United States. After his trial, Wilde became "a totemic figure" for the anarchists, and at a time when the American productions of Wilde's plays were closed down and forbidden and his books pulled from library shelves, anarchist journals reprinted his texts and poems.
It was thanks to American anarchist writers and propagandists that the defense of homosexuality developed in Europe crossed the Atlantic - at a time when no other political movement or notable public figure in the US dealt with the issue of same-sex eroticism and love.
Anarchism stands for free love
Since the end of the 19th century anarchism has stood for free love and fought for it, from Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, who wrote about his homosexual experiences in his Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, to the free women of Spain in the Spanish Revolution of 1936 to today’s feminist and queer anarchists around the world. Queer anarchists were part of the Stonewall riots, at the forefront of Queer Nation (launched in New York in 1990) and many other gay liberation groups.
The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) stands in this tradition. We know that gay people in South Africa have more legal rights than in most other places on earth. But we also know that the constitution alone will not be enough to stop the chauvinism that is so persistent in our country. Crimes against LGBTI people happen on a regular basis.
Last year we voiced our anger against the murder of gays and lesbians (http://www.anarkismo.net/article/9140). This year we voice our anger against the discrimination of Caster Semenya who is believed to be intersex, or at least not clearly enough a woman as many people would want her to be. The discrimination against intersex people, so common in the sporting world, always pops up when women do extraordinarily well in sports. This shows sexism but also heterosexism. We are sick of the fact that in our world everyone has to fit into two clearly defined and separated gender categories. We have to stop asking ourselves if Caster Semenya really is a woman or a man, but embrace diversity that is so natural to all living beings on this planet (just like homosexuality, and even more bisexuality). Every time we fill out an official form we have to let the state or institution know if we are male or female, and in South Africa we still have to state whether we are black, white, Indian or “coloured”. Many people don’t fit into these categories, others don’t want to fit in. Many people don’t even fit into the categories “homo”, “bi” etc. The gender binary is a creation of certain cultures that does not exist in other places of this planet. In India there are, for example, three genders. In other places even four. We stand in solidarity with Semenya, regardless of whether she's intersex or biologically female. We are appalled at her humiliation. We stand for the liberation of intersex people and reject the gender binary.
While we support the struggle against LGBTI oppression we urge comrades to rethink some of their strategies. We cannot have faith in the police, constitution or criminal courts. Throwing criminals into overcrowded prisons in which they get raped by fellow prisoners and discriminated against by prison wardens will not solve our problems. Prisons need to be abolished, they do not transform people, they destroy them. We need to build a world in which crime does not even come about. Central to this world is the end of inequality and hierarchy. Creating more and more laws just creates a bigger bureaucracy, not a free and equal world.
The oppression of people is linked to class
Our struggle also has to be united. There should not be any divisions of race or gender within the LGBTI movement. Nor should the working class be divided by gender, sexuality or race. All people who are oppressed and exploited need to unite to build a better world together. The oppression of people is linked to class. If you are poor you cannot afford the security you might need to be safe from oppression. That is why poor LGBTI people are the main victims of homophobic violence. If you are trans but poor you cannot afford the operation you so desperately want. Most LGBTI people are part of the working class and poor. As a class we get oppressed by the state which only supports the interests of the ruling class. This oppression, at the hands of the state and capitalism, is something that unites us as a class, across gender and sexual divides, across colours, ethnicities, abilities and age. Our struggle has to be united, it has to be anti-capitalist, it has to be internationalist and it has to be against hierarchies in general.
We have not only seen an increase in crime but also in rape and other chauvinistic crimes. This is directly related to the global economic crisis and growing inequality. This growth also indicates that it has to do with wider circumstances, such as poverty and the lack of service delivery which leads to frustration which in turn gets directed at society's weakest. Instead of fighting against the system that causes poverty in the first place and which bails out the rich, the poor turn against other poor or the middle class because they are so desperate. We turn against each other instead of uniting against a common oppressor. If we want to stop any form of crime we need to fight against inequality. The struggle against sexism and heterosexism is directly linked to the fight of the working class, which consists of a majority of women and includes most LBGTI people.
Anarchists fight for a world free of exploitation and discrimination
Anarchists fight for a world free from sexism, homophobia, ableism, racism and other forms of oppression. We support movements of people resisting oppression based on identity but we believe that it is important for them also to work with - and be supported by - the broader social movements and to engage in a broader struggle because we believe that many forms of oppression are rooted in capitalism and the state system. This means we believe that as long as capitalism and classes exist, LGBTI people from poor communities in particular will be discriminated against.
The fight for lesbian and gay liberation as well as fights against racism and sexism must be rooted in the class struggle - only the working class, as the exploited class, has everything to gain and nothing to lose in fighting oppression. Oppressed people can fight for more rights but only the working class can bring about a revolution in a general strike and through mass action. But only a working class that takes the struggle for the emancipation of women, LBGTI people and other oppressed groups seriously can bring about an equal and free world.
Fight for a social revolution
We cannot rely on the constitution or the police to help us, we have to organise ourselves and change people's ideas and behaviour through education. It is not enough to fight for more legal rights. We have to fight for a completely new and better world. Only a social revolution can bring about such a world. We should not fight for the legalisation of marriage only but also fight against the institution of marriage, so that people who live together, no matter of their sexuality, can do so without needing any legitimisation by the state. Not that we are against the constitution or more legal rights. We have to fight for every gain we can get now. But this can only be one part of our struggle. We have to criticise traditional gender roles, the nuclear family, marriage, compulsory monogamy and one-sided male polygamy (a man can have more than one wife, but his wives are not allowed to have other husbands) which are based on patriarchy, capitalism and conservative religious values. Anarchists have a long tradition in criticising these institutions.
The dangers of relying too much on the constitution are shown by recent actions of President Jacob Zuma. Zuma is known for his sexist and homophobic views; and the claims that he is “progressive” and “a friend of the working class” have no basis in fact. Since he won the presidency, he and his friends have been building up links with right-wing churches that want to remove abortion rights and gay marriage. With their links to the state, and widespread support for reactionary views, they pose a serious danger. Such conservative views divide oppressed people – the vast majority – among themselves. They hurt the working class by making it easier for the state to control and oppress everyone. And they are a direct attack on women and LGBTI people. We must defend ourselves, by all means necessary. We can use the constitution, but if we rely on the constitution alone, it could be changed against us. What the state gives, the state can take away; but what we force the state to give is truly ours. Anarchists call for working class unity to defend women's and LGBTI rights.
Anarchism is about reclaiming our full humanity from Capitalism and the State. Our social revolution is about creating a society in which we can live as humans, not as workers, or blacks, or women, or any other socially-defined category. Accepting social, cultural and sexual diversity is a prerequisite of the human liberation which is anarchism's objective.
Two of the most important things in life are love and sex. We have to fight for a world where people can love whoever they want and make love to whomever they want, as long as there is mutual consent. This includes non-monogamous relations and other forms of sexual desire.
The South African and global LGBTI and queer community, of which many of us are part, will always have our solidarity and support.
Anarchism is only possible with queer liberation, queer liberation is only fully possible with anarchism. So let us struggle together, for queer liberation and for anarchism.
We raise our black and pink flags with pride!
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front
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MOLLY NOTE
As I have said before I have nothing but admiration for the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front for raising this question in their country, and I have to admire their skill at raising the question in the context of the athlete Castor Semenya. Questions of gender are very much in the "upper mind" of South Africans today. Those questions, however, are not uppermost anywhere else in the world. As I said..."completing the managerial revolution". At the end of the revolution that began with joint stock corporations over 100 years ago there will be no more complaints about "isms". There will be a "rational "world in which various ethnicities and genders will be very well accommodated.
Until said revolution is indeed completed, whatever its backs and forths, it is a dream world to hope for any "next stage" of human history where we can dispense with the services of the managers. The managers will eliminate discrimination because of sexual orientation, and in the end this will be world wide. That is one of their historical missions. This doesn't mean that anarchists, who have a more inclusive ideal of equality, shouldn't support any advance to their ideal. The exact opposite is the case. Anarchists should support every project of ethnic and life style equality because the granting of such inevitable reforms brings the ultimate question of power and self management closer and closer. It's the question/treasure at the end of the leftist rainbow.
What is the"big question" of our age. No, it's not whether we should collaborate or oppose the American Empire.Neither is it whether we should advance "peace" by any mechanism that exists today. The "big question" that this little blogger who can claim an ethnicity of French, German, Russian. Ukrainian, Armenian, Irish and God knows what else when "the name" is spread across Central Asia and as far as Korea is something other than the nationalism that we have all been taught .
The "big question" of our age is not that this or that anarchist policy, no matter how explicit or important will be the "real" position for years to come. The big question is whether we can gain control over our own political system which is out of control today. This is a long and hard road, especially in such a country as South Africa. The South African comrades give their opinion below about a situation that all libertarians should have the same opinion about ie sexual relations should not be the subject of state legislation.

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# posted by mollymew @ 10:15 PM 0 comments

Thursday, September 17, 2009

 

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SOUTH AFRICA:
RED AND BLACK FORUM SOUTH AFRICA:
The time is ripe for anarchism. Most of the traditional leftist ideologies are either totally or mainly discredited. Those that remain as an opposition to to decaying system of state and corporate management control usually have to disguise themselves (as in South America) in libertarian garb to seem something other than what they are, to seem like a real alternative rather than a ragtag collection of power seekers. In recent decades anarchism has been recovering from its long historical eclipse and gradually spreading across the world and deepening its organizational skills. In terms of "extent" anarchism has never been such a global idea, even at the height of its anarcho-syndicalist power in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Anarchism is now a familiar idea to at least a small minority in countries in which it never appeared before. The organizational recovery of anarchism has been slower, but there are great success stories afoot in the world today. One of these is the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front in South Africa. The following is a report of one of their recent efforts, published at the Anarkismo site. I cannot but feel optimistic when I read such reports. Yes, they are small efforts, but they are the seeds from which great things can grow. the sort of thing described here may seem "boring" to those enchanted by the sound of their own rhetoric and deluded as to their importance, but they are the necessary sort of thing if anarchism is ever to be a real presence amongst ordinary people. I gotta salute the South African comrades.
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Report on Red & Black Forum on the Economic Crisis:
 On Saturday 12th September the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) facilitated a Red and Black Forum - or popular education workshop - at a hall in the Sebokeng Municipal Hostel in Sebokeng township, about 50 kilometers south of Johannesburg.

The theme of the workshop was on the global economic crisis, covering a range of topics from a basic introduction to capitalism and neoliberalism and the causes of the crisis to an introduction to anarchist principles; from ideas for turning the day-to-day struggle for survival into a revolutionary mass movement to a basic outline of how a libertarian communist economy might function.
The RBF was attended by about a dozen activists from the Anti-Privatisation Forum-affiliated Working Class Crisis Committee (WCCC), three activists from the Landless Peoples' Movement (LPM) and even a dissident Young Communist League (YCL) member. Attendees comprised mostly unemployed activists of all ages and an even gender balance. Unfortunately there was confusion regarding the catering and at least one woman ended up going home to prepare lunch.(Oops-Molly )
There was a high level of participation in the discussions, which were translated into isiZulu, and attendees agreed that the residents of Sebokeng were suffering from a lack of information and agreed that they would benefit from further workshops. ZACF members and allied libertarian socialists from our Soweto-based study circle established good contacts, particularly with a youth group associated with the WCCC, and endeavored to maintain contact in order to organise future workshops and documentary screenings, and possibly establish a second study circle, this time based in Sebokeng.
Related Link: http://www.zabalaza.net

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# posted by mollymew @ 9:53 PM 0 comments

Monday, July 06, 2009

 

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-SOUTH AFRICA:
FIRED FOR SEEKING SAFETY:
The following appeal for solidarity with 19 shop stewards in South Africa comes from the online labour solidarity site Labour Start.
ILILILILILILIL

South Africa: Shop stewards sacked for safety strike:
At the Enstra paper mill in Sappi's home country of South Africa, 19 shop stewards were suspended from work and now await discipline. They are charged with inciting workers to strike after a worker refused to do unsafe work. That worker is one of 23 other workers who remain on the job, but also face discipline for their roles in 3 short safety strikes. Sappi originally sought to sack 4 stewards, but when the union CEPPWAWU said no, Sappi suspended all shop stewards, leaving the 700-worker paper mill unrepresented. In the aftermath of the strikes, a joint labour-management group filed a report on the causes of the safety breach and subsequent strikes, complete with recommendations, but mill management ignored those recommendations and despite global calls to CEO Ralph Boettger from Sappi workers in 7 countries to drop this matter, Sappi is going ahead with the discipline. Your voice is needed now - write directly to the Industrial Relations people who are handling this matter.
ILILILILILILIL
THE LETTER:
Please go to THIS LINK to send the following letter to Sappi management.
ILILILILILILIL
Dear Sappi Executive in South Africa:
It is unconscionable that you are going ahead with discipline on elected workplace representatives who have taken on responsibility to protect worker health and safety. I refer to the current conflict at your Enstra mill. This is bad for business, bad for Sappi's public reputation, and sends the wrong message to Sappi employees regarding health and safety. Please drop the charges against the 19 shop stewards and 23 other workers at Enstra, and work toward building a trustworthy relationship with CEPPWAWA in South Africa and other trade unions in other countries.

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# posted by mollymew @ 9:29 PM 0 comments

Friday, April 03, 2009

 

ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS/INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SOUTH AFRICA:
LATEST EDITION OF ZABALAZA:
Zabalaza is the publication of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front, a platformist organization in South Africa. Zabalaza is also the source of one of the best online anarchist libraries in the world, all available in downloadable pdfs. Here is the announcement of the latest edition of their magazine via the Anarkismo website.
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Zabalaza No.10 Now Available:
 The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) is pleased to announce that issue number 10 of our organ Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism is now available. Unfortunately, however, we are unable to upload it to our website Zabalaza.net at present. Please therefore contact us at zacf [at] zabalaza [dot] net if you would like us to email you the PDF, which you can then print out and distribute. Alternatively check Zabalaza.net regularly as it should be available for download soon. Individual articles will also be published on Anarkismo.net as time goes by.

In this issue:
Southern Africa
«Editorial by Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF)
«Unite Against the Minority, Then Unite Against the Majority? (Zambia) by Malele D. Phirii, Zambia
« The Jacob Zuma Cargo Cult and the “Implosion” of Alliance Politics (South Africa) by Michael Schmidt (ZACF)
«A Bitter Taste to the Sugarcane (Swaziland) by Michael Schmidt (ZACF)
«Four Tools for Community Control – Part I: “Mutual Aid” (Southern Africa) by Stefanie Knoll (ZACF)
«Zimbabwe’s Party-Political Stitch-Up - How the Zanu-PF/MDC Deal Ignored Civil Society by Jonathan P. (ZACF)
Africa
«The Anarchist Movement in North Africa: 1877 - 1951 by Michael Schmidt (ZACF) & Lucien van der Walt
«Socialists and Gaullists Haunted by the Ghosts of Genocide (Rwanda) by Guillaume Davranche (Alternative Libertaire), France
International
«Jalan Journal: A New Asian Anarchist Voice is Born with introduction by Michael Schmidt (ZACF)
«30th Congress of the National Confederation of Labour (France) by CNT-F
«Hamas, the Left and Liberation in Palestine by Sevinc (Workers’ Solidarity Movement), Ireland
«Interview with Ilan Shalif from Anarchists Against the Wall - Israel/Palestine
«A Hot Winter in Greece by Stefanie Knoll (ZACF)
«Something Smells Different in Cuba by Movimiento Libertario Cubano, with introduction by Michael Schmidt (ZACF)
«Imperialism, China and Russia by Pier Francesco Zarcone (Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici), Italy
«Against Political Terror in Russia, We Mobilise! by the International Secretary, Alternative Libertaire, France/ Belgium
«Change We Need: An Anarchist Perspective on the 2008 US Election by North-Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists (NEFAC), USA, with introduction by Michael Schmidt (ZACF)
Theory
«Tangled Threads of Revolution: Reflections on Anarchist Communists: A Question of Class by James Pendlebury (ZACF)
Related Link:
http://www.zabalaza.net

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# posted by mollymew @ 7:24 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

 

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:
REPRESSION AT THE WORLD WATER FORUM:
Molly has featured two previous reports here from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) about the recent World Water Forum in Istanbul Turkey. For whatever reasons of their own that Molly cannot understand these reports have omitted reports on the repression of protesters outside the "legitimate opposition" of the likes of CUPE. To my mind CUPE SHOULD have reported this whatever their disagreements with the protesters, and I think it is shameful that they did not. In any case here is a report from the Anarkismo website on what happened outside the conference cocoon.
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Turkish police shoot on protesters at the World Water Forum (WWF):
by Coalition Against Water Privatisation - CAWP
WWF nothing more than a gathering of the world’s water mafias
 The Coalition Against Water Privatisation and the SA Municipal Workers Union are participating in the alternative People's Forum
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At 9.30 this morning (19 March 2009), a group of about 300 Turkish and international activists began a peaceful march towards the entrance of the 5th World Water Forum in Beyoglu to express their concerns about the political agenda of the event and prevent people getting inside. Turkish police forces, outnumbering by far protesters, quickly intervened and charged, using rubber bullets, separating Turkish activists from international protesters and violently dispersing the action.

1 7 Turkish activists from the "No to commercialisation of water platform" were arrested, mostly women who couldn't escape fast enough and one high-profile leader of anti-dam movements. Arrested activists are now in hospital, waiting for their transfer to Vatan police station where they might be prosecuted for illegal protest. The renowned Turkish hospitality seems to not apply to those critical of the World Water Forum.
Other activists then entered the WWF venue to protest against this unacceptable way of treating democratic protests and further challenge the World Water Council and Turkish government's water privatisation plans. The Coalition Against Water Privatisation strongly condemns the repression by the Turkish government; people must express themselves without any fear of police brutality.
The Coalition and the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) will be presenting the South African water struggle and the landmark Johannesburg High Court ruling (that outlawed prepaid water meters) at the alternative people’s forum. As part of the international day of action, CAWP will be picketing at Johannesburg Water office and holding community mass meetings concerning access to water.
The 6th World Water Forum is illegitimate and its nothing but a gathering of the water industry mafias. The global water movement vowed that they will organise hard to make sure that this is the last World Water Forum organised by water thieves. The next must be organized by the United Nations (UN), and every country must make sure that the human right to water is protected and that access to water and sanitation is a priority. For comment, please contact Petunia Nkhasi (CAWP) on 083 531-3329.

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# posted by mollymew @ 9:45 PM 0 comments

Sunday, March 22, 2009

 

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SOUTH AFRICA:
SUPPORT THE LANDLESS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT PROTEA SOUTH:
The following appeal for solidarity is from the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front. It comes via the Anarkismo website.
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Defend the Landless People's Movement/ Protea South 8:
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front Call for Solidarity
Defend the Landless People’s Movement’s (South Africa) Struggle Against Forced Removals!Defend the Struggle for Basic Service Delivery!
Defend the Protea South Eight!
On Sunday 1st March 2009 two Landless People’s Movement (LPM) organisers with whom the ZACF is associated were arrested in Protea South, Soweto after the LPM delivered a petition from the Protea South community to their ward councillor regarding various issues and stating their concern around the prospect of their being forcefully removed to another location far from where they currently live and work.

After the petition was delivered there were minor disturbances and altercations with the police, and six youth from the informal settlement were arrested. The two LPM comrades were arrested a short while later, despite the fact that they were no longer in the vicinity when the disturbances took place.

We believe that the LPM comrades arrested: Maans van Vyk, a libertarian socialist who participates in a Soweto-based anarchist study circle facilitated by the ZACF; and Maureen Mnisi, a long-time community organiser with whom the ZACF has good working relations and who had previously organised for us to do two Red and Black Forums (anarchist educational workshops) in Protea South, are being targeted and victimised for their role as LPM activists and community organisers.

The LPM has, for a long time now, been waging a struggle against the forced removal of the informal settlement of Protea South to Doorenkop, which is far away from where they currently live, from where their children are schooled and where the few community members who are fortunate enough to have a job work.

There is currently a gentrification process underway in Protea South, and the middle-class community members who own bond houses there are concerned that the informal settlement is bring down their property values. Because of this they have started circulating a petition to have Maureen Mnisi removed from Protea South because they believe that with her gone resistance to forced removals will be quelled and the rest of the informal settlement could then be relocated to Doorenkop.

On Wednesday 25th March 2009 Maureen, Maans and the six other arrestees will be appearing in court on charges of public violence, assault, GBH, intimidation, and illegal gathering and the people in the bond houses in Protea South, the middle-class, will be presenting their petition as evidence against our comrades. Given the severity of some of the charges our comrades the accused could face prison time.

To show our support with comrades Maureen and Maans, and the poor people of Protea South informal settlement, the ZACF is calling on all social movements, left-wing organisations, progressives and our sister organisations and anarchist contacts abroad to do everything they can to support our comrades before Wednesday 25th March.

Maureen, as a single mother of five, is finding it particularly difficult to continue her struggle in defence of the poor when she is being victimised and feels that her life and that of her family is at risk. She would appreciate any messages of support to reassure her that what she is doing is right and to give her the courage to continue.

The ZACF supports the demands of the Protea South LPM as follows:
* All charges against Maureen, Maans and their co-accused be immediately
withdrawn
* The immediate cessation of any plans for the forced relocation of the Protea South
informal settlement to Doorenkop or any other location
* Respect and observation of the people’s right to choose whether or not they want to stay in Protea South or move to Doorenkop or any other location
* Free basic service delivery in Protea South and all poor communities in South
Africa
We appeal to everyone to please send messages supporting the demands outlined above to us on or before Tuesday 24th March so that these can be presented as evidence in defence of the accused.

All messages of solidarity and support, and endorsement of these demands to be sent to the ZACF at zacf [at] zabalaza [dot] net and to Luke Sinwell, a researcher and activist working with the LPM, at LSinwell [at] yahoo [dot] com

We call on our comrades also to phone in, fax and/ or email messages of protest against the way the South African government is repressing popular social movements and legitimate protest in South Africa to their local South African embassies and consulates and, where possible, to picket these. Please send copies of any such messages and reports or photographs of pickets to the addresses above.

Words of advice or solidarity can be expressed to Maureen Mnisi directly on: 0 27 (0) 82-337-4514and to Maans van Wky on: 0 27 (0) 79 267-3203

For more information on the events which led to the arrests please see the following:
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/12417http://www.anarkismo.net/article/12382
Defend the Landless People’s Movement Struggle Against Forced Removals!
Fight the Criminalisation of Social Movements and Legitimate Service Delivery Protest!
Defend the Protea South Eight!
Related Link: http://www.zabalaza.net

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# posted by mollymew @ 9:55 PM 0 comments

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