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Recent articles by Shawn Hattingh
State ‘capture’ or the nature of the state? 0 comments The deepening capitalist crisis: From blood and dirt to much worse 1 comments South Africa and the DRC: Has Rhodes passed on the baton? 0 comments Recent Articles about Southern Africa MiscellaneousWorker-Student Alliances: Anarchist Approach Needed Oct 30 16 Where to now, Zimbabwe? Beyond the “good” charismatic pastor. Sep 25 16 Inside the Zimbabwean Uprising Aug 24 16 In the ANC’s battle of factions there are no superheroes
southern africa |
miscellaneous |
opinion / analysis
Saturday November 05, 2016 21:47 by Shawn Hattingh - International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG)
The battle between Pravin Gordhan and Jacob Zuma has been presented along the lines of a superhero comic. Gordhan, the hero, is portrayed as the last defence against the rampaging villain, vile Zuma. And like all superhero tales Gordhan the good appears to be gaining the upper hand over Zuma the bad – especially since corruption charges have been dropped and the damning Public Protector’s report on state capture has been released. Certainly Zuma is deserving of our contempt: he is the most corrupt President South Africa has had since 1994 and offers very little that is positive. Yet, it is an oversimplification to blame him solely for the corruption that wracks the state or the factionalism that exists to gain hold over it. Doing so avoids looking at the harsh structural realities that fuel it – the legacies of apartheid, the nature of the state, the orientation of the ANC, and neoliberalism. On the other hand, it is also an error to see Gordhan as embodying all that is good, and for the workers and the unemployed, and specifically black workers and the unemployed, his faction triumphing offers little. Superheroes, none of them are. |
Front page1986-2016: 30° anniversario di Alternativa Libertaria/fdca El feminismo es cuestión de vida o muerte ¡Contra el machismo dominante Anarquismo Militante! [Colombia] El NO se impuso, ¿qué sigue? Hamba kahle comrade Bobo Makhoba (1975-2016) Where to now, Zimbabwe? Beyond the “good” charismatic pastor. Contre la loi Travail: le bras de fer continue Announcement of Nationally Coordinated Prisoner Workstoppage for Sept 9, 2016 Opinião da CAB diante a atual conjuntura Brasileira ¿Habemus pacem? Los desafíos en el tránsito de La Habana a Colombia Inside the Zimbabwean Uprising La experiencia de Mujeres Libres: 80 años del surgimiento del feminismo anarquista organizado Con Lucha Y Organización Fortalecemos La Resistencia Algunas reflexiones en torno al poder y la institucionalidad a 80 años de la Revolución Española 80 aniversari de la insurrecció obrera i popular i de la revolució social 80 anni fa la rivoluzione comunista libertaria in Spagna De los comités de defensa al análisis de los órganos de poder The Coup in Turkey: Tyranny against tyranny does not make freedom Greve, Piquete, Marcha e Ocupação! Educadores e Estudantes unidos pela Educação! Making sense of the Brexit tide of reaction and the reality of the racist vote Southern Africa | Miscellaneous | en Sun 06 Nov, 23:42 Anarchism, Ethnicity and the Battle of the ANC Clones 15:18 Tue 28 Oct 0 comments Once again we, the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF), have to defend our political tradition from bourgeois politicians, this time on both sides of the ANC split, and explain to them what exactly is meant by a term that they throw about without actually knowing its meaning. Real Human Freedom Not Fake Human Rights 02:46 Fri 21 Mar 0 comments South Africa is said to have one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. It enshrines the rights of every person, of every background, from workers and immigrants to women and homosexuals. As such you would think that, especially for people from oppressed groups, South Africa would be a safe haven. Worker-Student Alliances: Anarchist Approach Needed Oct 30 0 comments Recent worker-student alliances and activities are lacking in an anarchist/syndicalist approach which focuses on ‘people’s power’ and ‘worker control’. Such an approach is important for radical transformation, writes Leroy Maisiri. State ‘capture’ or the nature of the state? May 10 0 comments Across the political spectrum, individuals and organisations have been expressing their disgust and shock that a faction – indeed a single family, the Guptas – have ‘captured’ the state. Consequently, there have been calls for state ‘capture’ to be ended though firing Zuma. No Illusions: 2016 Elections no Solution for the Masses Jan 29 0 comments Many in the working class hope the 2016 local government elections will prove a turning point. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) won the 2014 elections easily, but its grip is weakening. The ANC-allied Congress of SA Trade Unions (COSATU) has split, the radical metal union NUMSA expelled. The ANC could even lose control of at least one of giant "metro" municipality in 2016, possibly greater Johannesburg or Nelson Mandela Bay - probably to the moderate Democratic Alliance (DA), not the ANC breakaway, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Working Class Struggle, Blazing a Path to Freedom Aug 26 0 comments NOTE: Heritage Day is a post-apartheid South African national holiday; unlike most, it has no clear link to major struggles in the past, although there are efforts to position it as a more “political” day. The talk below was given by Lucien van der Walt at an event organised by Sakhaluntu Cultural Group in Grahamstown, for black youth. Thank you all for coming. Thank you, chair, for the invitation. Thank you, organisers, for the event today. Today looks like a great day, a great day to look forward. But before we look forward, we must look back as well. Unless you know where you come from, you will never know where you can go. Class Rule Must Fall! More Statues, More Working Class Aug 19 0 comments Slogans like “Erase Rhodes”, “Rhodes so White,” and Rhodes must Fall,” emerging from student groups at South Africa’s elite universities, recently monopolised social media. These have taken off, because South Africa is in need of great structural change; 20 years after the important 1994 transition, many black people remain trapped in oppressive conditions. Anarchism, Ethnicity and the Battle of the ANC Clones Oct 28 Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front 0 comments Once again we, the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF), have to defend our political tradition from bourgeois politicians, this time on both sides of the ANC split, and explain to them what exactly is meant by a term that they throw about without actually knowing its meaning. Real Human Freedom Not Fake Human Rights Mar 21 0 comments South Africa is said to have one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. It enshrines the rights of every person, of every background, from workers and immigrants to women and homosexuals. As such you would think that, especially for people from oppressed groups, South Africa would be a safe haven. |