AFESIS-CORPLAN seminar on the Local Government Elections of 2011 East London 24 June 2011

“If voting changed anything, they would make it illegal’ – Emma Goldman, anarchist

How effectively does this democratic system work?

Can it lead to profound social change? When is the National Democratic Revolution

achieved?

System failure: ‘Necklacing’ last week How can ordinary citizens can influence policies

and socio-economic systems? Through representative or formal democratic

systems (elections, political parties) Through other means (civil society, direct and

participatory democracy, mass action, social movements).

Not an ‘either-or’ choice: Kwazakele is a highly politicised community and people are aware of the various courses of action available to them.

Brief: To ‘interrogate the possible effects (on the electoral outcome and our democracy in general) of the service delivery protests and party list skirmishes’

As President Zuma explained at a pre-election rally in Nelson Mandela Bay

We used to select ward councillor candidates by ourselves. But we changed that because we wanted people to have a say . . . and elect their own leaders

(The Herald, 16 May 2011)

Faku you destroy ANC From Ward 55 – We Don’t Need Phumeza Ward 14 – We are not happy Phantsi nge Ward 60 Office People Shall Govern ANC is our future Phumeza is not our Councillor. She is the Clr. for Top 5 REC members.

Don’t confused us at Ward 55. Mafana you need to join other corrupt party not ANC. Hamba Mafana,

enough is enough. Ward 23 Asikhufuni Mthimkulu No Phumeza inside the office until Zuma respond. Ward 60 – Zuma we are waiting We did not vote for you Nondhiko, we voted for ANC. So please step out. Ward 54 – Madlavu, take your friend (Aron) to your construction business

forever. We do not need him. Ward 23 – We are not happy. Ward 60 – Mafana is violating our rights.

In NMBM, 47 wards out of 60 were dissatisfied with the ANC list process, and formed a ‘Concerned Group’ which engaged in public protests at the ANC regional headquarters as well as during President Zuma’s visit to the city, and threatened an election boycott. The group demanded the resignation of the REC of the ANC – a worrying display of lack of confidence in the local leadership.

The dissatisfaction with the ANC candidates’ lists was not confined to NMB, but was expressed in other parts of the Eastern Cape (OR Tambo DM, Port Alfred (Ndlambe), Peddie, among others):

They say these people were all elected at each other’s houses (dissatisfied ANC member in Peddie)

Matatiele, Ntabankulu, Mbhizana and Mzimvubu, Nxuba, Ngqhushwa, Amahlathi, Nkonkobe, Great Kei, Mnquma and Mbhashe formed ‘parallel wards’.

Some party members threatened to campaign for their candidates who had been “removed” from ANC lists.

Mbhashe: residents created 20 parallel branches against 31 legitimate branches that already exist.

Mnquma: 22 parallel branches formed against 31 legitimate branches.

Matatiele: 25 parallel branches where there are 27 legitimate branches

Outcome of these disputes: ANC national leadership gave a reassurance

to supporters that the problem would be addressed after the elections.

Voters were called upon to trust the ANC leadership once more, and come out in support of their movement.

“We’re not going to vote in these elections. The ANC members are referees but they wear players’ T-shirts. They (the ANC) promise the people will govern but they dictate for us. Zuma ran away from us because he didn’t want to listen to us.”

NMB Concerned Group resident ( The Herald, 9 April)

President Zuma:

If you leave, the ANC ancestors will turn their backs on you and you will have bad luck. Nothing you do will succeed. You’ll be like a person swept away by a wave into the sea.

(NMB rally, 16 May)

Voter participation: 56% in Province; 64% in NMB

Voter immaturity? (Steyn) Kwazakele results: ANC (up from 68% to 86%) COPE (down from 25% to 8%) DA and UDM (2% each) Other parties: less than 1%

Question: If government does not meet your expectations, what can you do?

‘Insider’ and ‘outsider’ responses

Engage with councillor: 45%

Go and speak with the Councillor, that’s what they are there for, isn’t it?

Attend meetings/make my voice heard: 20%

I attend meetings and I go to the Councillor and the ANC but without help....

Collective responses:

I galvanize other women to make our voice heard by the Ward Councillor

Lobby other residents in the same predicament and come up with a common strategy

What kind of strategies could they come up

with?

Participate in activities that seek to affect change (in the way the Metro is being run)

I will attend and join mass gatherings just like in the 1980s

Mass action, toyi toyi, tyre burning

I find it useless to take any action these days, as you will end up behind bars for a long period of time

I find it useless to wage any mass action these days as our own blood turns it back viciously

I will not do anything in fear of harassment

Passive responses: 30% Wait, be patient, for ‘better times’ Do nothing Stay at home Watch what happens Fold my arms Tired of promises, I have lost hope A minority did not know (2) or did not answer the question (4) This gives a bit less than a third who were passive – either loyal

and patient, or disillusioned. Only one respondent said they would boycott elections, put very

effectively in terms of Freeze my vote

The majority – nearly two-thirds - however, did vote, did vote for the ANC moreover, did attend meetings and are still remarkably politically engaged. As one ANC loyalist expressed

I will never wage a war against my own organisation, my government. I voted it into power

a failure of pluralist democracy? it can equally be considered that the

contestation over election lists is a sign of a maturation of democracy

The pragmatic ‘insider strategy’

Struggle for inclusion by marginalised Missionvale protest Vote for DA Two pragmatic courses of action by same

community: protest and voting Demand for inclusion

Nowhere is the demand for greater autonomy from government

Even where local councils have collapsed through disfunctionality or corruption, as in the cases of Butterworth and Pietermaritzburg, and the provincial government has taken over, the dependence on government is reinforced rather than weakened.

In cases of cross-border communities, such as Matatiele or Moutse, the demand is for incorporation into the province which has the stronger government and can provide better administration and services to the local municipality.

At party level: instead of a decentralisation and localisation

of power within the party decision-making and power is increasingly

centralised dysfunctional or divided branches or regions

have to defer to higher structures of leadership

Devolution of power to people at local level, to really take control over sustainable local economies – still seems far away.

Democracy has been consolidated But it is a weaker form of democracy than is

desirable.

For Karl Marx, as for Emma Goldman, representative, liberal (‘bourgeois’) democracy obscures the underlying relations of class power. For Rousseau, representative democracy is a poor substitute for direct democracy – and in reality undermines the empowering nature of direct participation in democratic decision-making.

Residents of Kwazakele are profoundly ‘political beings’, putting energy in engagement and participation on a daily basis. Yet as can be seen above, the underlying class relations have not been changed through this participation. This is evidence for the need for a new model of democracy – but what is argued based on the experience of Kwazakele residents, is that ‘if it doesn’t work here, it is unlikely to work elsewhere’- is it too late, with a demobilized and disillusioned population? Or has the time come for a revision of both political and economic models – a deepening of democracy which will change power relations and result in new forms of economic and political participation?