Often when the history of 'big' events is recorded, after a while, the stories with specific details are eroded and obscured. It is made to fit easily into a certain kind of analysis that endures over time. So much so that what is subsumed under these theoretical...
refused
The end of NUM’s hegemony: AMCU and new mlitancy
The Association of Mining and Construction Workers (AMCU) was born in 1998 out of a strike at Douglas Colliery, one of the oldest mines belonging to Ingwe Coal, when 3,000 workers occupied the underground works of the mine in protest against the dismissal of Joseph...
David and Goliath
The story of farm workers and farm bosses in the Breede River Valley| by Mercia Andrews On Wednesday 6 March 2013 in Ashton, 180 km from Cape Town, people started gathering for a meeting early in the morning. Outside the library, one could observe the expensive...
The Marikana action is a strike by the poor against the state and the haves | by Justice Malala
The shooting at Lonmin's Marikana mine exposes weaknesses at the heart of South African society The story of the London-listed Lonmin's Marikana mine shootings is that of a trade union that cosied up to big business; of an upstart and populist new union that exploited...
The Struggle to Affirm the Dignity of the Poor in a Society in which we don’t Count
by S’bu Zikode, Presented in Mexico City on 6th August 2012 Before Abahlali baseMjondolo was formed the shack dwellers in South Africa wereconsidered by government and some other people in our society to be theundeserving poor. This claim came as the result of the...
Film reviews
The Noise of Cairo Director Heiko Lange (2012) This film looks at the explosion of creativity in the 18 days that shook the world in Egypt 2011 and led to the fall of the Mubarak regime. It gives us the perspective of dancers, street musicians, poets, graffiti artists...
Abahlali rises up to stop corruption and forced removals in Langa TRA
Abahlali baseLanga TRA - 5 July 2012Abahlali baseMjondolo Western Cape Press Statement Yesterday, Abahlali baseMjondolo youth took physical action to block the Housing Development Agency from moving residents of Joe Slovo Informal Settlement into Langa...
Swazi political prisoners interrogated by South African police | by Peter Kenworthy
In a strange twist to the case of student leader Maxwell Dlamini and political activist Musa Ngubeni, both awaiting trial for allegedly being in possession of explosives in connection with the democratic uprising in Swaziland in April, they were interrogated by what...






