Service Delivery Protests

There is a real risk of this post becoming sanctimonious. The only experience, if that, I have of what the press refers to as service delivery protests, is through the news reports and casual conversations. The facts are that yes, there have been and probably will more protest in mainly the lesser developed parts of our townships. The protesters when asked, say that the reason for their protest is the failure of government to provide basic services.

Protests are without question important part of the broader freedom of expression. Each one of us has a right to assemble and to protest subject only to the limitation imposed by the constitution. There are also other limitations to the right to protest that do not come from the constituion. These limitations are created by other laws, by good manners and common decency. It is a crime to destroy other citizens' or government property and no interpretation of the right to protest, can change this simple proposition.

The protest take place mainly in the so-called informal settlements and other poorer townships. These areas, poor and unserviced as they may be, are also public and communal spaces, shared by a lot of people; poor people. Some of the people caught in the middle of these protests want to carry on with their lives and should be allowed to. This is of course a hollow if not a pointless statement in the context of these protests. To illustrate, during an interview, one of the leaders of the protests expressed disappointment that criminal charges brought against some of the protesters would not be withdrawn as was apparently "agreed" with the authorities. That there is a possibility of an agreement being reached with the authorities in the face of flagrant breach of the law is scary - but hey who am I fooling, these agreements are reached apparently quite often. If you happen to be a victim of the crime, you pretty much have to move on and get over it.

Where does all of this come from? When did it become ok to destroy your neighbour's house in an expression of your frustration with the government? There surely must be a difference between the 1980's "making the country ungovernable" and the present. A look at the Khutsong township protests (which I wrote about) and how those were resolved may give some clues. I was and still am flabbergasted about what went on there. After a court had ruled against the community, they still went ahead and protested (read thrashed the township, burned a house or two, kept the children out of school and stopped people from going to work). All of this was ugly and to me incomprehensible. What did I expect? A counter-revolutionary like me will never understand the processes of the struggle of the people against an oppressive government. Well, the people of Khutsong won their battle. The government has decided that they will stay in Gauteng province and not be moved as the government of Mbeki had wished.

Now, which community would not want taste victory for itself and the predominantly unemployed residents? Counter-revolutionarily speaking, in a democracy the weapon that citizens have against a government, any government is to make sure not to return it to power in the next round of elections - not to burn the mayor's house, which incidentally they probably had paid for. However, for as long as the victory of Khutsong remains fresh on the minds of the people, the struggle (burning, thrashing and intimidating) shall continue.

The next round of local council elections is around the corner. This is the opportunity for the people to make their voices heard and to get rid of the ineffective councillors. It is also conceivable that the people can no longer wait for a better life for all or maybe they are beginning to doubt whether there can be more that can be done - together or otherwise.

The task that faces this government is bigger than huge. It will take a sober and forward-looking approach. This is no time for quick wins, neither is it time to find scapegoats nor to point fingers at this or another government. Today, this minute, people are losing their belongings, their jobs, their dignity. In the meantime, I do not know of any action taken against those that have been identified during criminal actions. The way I see it, there can be no reason in the minds of the protesters to doubt that they too will soon savour the victory of Khutsong.

What are the government's options?