After nearly 30 years of ‘democratic’ rule by the ANC, the inability to deliver electricity to black working–class people has come to symbolise the shattered dreams of a nation. Power outages continue to plague the country.
The state is failing not only the working class through its cost recovery policies, but it apparently cannot even deliver to the relatively wealthy suburbs. Lest we forget, in 1994, when the party took over power, the much–touted Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) brought hope that the new government would undertake a state–driven, nationwide, redistributive welfare approach to swiftly address the legacy of apartheid.
But neoliberal or market–driven policy was adopted in 1996, leading to a situation in which the price of electricity and other basic services became unaffordable in many poor communities.
When the ANC government attempted to evict residents in 2002 on the contentious grounds that the community was living in a hazardous zone, the people responded resolutely with physical demonstrations, with one clear message: our community shall remain.
When they were not connecting themselves with their own wires to the grid, paraffin stoves and candles sewed their fate.
Many meetings with government officials took place and protests carefully orchestrated. In the upcoming weeks 72 activists were arrested. The army was deployed in the settlement and meetings of half a dozen people were no longer tolerated by police officials thus pointing to an unofficial state of emergency .
The ANC government finally promised to upgrade the settlement. About R323 million would be spent to electrify 7,000 homes. In what appeared at face value to be ordinary people, the poor, having their “voices” heard in the most meaningful of ways, these finances became decentralised from provincial and national government and the City of Johannesburg to reflect the interest of residents.
We must avoid mistakenly pitching these and other major policy changes simply as a result of a caring and listening government, nor do such reforms automatically lead to positive changes for the working class in the long–term.
Popular participation nevertheless remains a fundamental ingredient in the recipe for working class liberation. As we witness the crumbling of ANC hegemony in the lead up to the 2024 national elections, it is time to reconsider what new and creative forms of collective action are necessary in a context where the state has not delivered on its promises. The demands movements require a fundamental change in the very structure of the state and a reimagining of the kind of collective praxis required to build a socialist society centred around the basic needs of ordinary people.
This article is an extract from a new book called The Participation Paradox. It provides unique insights into the nature of participatory governance, left politics and working–class organisation in South Africa and beyond.
Luke Sinwell is an Associate Professor in Sociology and Project Coordinator at the Centre for Sociological Research and Practice (CSRP), UJ.
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