Difference between revisions of "Occupy South Africa – alive and active"

From New Internationalist Easier English Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page with " == Occupy South Africa – alive and active == '''Bold text''' When protesters occupied Tahrir Square in the revolt against President Mubarak in Egypt, it was called the ‘...")
 
Line 1: Line 1:
  
 
== Occupy South Africa – alive and active ==
 
== Occupy South Africa – alive and active ==
'''Bold text'''
 
  
 
When protesters occupied Tahrir Square in the revolt against President Mubarak in Egypt, it was called the ‘Arab Spring’. New York was inspired by what happened in the Middle East. And when US protesters put up tents in New York’s financial district, it began the international movement ‘Occupy’.
 
When protesters occupied Tahrir Square in the revolt against President Mubarak in Egypt, it was called the ‘Arab Spring’. New York was inspired by what happened in the Middle East. And when US protesters put up tents in New York’s financial district, it began the international movement ‘Occupy’.

Revision as of 12:35, 29 September 2012

Occupy South Africa – alive and active

When protesters occupied Tahrir Square in the revolt against President Mubarak in Egypt, it was called the ‘Arab Spring’. New York was inspired by what happened in the Middle East. And when US protesters put up tents in New York’s financial district, it began the international movement ‘Occupy’.

But the international press has not reported on one part of the movement - the groups that use the ‘Occupy’ name in sub-Saharan Africa. Joe Hani is a protester with the ‘Taking Back South Africa’ online campaign, which is part of Occupy South Africa. I asked Joe to talk about the movement in his country.*

COP17 protesters in Johannesburg, November 2011. Meraj Chhaya under a CC Licence

How did the Occupy movement in South Africa start?

It started with groups working together to protest in different cities across South Africa on and after 15 October 2011. I understand that the groups include Taking Back the Commons, Communities for Social Justice, the Unemployed People’s Movement, Students for Social Justice, the Democratic Left Front, September National Imbizo, the Zeitgeist Movement, Anonymous South Africa and the groups involved in Occupy COP17. What successes has the Occupy movement in South Africa had?

In my opinion, their greatest success was when they showed that both the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) are two political parties who support big business and who at the same time are against the poor. This was very clear when we saw two things.First when the Unemployed People’s Movement and their leader Ayanda Kota were attacked by the ANC government in the Eastern Cape. And second when the poor communities of Cape Town were attacked during Occupy Rondebosch Commons by the Democratic Alliance (DA) government in the Western Cape.

What is your view of the Occupy movements in the US and Europe?

Personally I give them my general support because they are a people’s movement trying to seriously challenge the entire political leadership. And they are challenging the businesses behind the political leadership in their countries. I am in contact with some of the good people involved in the Greek protest and the Real Democracy movement in Spain too.

But Occupy South Africa does not – and should not – simply copy these groups. And we know that in South Africa we have our own situation and we act to solve our own particular problems.

Kyknoord under a CC Licence

What challenges has Occupy South Africa faced?

The biggest challenge is for the poor and the workers to get free from the false socialists who only join the people’s protest when the opportunity comes and at the same time continue to support the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). These parties are in fact the South African government we are actually fighting.

I predicted in my last interview with ‘People vs Profit’ that the coming South African protest will show the people on the Left who are false and then will destroy the capitalists. This is what we saw earlier this month when striking miners were in fact killed by a transnational corporation (Lonmin), the ANC state police and NUMSA (COSATU) Trade Union all acting together. Then the South African Communist Party (SACP) criticized the murdered miners and called them simple rioters. Our challenge is to tell anyone who wants to join the ANC that we see the ANC and COSATU leaders as enemies of the people.

What’s next for Occupy in your country?

I believe that Occupy South Africa should forget about talking too much and just get out on the streets and make a noise. I also believe that ultimately the protest in South Africa will not come from these organizations but from simple people like Andries Tatane and the Marikaan miners. These people may not have been intellectuals but their actions spoke louder than a thousand words.

I read somewhere that ‘It is better to die on our feet than to live on our knees’. All groups should now join the protest. Even groups that focus only on social issues like crime should understand that social injustices will not be solved without solving economic injustices first. I say this mainly to White and Muslim groups.The Bible says that ‘Good people care for justice for the poor but the wicked have no such concern’ and to the Muslims of the Cape Flats I say that Muhammad said: ‘None of you has complete faith when he goes to bed full of food when his neighbour (in Khayelitsha) is hungry’. We should all protest and never look back.

  • In this interview Joe Hani speaks for himself and the 'Taking Back South Africa' online campaign which he administrates, not the whole of the Occupy movement in South Africa.

Published on September 26, 2012 by Tim Gee