(en) Southern Africa, Tokologo supports the Khutsong community march on the Teba offices, Carltonville by Tokologo African Anarchist Collective - TAAC

The Tokologo African Anarchist Collective supports the protest march held by members of 
the Khutsong community ? where we have active members ? to the Teba Bank offices in 
Carletonville. ---- We support, albeit critically, the Khutsong residents? demand that 
local mining companies should provide them employment and job opportunities by sourcing 
labour from the surrounding community instead of busing in workers from the Eastern Cape 
and other provinces; workers who can be more easily exploited and oppressed by the mining 
bosses due to their status as migrant workers. While we do not want to deny our Eastern 
Cape brothers and sisters employment opportunities we also recognise that this practice 
perpetuates the legacy of the super-exploitation of migrant black labour as practiced 
under apartheid and further entrenches the inequalities created by that system of racial 
capitalism.

Furthermore, by literally dumping migrant workers in the townships surrounding the mines 
to save themselves the costs of providing accommodation for workers, the mining companies 
are sewing divisions in working class communities and putting already strained local 
resources and infrastructure (such as community clinics), under increasing pressure. This 
practice shifts (externalises) the reproductive costs of maintaining labour onto 
communities, many of which already suffer from very high levels of unemployment.

To challenge and reverse this legacy government and the private sector should create job 
opportunities in local communities as well as implement massive development programmes in 
historically disadvantaged and underdeveloped communities ? notably townships and rural 
black communities such as those in the Eastern Cape from which workers bused into Gauteng 
to work on the mines come. In order to redress the legacy of apartheid planning and the 
underdevelopment of working class black communities this development must include adequate 
provision of free quality education and health care as well as the provision of basic 
services such as electricity, sanitation and water.

The mining companies, which rake in huge profits through the super-exploitation of black 
migrant labour and the externalisation (shifting) of reproductive costs onto communities 
must be made to contribute to this development. Furthermore, development should involve 
the direct participation and consultation of affected community members and the labour 
necessary to realise this development should be sourced from the same affected 
communities. Communities must be involved in deciding on and implementing the type of 
development they want.

Only through massive development and job creation programmes on the part of government and 
private companies, such as the mining houses, can we begin to move away from a situation 
where the black working class is divided amongst itself on tribal lines and according to 
who is local or migrant, employed or unemployed and, thus, begin to redress the 
inequalities caused by apartheid and colonialism.

We also support the Khutsong community?s demand that local mining houses should respect 
the Mining Charter in terms of their supposed commitments to social responsibility towards 
historically disadvantaged communities. This includes infrastructure building and 
development, job creation and rehabilitation of mining-affected areas.

However, while we believe it is important to support the Khutsong and other 
mining-affected communities? demands on local government and the mining houses, we must 
also not be fooled into thinking that either government or private business can solve our 
problems.

We are clear that the sole interest of the mining companies is to generate a profit 
through the exploitation of black labour. One of the ways that the bosses increase profits 
is by keeping workers? wages down, which is why they prefer to use migrant labour as 
migrant workers have historically accepted lower wages out of desperation. This is also 
why they shift the reproductive costs of maintaining these workers, for example in terms 
of health care, onto communities.

As anarchists we believe that the state and government are not there to protect and serve 
the interests of the black working class majority in South Africa but, rather, to protect 
and serve the interests of the ruling class by protecting private property and repressing 
workers and communities when they struggle for high wages and better living and working 
conditions.

That is to say that neither the private companies nor the state have the political will to 
improve the conditions of the working class because it is not in their class interests; 
they are rich because we are poor and they want to keep it that way.

Therefore, while we support the Khutsong community?s march today, we are aware that this 
is but one battle in an ongoing and protracted class war between the black working class 
majority ? on the one hand ? and the black and white ruling class elite, both in the state 
and private sector ? on the other ? that derive and maintain their wealth, power and 
privilege by exploiting and oppressing the black working class majority.

We therefore need to use this march ? and other day-to-day struggles for jobs, higher 
wages, service delivery and development ? to unite the working class in struggle ? 
regardless of whether we are isiXhosa or seSotho, local or migrant, employed or unemployed 
? and begin to build a new mass movement of the working class that can impose our will on 
government and private companies and literally force them to accede to our demands of job 
creation, development and service delivery through working class mass direct action.

Unity is our strength! Mass direct action our weapon!
Organised and together we can force the ruling elite to meet our demands!

Related Link: http://zabalaza.net