Social movements are in fashion — but they are not a new phenomenon. If the United Democratic Front was around today, its affiliates would also be termed social movements.
What is new is the name, the global connectedness of the movements in question, and the way in which some are positioning themselves in relation to the African National Congress-led government and other mass-based organisations, such as the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). Are they linking with organised labour, or could they represent “sites of struggle” between different ideological tendencies?
The term “social movements” began emerging in international literature in the 1980s. In South Africa the name leapt to prominence in the build-up to the World Conference against Racism in 2001 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development last year.
But before these two international events, community movements were already engaging in high-profile struggles with local authorities over the delivery of basic services.
According to Professor Adam Habib, of the Centre for Civil Society, social movements are a diverse set of organisations. “Some, like the Treatment Action Campaign [TAC], are nationally based associations, in this case focusing on challenging the state’s HIV/Aids policy and campaigning for the provision of anti-retroviral drugs,” Habib says.
“Others, like the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee and the Concerned Citizens Group, exist at the local level, in this case organising respectively against electricity cut-offs in Soweto and rates evictions and water terminations in Chatsworth and surrounding townships in Durban.”
Preliminary research shows that social movements are not homo-genous in their structures, leadership, resources, focus or tactics. Nor are they necessarily “progressive”. The Landless People’s Movement (LPM), for example, has praised Zimbabwe’s chaotic land “reforms” as the work of freedom fighters. There are differences in how they operate and are perceived.
For example, the TAC is seen as “more acceptable” to the government and ruling party than movements such as the Anti-Privatisation Forum or the LPM. Other, lesser known movements play a critical role in delivery at a local level, but receive little attention.
Says Saranel Benjamin, of the Centre for Civil Society: “It is not simply because the TAC played nicely with the state. It is the issues. For example, the Bayview Flat Residents Association has tried the TAC route of presenting data to municipalities to facilitate mainstream public participation. Water and electricity cut-offs and evictions still took place.
“The same holds true for the Anti-Eviction Campaign. The issue of HIV/Aids does arouse a lot more sympathy than poor people asking for free water and electricity against the backdrop of the government’s Masakhane projects. One is sexier than the other.”
This raises questions about the origins of social movements and who really represents the interests of the poor. Have they emerged organically in response to “objective realities” such as water and electricity cut-offs — the result of ANC policies — or have they been spearheaded by a group of intellectuals who oppose the ANC on principle, as some within the congress movement suggest?
There is no conclusive evidence one way or the other. But what is clear is that the movements speak the language of the poor. They are united in their broad opposition to corporate-driven globalisation, while some have positioned themselves in opposition to electoral democracy, in line with many European counterparts.
This puts Cosatu in a difficult position. As the federation was itself borne out of community struggles of the 1970s, one would assume it has good working relations with the emerging social movements.
In some instances, such as with the TAC and certain community-specific organisations, this has, indeed, been the case. But tensions have surfaced with the likes of the Anti-Privatisation Forum over Cosatu’s continued alliance with the ANC.
Michael Koen, of the Durban-based Civil Society Research and Support Collective, says community movements have not set themselves up in opposition to Cosatu. “Community movements always try to include Cosatu in their struggles. But the fact that Cosatu is part of the alliance has hindered its participation.”
In most countries, Benjamin argues, trade unions have formed the backbone of community and social movements. In South Africa the problem was “that organised labour is tied to the ruling party, and is unable to set independent political agendas”.
Engagement with social move-ments was one of the few resolutions debated at Cosatu’s eight national congress in September. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) tabled an initial proposal urging cooperation, to build a stronger social base for economic transformation. The draft resolution did not exclude social movements outside the congress movement.
But the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) challenged the motion, arguing that it would mean changing Cosatu’s political stance — namely, that it will work only with those organisations that have been part of the mass democratic movement and which are not hostile to the ANC. Because it represented a change of direction, Numsa’s resolution would have to be properly debated, the NUM urged.
As a result, a revised position was eventually endorsed that limited engagement to those social movements that were not hostile to the tripartite alliance.
NUM general secretary Gwede Mantashe says Cosatu accepts that issue-based formations are necessary for society to remain “mobilised”. “Hence the resolution to work with progressive social movements. But we will not work with social movements that are narrow, sectarian and divisive in their overall strategy,” he says.
The emergence of social movements could pose serious challenges to union formations such as Cosatu. International Labour Research and Information Group researcher Lennie Gentle points to the many historical instances where non-union based organisations have taken on unions and forced them to rebuild.
If serious measures are not taken to revitalise South Africa’s unions, it is likely that social movements will become “sites of contestation” rather than giving impetus to the revitalisation of organised labour.
Emerging research is increasingly revealing that old networks in communities and townships, such as unions and political parties, are losing their relevance in the absence of formal sector jobs and rising poverty.
Communities and households are being forced to explore alternative livelihood strategies that respond to unemployment and destitution. An integral part of this is the formation of new alliances and networks aimed at reducing the impact of poverty, rising joblessness, lack of basic services and resources and HIV/Aids.
How will labour maintain its mass support while continuing to seek influence over national economic policy through, for example, its alliance with the ruling ANC and forums like the National Econonic Development and Labour Council?
Renée Grawitzky is editor of the SA Labour Bulletin. This article is based on a special report in the latest edition on social movements