ANC Today -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 8, No. 22, 6 - 12 June 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK: * Street Committees: Build organs of people's power * National Environment Month: Recycle, reduce and re-use -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STREET COMMITTEES Build organs of people's power The call by ANC President Jacob Zuma for the formation of street committees as part of a crime-fighting strategy is an important call and initiative. However, there seems to be very little visible activity in this regard. Yet this is a very urgent task if we are to urgently deal with the scourge of crime and other pressing local challenges. It is important that we simultaneously launch a debate on the character, tasks and challenges in building street, village and block committees. Some of the questions we have to answer include: * What lessons do we need to learn from our 1980s experiences of such committees, and what are the challenges in building these post-1994? * What should be the relationship between street committees and Community Policing Forums (CPFs)? * What should be the relationship between such street committees and ward committees, and what are the possible areas of conflict between the two, and how can these be overcome? * How do we rebuild such committees as organs of people's power and a new platform to intensify the struggle for the renewal of the revolutionary values of our movement? * What relationship, if any, should exist between street committees and a progressive civic movement? * Should street committees only be limited to dealing with crime or should they be broadened to play a much broader developmental role? While it is important to debate the form and character of street committees, such structures may take different forms in different localities. Therefore we should not be too prescriptive. In addition, it is through practical work on the ground that we can better learn about the shape, character and role of such structures post-1994. But at the same time we do need to develop some broad guidelines and shared perspectives on our strategies in building such structures. For this purpose, the term 'street committees' will be used to also include block and village committees. Beyond party affiliation Street, block and village committees should not be built as part of party political structures, as they should seek to organise our people irrespective of their political affiliations. At the same time, our movement has an important leading role to play in building these structures, not through a bureaucratic imposition, but through hard organisational work in our communities. It is important to locate the task of building street committees within the context of challenges facing a liberation movement in power. One of the more serious fault lines that emerge after liberation movements ascend to state power, is the tension, and often conflict, between, on the one hand, the role of such movements as ruling (and governing) parties, and, on the other hand, maintaining their character as mass driven movements. The tension between these two roles is not necessarily a negative thing, but is a healthy, and sometimes necessary, tension for any dynamic liberation movement. Unfortunately in many instances former liberation movements now in power have chosen to resolve this tension through the progressive demobilisation of the movement, and privilege the role of the movement as a ruling party over the day to day mobilisation of the people. This in itself has tended to create a gulf between the movement and its mass base, and, in a number of cases, leading to the very same constituencies turning against the movement itself. Indeed it is not the issue of the breaking down of this relationship alone that has led to the degeneration of many liberation movements, but also conservative and anti- people policies pursued by some of the liberation movements in power. Our own ANC and the alliance it leads has not been immune to these tensions. The outcomes of the Polokwane Conference can, inter alia, be regarded as an expression of dissatisfaction by ordinary ANC members in what they saw as the demobilisation of the movement and attempts to turn it into a narrow ruling political party driven by the agenda of elites, both within and outside the state structures. To its credit the ANC decided to remain and strengthen its character as a broad- based, mass driven national liberation movement even after 1994. This was informed by the fact that there is no necessary contradiction between being a ruling party and a mass based liberation movement. However our experiences show that there has been serious conflicts arising out of the progressive demobilisation of ANC structures, outside of election campaigns, and concentration of power within a narrow circle of comrades in the state, often working together with elements of the black and white sections of the bourgeoisie. The above tensions within our movement have sharply manifested themselves in what was a clearly deteriorating relationship between the ANC and its alliance partners in the run up to Polokwane. However, these conflicts were not necessarily always between the ANC and its allies, but more often a tension between certain government policies and the policy perspectives of allies. This is because the ANC itself was often sidelined in the adoption of some of the key policies by government at all levels. Another manifestation of the difficulties surrounding the relationship between the ANC as a broad liberation movement and a ruling party has been the weakening of the mobilisational capacity of ANC structures on the ground. Sometimes the mobilisation of ANC structures to, for instance, confront a corrupt ANC ward councillor, has been seen as mobilising the ANC against itself. As a result, this has led to a political vacuum in many of our localities, giving rise to the emergence of 'concerned groups' and unguided mass mobilisation, sometimes resulting in violence and destruction of property. It is important to locate the task of rebuilding street committees within the above challenges, as these structures, even if led by our cadres, may have to now and again raise problems and challenge some of the decisions of local ANC structures. Also, much as these structures must not be ANC structures, it is only the ANC and its allies that have the capacity to rebuild such street committees. By taking a lead in rebuilding such structures, the ANC will be affirming its 'dual', but necessary, roles as both a ruling party and a mass mobiliser of the people. Much more important we are seeking to rebuild street committees in a vastly changed terrain than in the 1980s. Our attitude should indeed be to re-affirm the Alliance's own perspectives that there is no inherent contradiction between governing and mobilising the people at the same time. In fact, governing that is not buttressed by mass power and activism is bound to degenerate into a bureaucratic and technocratic process that is divorced from the people. Put differently, consolidating and deepening the national democratic revolution requires governance buttressed by a mobilised and vigilant people. It is failure to consistently implement these perspectives that have, in many instances, created a fertile ground for patronage, careerism and corruption. Street committees and CPFs There is indeed a potential for conflictual relations between street committees and CPFs. To avoid this, street committees must not be seen as substitute or parallel structures to existing CPFs, but as the revolutionary nucleus of such CPFs. It is true that in a number of instances where CPFs exist, they tend to 'float' above communities that they are supposed to serve, without a dynamic involvement of the community. Usually this is because CPFs tend to be populated only by a narrow circle of activists and volunteers who happen to take an active involvement in such structures. Street committees have the potential of rooting CPFs in every street, block or village where they operate. Where CPFs do not exist, it is street committees that should play a leading role towards the formation of such CPFs. As we know from our past experiences in the 1980s, a number of street committees that sprung up quickly degenerated into vigilantism. It is absolutely important that such committees must be vigilant against the emergence of vigilantism. Vigilantism tends to arise in instances where such street committees are captured by taxilords, shacklords, warlords and such other similar regressive and opportunistic elements in our localities. That is why it is absolutely essential for our own cadres to play a leading role in the formation and functioning of these structures. Failure to guard against vigilantism will not only weaken CPFs, but can quickly turn street committees into the opposite of what we intend them to be, thus providing a fertile ground for counter-revolution, as was the case in some instances during the 1980s. Street committees and municipal ward committees As with the CPFs we should guard against a 'fight for turf' between street committees and municipal ward committees. Like CPFs, in a number of instances ward committees are very distant from the communities they claim to represent. They have in such cases become nothing more than an 'advisory council' to the local councillor, and less of a voice of a community in a ward. Given the lack of adequate resourcing of local government in general, and councillors in particular, in many of our municipal wards, local meetings tend to take place closer to where a ward councillor resides. This tends to marginalise the rest of the community in a ward. One critical role therefore of street committees is to bring the ward committee and local councillor closer to the community. There should therefore be a dynamic link between street committees and ward committees, even though such street committees are not a substructure of a ward committee. The initial priority focus for street committees must be on crime. This will give such structures a dedicated focus, thus laying the basis for building viable, dynamic and strong street committees. However, as we know from our 1980s experience, because of the proximity of street committees to the people, they are well placed to begin to identify and act upon a whole range of other challenges facing households in a street, including levels of poverty, orphans and child-headed households, need for social grants, and domestic problems including domestic violence. Even if street committees initially prioritise the fight against crime, they cannot turn away from tackling many of these other problems, especially those facing poor households. Local challenges and people's need are, after all, indivisible. The above realities pose very serious challenges that need to be carefully thought through. This must include a deliberate strategy to progressively expand the role of street committees to become broader organs of people's power and revolutionary nuclei to deal with the many developmental challenges facing our localities. Expanding the role of street committees beyond focusing on a single issue - crime - obviously carries the danger of defocusing such structures. Another challenge will be that of the relationship between street committees and structures of a progressive civic movement, where these still exist. Again, such street committees should have a dynamic link with such civic organisations. Perhaps such street committees should be consciously and progressively strengthened and transformed into the nucleus of building a progressive civic movement. We do indeed need to pose the question of whether such a street committee-based civic movement should be a revived South Africa National Civic Organisation (SANCO) or a completely new initiative. For instance one main weakness of SANCO was that it became a 'nationally' driven rather than a 'locally' driven civic movement. That is why conflicts among leaders of SANCO at higher levels have actually destroyed whatever has been left of a SANCO-driven civic movement on the ground. Street committees may well be, in the medium term, an answer to this anomalous situation. Most importantly, street committees can be an important weapon of our liberation movement to lead a process of rebuilding and deepening revolutionary morality and consciousness of our movement and people as a whole. They can also act as people's guardians for development, and an important mass counter to patronage, careerism and corruption. We should rebuild these structures with this in mind. However, what is urgent is to debate and begin to build street committees whose priority focus must be to defeat the scourge of crime. ** Blade Nzimande is a member of the ANC National Executive Committee and General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP). This article first appeared in Umsebenzi Online, Vol 7 No 9. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- National Environment Month Recycle, reduce and re-use International conservation experts found that the global community dumps over 50 million tonnes of unused food in landfills each year. This appalling statistic of disposed food is caused by over-shopping. Consumers are purchasing more food and goods than they need and this causes over-production at a colossal hidden cost to the environment. Every year, the world population throws away 700 million slices of bread and other huge quantities of bakery goods, meat and fish, ready-made mixed food and unopened dairy products. This translates to households disposing of one in every three shopping bags straight into the bin. Dumped food in landfills breaks down, emitting methane gas which directly fuels climate change. This irresponsible attitude reverses the gains we are making in our efforts of averting climate change. Consumers should exercise sensitivity to the environment by embracing environmental friendly measures such as reducing the current high demand of goods, purchasing quantities of goods they really need and not to throw away leftovers. Observing these measures will lead to reduction in food production, use of less energy at processing plants and a substantial cut in transportation energy and lesser environmental resources will be needed for storage rooms. This will firmly put us on the road towards a low carbon economy and accelerate our pace to the desired destination. Agriculture and environment Agriculture has been shown to produce significant effects on climate change, primarily through the production and release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. The agricultural sector also alters land cover, which can change its ability to absorb or reflect heat and light. Land use change such as deforestation and desertification, together with use of fossil fuels, is a major source of carbon dioxide and methane. This also worsens poverty in rural communities which derive their livelihood from the environment and subsistence farming. Pesticides washed down stream and ultimately to the sea pose a serious threat to terrestrial animals drinking contaminated water and to the general aquatic life. Farmers are urged not to destroy our biodiversity while chasing short-term profits. Farmers should invest in safe technologies to protect the environment. Studies suggest that, due to climate change Southern Africa could lose more than 30% of its main crop, maize, by 2030. The 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report concluded that the poorest countries would be hardest hit, with reductions in crop yields in most tropical and sub-tropical regions due to decreased water availability, and new or changed insect pest incidence. Levels of greenhouse gases have increased by a substantial percentage since large-scale industrialisation began around 150 years ago, with about three- quarters of human-made carbon dioxide emissions coming from burning fossil fuels. The imbalance between emissions and absorption results in the continuing growth in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gas emissions come mostly from energy use and they are driven largely by economic growth and fuel used for electricity generation. Another greenhouse gas, methane, comes from landfills, coal mines, oil and gas operations, and agriculture. It represents 9% of total emissions. By 2030, the world's energy needs are expected to be 50% greater than today. At the same time, scientists are calling for a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to avoid serious changes in the earth's climate system. Reconciling these demands while simultaneously adapting to the impacts of climate change is one of the fundamental challenges of the 21st century. South Africa's environmental enforcement officers, also known as the Green Scorpions, are busy monitoring industrial emissions levels to ensure permitted emissions standards are adhered to. Waste and recycling Growing populations and high consumption demand mean that larger quantities of waste will be generated on a daily basis and this will require proper waste management. Waste recycling is one way to reduce waste in landfills. Through recycling, we can reprocess material back to its original useful format. For example, glass bottles are crushed, melted and remoulded into new bottles. More broadly, recycling refers to any waste that is recovered and returned or reprocessed to a further useful purpose. For example, many groceries bags are sold to consumers for repeated use. This cuts down production of grocery plastics and lifts the strain on the environment. A successful recycling operation requires good clean uniform collection of single waste types. This is most effectively achieved by separating the waste streams close to source, for example, on the factory floor, rather than at the landfill site. The financial incentives for waste recycling are perceived as relatively small to the waste producer. However, we have seen that introducing waste recycling programmes significantly reduces the overall cost of the waste management service. Our waste recycling operations create jobs and skills training for site supervisors. Additionally, work and income is created for entrepreneurs that trade in recyclables. However, the primary motivation for recycling still needs to be that it is the right thing to do, for our environment, for our children and their children. Many resources are scarce or difficult to renew, for example trees for paper pulp. Recycling is a responsible stewardship approach to resources and to the environment. We have developed a national clean-up programme to keep our residential areas, towns and cities, graveyards and other public institutions clean in line with our constitutional obligation to create healthy and safe environments. Biodiversity We are part of the natural world and depend on nature for our survival. The air we breathe, the water we drink and many other life-sustaining processes come from nature. Pollution of our environment affects us directly. Protecting and keeping variety in the natural world is important. Our parks are an effective means to protect tropical biodiversity. Records show that the majority of parks are successful at stopping land clearing, and to a lesser degree effective at mitigating hunting, fire and grazing. Ecological health depends on maintaining a diversity of life forms. Healthy, intact ecosystems also build soil, prevent erosion, store and cycle nutrients, and provide economic benefits through such valuable products as wood fibre, foodstuffs and oils. The national park system houses a rich diversity of species and ecosystems that can be of great value to society. Parks may even serve as reservoirs of plants and animals that can repopulate plants and species. If we are to achieve success, women and youth formations, who use nature on a daily basis, should be actively involved in planning, implementation and monitoring of environmental protection programmes. It has been demonstrated that they love their country and are eager to make a contribution to society through volunteer work. We must make cleaning our surroundings and the country part of our daily routine for the health of our citizens and the environment. ** Rejoice Mabudafhasi is a member of the ANC National Executive Committee and Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. This is an extract from a speech at the launch of National Environment Month, 2 June 2008. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2008/at22.htm To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html To unsubscribe yourself from the ANC Today mailing list go to: http://lists.anc.org.za/mailman/listinfo/anctoday