Following an insurgence in the. Movie Studios Party takes full advantage of the unique Wii. Are you a Femme Fatale? Create the game to your liking. Choose the length of play and.CCS Events - Other Events. Trevor Ngwane seminar on 'The State of Soweto Social Mobilisations', 1. December 2. 00. 7CCS cohosts Ben Cashdan's new documentary on the ANC succession race, 7 & 8 December 2. Dennis Brutus Dennis Brutus says 'No thanks' to SA Sports Hall of Fame, 5 December. Social Movements Indaba meeting with Dennis Brutus, Orlean Naidoo and Molefi Ndlovu, 2- 5 December 2. Dennis Brutus is Marx in Nairobi, 2. November 2. 00. 7Dennis Brutus at the Ken Saro- Wiwa celebration in CT, 2. November 2. 00. 7Rehana Dada and Patrick Bond address Climate Change Conference, Joburg, 2. November 2. 00. 7Molefi Ndlovu at 'Development Dilemmas' workshop, Durban, 1. November 2. 00. 7Dennis Brutus at the Ilrig conference on the G2. November 2. 00. 7Patrick Bond in N. America to debate carbon trading, 1. November 2. 00. 7EARTHNOTES ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL, 1. September 2. 00. 7A reading in solidarity with Zimbabwe, 9 September 2. Wot I Think: Skyrim Dawnguard. By Alec Meer on August 8th, 2012 at 4:00 pm. Critical distance can be as much a state of mind as a length of time. According to a report Tuesday in the New Yorker, the Obama administration’s investigation into a State Department leak to James Rosen, the chief Washington correspondent of Fox.
CCS - Tri. Continental Films Festival Screening, 7- 2. September 2. 00. 7Dennis Brutus at Fort Hare, 2. August 2. 00. 7CCS joins SDCEA for Women's Day in South Durban, 9 August 2. Patrick Bond on Zimbabwe's economic crisis (with Zimcodd in Harare) 1 August & New Zimbabwe lecture, 3. July 2. 00. 7Social Policy masters course by Patrick Bond, 3. July- 2. 7 August 2. Patrick Bond in Caracas for Seminars on Capitalism, Climate Change and Africa, 2. July 2. 00. 7CCS 'Civil Society & Development' course, Richard Ballard, 9 July 2. Book Launch: Fit to Govern: The Native Intelligence of Thabo Mbeki Ronald Suresh Roberts, Patrick Bond & Percy Ngonyama 6 July 2. CCS at the Toward an Africa Without Borders conference: Kiama Kaara, Grace Kwinjeh, Hopewell Gumbo, Femi Aborisade 'Activism Across Borders', Durban University of Technology, 6 July 2. CCS 'Civil Society & Development' course Sufian Bukurura & Dennis Brutus, 4- 1. July 2. 00. 7Patrick Bond Reconcilation and Economic Reaction in South Africa, 3 July 2. DURBAN REALITY TOUR, 2. June 2. 00. 7Trevor Ngwane seminar on 'The State of Soweto Social Mobilisations', 1. December 2. 00. 7Trevor Ngwane seminar on 'The State of Soweto Social Mobilisations', 1. December, 1. 2: 3. THE STRUGGLE AS SEEN FROM SOWETOCCS Seminar 1. Input by Trevor Ngwane. Introduction. Thank you for inviting me to speak in this seminer today. It is an honour and I appreciate the opportunity very much. Thanks to all the CCS staff and associates. Thanks to Comrade Patrick for his support and encouragement and patience. It is an honour to give this presentation in the presence of Comrade Dennis Brutus, unkonka wefusi, umakadebona . This seminar should be a conversation rather than a lecture. Thank you for making time to attend and share ideas together. It was a good year. As the year drew to a close I thought a bit about the struggle in 2. I felt about it. The feeling I heard was that 2. Soweto. This view is based on my personal experience working as an organizer for the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee (SECC), an affiliate of the Anti- Privatisation Froum (APF). I am also a member of a small collective of socialists called the Socialist Group. I was also very involved in the affairs of the Operation Khanyisa Movement (OKM), an electoral front consisting of some APF affiliates that won one seat in the ANC- dominated Johannesburg City Council. My personal experience is limited, particular and quite localized. It is important to note that the SECC is a minority organization in Soweto hence this assessment does not claim to be representative nor valid beyond the SECC experience as interpreted by myself. What is happening in Soweto? Water case in court. The SECC and APF closed the year on a high note with the water case being argued in the Johannesburg High Court. This is an important development and a modest victory for the SECC, the APF, the Coalition Against Water Privatisation, the Social Movements Indaba, and other organizations and people who have been part of the campaign to protect everyone. The court case is an important landmark in the 3 year old battle against the installation of water pre- paid meters in Soweto and elsewhere in the country. There is of course the very real danger that we can lose the case, but if that happens the struggle will continue despite that setback; our fate cannot be decided by a bourgeois judge using bourgeois law. But it is good thing to raise the issues in the public consciousness in the manner of the case especially if the legal strategy is strongly complimented by mass methods of struggle. Marx in Soweto. On December 1 the SECC, together with Socialist Group and Keep Left, both left groups affiliated to the APF, organized a Marxism School in Soweto. The event was attended by SECC activists, community members, employed workers and some left groups and political parties. The final rally gave a platform to activists from Kliptown, Thembelihle and Protea South, areas which rioted in support of their demand for service delivery in 2. The panelists were asked: what next after the riots? This was a successful attempt at debating questions of strategy and vision beyond our daily struggles for water, electicity and houses. The emphasis was on the connection between the immediate and the long- term. Remembering our fallen heroes. On November 1. 8 the SECC decided to honour two comrades who passed away, namely, Comrades Bongani Lubisi and Sihle Mahlaba. The former was organizer of the SECC and the latter was a youth leader and also at the forefront of Rasa FM, the pirate youth radio station which broadcast for a few months in Soweto. The aim of the event was to remember and honour all those who have fallen in the course of the struggle and to inspire and build unity among the living. The event went very well and was attended by APF affiliates and fraternal organizations. Two tombstones emblazoned with the SECC, APF and OKM logos were unveiled in a sad but uplifting ceremony. The night vigil that preceded the day event consisted of political discussion and educational audiovisuals including videos depicting the late comrades. It was good that we remembered our real heroes during the same week that Piet . The smooth organization of this big event (many people attended) also indicated a strength in the SECC organization which has developed over many years of struggle. The Soweto Strike Support Committee. During the course of 2. SECC, Keep Left and some trade unions formed a strike support committee during the Checkers Shoprite and the public sector strike. This work also covered the cleaners and security strikes to a limited extent. It involved meeting with striking workers and worker leaders and planning solidarity by the community for the strikes. Pickets were organized in support of the strikers by unemployed workers. Pamphlets and other media were produced in support of the strike. During the public sector strike some important meetings were held at the SECC hall. It must be mentioned that in both the Shoprite and public sector strike rank and file workers instructed their leaders to contact the SECC/APF for support. We are happy about this as we feel strongly that labour and community struggles need to be united despite the reluctance of the labour leaders to build real unity. The workers movement consists of both employed and unemployed workers; the labour leaders. As an electoral front of 7 Johannesburg affiliates of the APF, the OKM formally dissolved itself after winning one seat during the 2. The reason was that with the elections over there was no need for an electoral front; also and more importantly, the APF had refused to sanction the OKM strategy so it was felt to retreat in order to allow time to persuade the APF on this point. This retreat paid off as the APF is beginning to warm up to the OKM albeit no one wants to admit the error of their earlier hostile political judgment. But the drama and excitement happened during the first day of the September floor crossing period when to our shock we heard on the radio the Gauteng Democratic Alliance leader Jack Bloom announce that the OKM councilor had crossed the floor and joined them. This desperate move by the OKM incumbent councilor, Comrade Joyce Mkhonza, followed attempts by the OKM to recall her from her position. A central plank in the OKM platform is the right of recall. Comrade Joyce left the OKM but was unable to steal our seat thanks to good advice (from Ecopeace leader Comrade Alan Murphy and its lawyer Comrade John Govender) and timely action. A lot was gained from this harrowing experience, namely, the need to tightly control all public representatives, the fact that despite Thabo Mbeki. We also got a practical lesson in the treachery of bourgeois parties e. The OKM experience also helps us to ground the debate about the parliamentary road to socialism, the role of political parties, the centrality (or not) of the state in class struggle, etc. Our new councilor, Comrade Zodwa Madiba, has been an inspiration in terms of dedication to her work, her respect for ordinary people, carrying out of mandates and her willingness to learn. But the biggest lesson is that leaders need not to be trusted but to be controlled. A comradely and mature politics. The SECC got a harsh lesson in new social movement politics when about 3 years ago a group from within it split the organization. A new organization was formed, the Soweto Concerned Residents, and it was allowed to affiliate to the APF. This was a painful experience for the SECC but it taught us one thing: we should at all times strive to build unity as this is our strongest weapon against the enemy. Some of the reasons for the split although incidental to the main issues were also because the SECC was not paying enough attention to political management, conflict resolution and political maintenance of the organization. Today the comrades are very quick to pick out a grievance, a veiled threat, a muffled cry for help, lack of discipline, and so on.
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