Labour
''Claim no easy victories and tell no lies. Give them practical alternatives''
        by Azad Essa

As the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup approaches, South African cities have embarked on clean -up campaigns. Street Children, Road side vendors and all that may be regarded as unsavoury in the eyes of tourists are being whisked away from the heart of the city. South Africa wants to present World Class Cities to the globe. In late 2006, The World Class Cities for all Campaign (WCCA) was launched, arguing for more inclusivity and therefore challenging elitist 1^st World approaches to the concept of a world class city. Azad Essa spoke to CheChe Selepe, National Spokesperson of the WCCA, about the campaign, issues and obstacles faced and the likelihood of shifting mindsets.  

The WCCA aims to challenge 1^st world approaches to building World Class Cities. What does the WCCA challenge exactly?

What we have at the moment are elements of poverty and underdevelopment being rooted out - the so called 3^rd world elements - is being driven out of the city in order to make way for what is termed a ''world class city''. We challenge and contest these elitist ideas of what constitutes a world class city.  So what we are saying is that you can renew the city but you don't throw people out into the rural areas. It is like the Group Areas Act. Except, race is not the issue and instead, finance is the determining factor.  We are arguing that world class cities must be inclusive.

What is the WCCA 's strategy in challenging these notions?

The ideas that we stand for need to be hammered in to the minds of the authorities, which include local organizing committees and local government. All those who are supposed to build stadiums, and impose by-laws need to be persuaded, including national government. We hope to persuade the powers that be through campaigns, protests and through the media.  These are the only tools we have at our disposal at this time - for what we are proposing.

What role do trade unions play in the WCCA campaign?

The WCCA was launched at COSATU, at the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) office. SAMWU is most relevant and important since stadiums being built, removal of street children and hawkers are by the municipal workers. We have a warm relationship with SAMWU, even though this does not mean they support us financially. Our campaign partners are relevant to spreading information. We are speaking to SATAWU and SACAWU, amongst other unions, and we also have the rail hawkers on board. They are often abused by private security firms whom are recruited by Metro Rail. We also have NUM - whose members are crucial in regards to building the new stadiums.

One would imagine that municipality support is crucial for the success of the campaign. How have municipalities responded?

 To be quite honest, the level of support is minimal. We have explained our campaigns, but we don't expect them to fight our battles. There are still attempts to get them on board. Naturally, we need them on board, but this does not mean that if they are not on board, the campaign collapses. The 2010 Act strips the power of national government and municipalities in regards to 2010, and certain issues surrounding the event. FIFA will take over - and issues governing things like alcohol and sex workers - will be relaxed to accommodate the games. By implication, the national sovereignty will be handed over to FIFA. The campaign only collapses if the disadvantaged groups withdraw or don't take this seriously. It is crucial that they understand and support the campaign. In fact, the success and failure belongs entirely to them.

So the city shall be ''cleaned up''. Meanwhile, the WCCA asks for feasible alternatives. What are these alternatives?

 To remove human beings from the street - it cannot be called ''cleaning''. That is rubbish. ''Cleaning'' cannot be used to describe removing humans, effectively black people out of the city. Then Europeans shall come and what, shall the city be clean? We should be careful about the wording.

In regards to the alternatives, we are saying that let there be a fair interaction of the people affected. If you want to move street traders out of Eloff and Market Streets, let us engage the hawkers and see what they have to say. If you say you going to demolish a building because it is unsafe or unhygienic - what exactly is the alternative?

If you remove the occupants, you have to supply an alternative, a new market place for them to make their living. We must remember that that the biggest mistake regarding these forced removals is that government a creating a false impression that there are no hawkers or poor people in our cities. It will be a lie. If you let the city remain as it is instead, a tourist, let us say - a Chinese tourist visits our cities and sees the reality - it is possible he can be helpful towards solving the problems faced in our cities. What exactly are we solving by telling lies about the state of our cities? And it is not as if the world is not aware of what is going on here. Claim no easy victories and tell no lies. Give them practical alternatives.

The economic context is such that if a municipality removes vendors, others will arrive to come and manufacture a livelihood?.again, what does campaign suggest as a way forward?

Let there be diversification. It is crucial to engage the people themselves. [It seems] we don't want to discuss it in an honest, open and amicable manner. But you can't undermine the intelligence of the masses. The authorities need to engage people in dialogue in an honest way. Why remove a hawker selling peanuts to put up a McDonalds or Wimpy, when both are toxic in any case. Why not engage the traders and explore organic food, for example.

It is to seek ways - the street children, sex workers, the hawkers etc - the so called undesirable elements of society. Every city is spending so much money on security and then you are removing ten people from livelihood [...] where they are supposed to go? Evicting 10 people to create 1 Metro cop in Joburg - why not get these ten people to help in the fight against crime instead. We are asking for broad minded alternatives.

Similar clean-up operations are taking place in India, as New Delhi gears up for the Commonwealth games in 2010. Is the WCCA linked up with similar struggles other parts of the Globe?

We were active in Seoul, South Korea with much success, back in 2002. This campaign is headed up by Streetnet, with link-ups with organizations in India and in Ghana, who just held the African Cup Nations. We are engaging with our affiliates in India. We are in South Africa now, and as South Africans fighting epic battle across the globe, it was decided to put this campaign up internally. We have been active in Beijing as well. Not as the WCCA, but it has been borne out of other struggles of a similar sort. (We decided) let us pre-empt and be proactive rather than reactionary. Now that it (World Cup) is coming here, let us put up a strong campaign.

The campaign was launched in late 2006, with a 4 year plan. How would you rate its progress till date?

For now, there has been tremendous progress, especially in raising the consciousness of the people themselves. If they don't take it up, we are useless. We are conscientizing the masses - from the homeless, the street kids, sex workers, to the hawkers. We have engaged the municipalities, have mobilized COSATU, and been able to ensure the maximum support of the most strategic leaders in COSATU. We have challenged evictions and won in some areas, like the railways. We have picked up the level and intensity against evictions. We have produced bulletins, been able to penetrate mass media, including union publications. We are on track, and yes, there is tremendous progress. We have overcome a number of obstacles and the future looks bright.

For more information on the WCCA, visit http://www.streetnet.org.za