Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 6: Down at <strong>the</strong> dumpsofficial development processes on <strong>the</strong> optimistic expectation that <strong>the</strong> concerns of <strong>the</strong>people would be addressed, <strong>the</strong> City was increasingly working to a ‘world class city’agenda which involved <strong>the</strong> eradication of slums – principally by relocating people tohousing projects on <strong>the</strong> peripheries of <strong>the</strong> city. Abahlali baseMjondolo, <strong>the</strong> Durbanshack dwellers movement, had its origin in <strong>the</strong> clash between <strong>the</strong> people of KennedyRoad and <strong>the</strong> City when <strong>the</strong> latter sold off an adjacent piece of land to propertydevelopers. This land was long promised to start <strong>the</strong> process of upgrading <strong>the</strong> housingin <strong>the</strong> settlement and <strong>the</strong> City did not even inform KRDC of <strong>the</strong>ir intention to sell it.Housing, and land for housing, remains at <strong>the</strong> centre of <strong>the</strong> Kennedy Road agenda.Above all, Abahlali demands that shack dwellers be recognised as active participants indeciding <strong>the</strong>ir own future, capable of thinking and speaking for <strong>the</strong>mselves.According to Pithouse, most of <strong>the</strong> people come from rural areas and are escaping“‘traditional’ authority, familial and racial domination (especially on white farms)” on<strong>the</strong> one hand and looking for livelihoods and access to schools and amenities on <strong>the</strong>o<strong>the</strong>r [2006: 10]. DSW officials see <strong>the</strong> dump itself as having been a primary attraction.Before <strong>the</strong> City formalised operations, according to <strong>the</strong> owners of commercial recyclingfirms, over 600 people were selling <strong>the</strong>m recyclable material picked off <strong>the</strong> dump andcould earn as much as R300 a day. Not all were from <strong>the</strong> settlement but a significantnumber of Kennedy Road families secured a livelihood, put <strong>the</strong>ir children throughschool and built <strong>the</strong>ir shacks from <strong>the</strong> pickings from <strong>the</strong> dump.Following <strong>the</strong> permitting of Bisasar Road as a landfill, <strong>the</strong> City increasingly assertedcontrol over access as well as employment but <strong>the</strong> now illegal dump pickers continuedto break through <strong>the</strong> security fencing. This gave <strong>the</strong> community leverage in negotiationswith officials, according to Abahlali president S’bu Zikode. Closing down illegalpicking was not possible without <strong>the</strong>ir cooperation. But in return for that cooperation<strong>the</strong>y wanted to secure <strong>the</strong> recycling and site cleaning jobs exclusively for people fromKennedy Road and take over <strong>the</strong> labour-broking contract with DSW for site cleaners.There are not, in fact, many of <strong>the</strong>se jobs left at Bisasar Road. The commercial recyclersemploy 15 people on piece rates at <strong>the</strong> recycling pad established by DSW, while <strong>the</strong>reare 25 people employed as site cleaners.“Our struggle was for recognition first. We had to be recognised as human beings withrights to work,” says Zikode. The CDM project seemed to afford such recognition.Faced with <strong>the</strong> opposition of Clare Estate, <strong>the</strong> City and its World Bank allies cultivated<strong>the</strong> support of Kennedy Road. Khan saw this as a divide and rule tactic, saying, “I am<strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong> - groundWork - 147 -