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> dumpsfighting for all of us, no one wants to live next to a smelly dump” [quoted in Erionet al 2008]. It didn’t look like that in Kennedy Road where <strong>the</strong> approach mandatedby <strong>the</strong> World Bank contrasted with that of <strong>the</strong> environmental activists. “We invite<strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong> presentation here in <strong>the</strong> hall so that we can be toge<strong>the</strong>r. They didn’t come.They have <strong>the</strong>ir meetings in places we can’t go to. They don’t invite us but <strong>the</strong>y alwaysrepresent us,” said Zikode [quoted in Patel 2008]. Abahlali now insists that o<strong>the</strong>rs“speak to us, not for us”.Lindsey Strachan, <strong>the</strong> DSW manager who drove <strong>the</strong> project, held an open meetingwith <strong>the</strong> community. On his own account, he told <strong>the</strong>m 45 jobs would be created andthree bursaries offered for children from affected communities to study engineering.People in <strong>the</strong> community understood that <strong>the</strong>re were to be 50 bursaries for youngpeople and that ‘affected communities’ referred to Kennedy Road. This fitted very wellwith <strong>the</strong> manner in which Kennedy Road was responding to <strong>the</strong> formalising processon <strong>the</strong> landfill generally. They recognised, says Zikode, that <strong>the</strong>y needed to acquire<strong>the</strong> skills, to “have what it takes”, to insert people into strategic positions to ensurethat <strong>the</strong> community would benefit from developments on <strong>the</strong> site. They were alsopromised cheap or free electricity and 5 to 10% of <strong>the</strong> profits were to be ploughed intocommunity upliftment.But <strong>the</strong> promises were broken. Strachan moved on and his successors at DSW toldZikode <strong>the</strong>y knew nothing of <strong>the</strong>m. After construction, <strong>the</strong> project created just sixjobs – all highly skilled. Three bursaries have been awarded, but not to people fromKennedy Road who heard nothing of <strong>the</strong> awards until after <strong>the</strong> fact. And City Manager,Mike Sutcliffe, now says that <strong>the</strong> ‘community’ that will benefit from <strong>the</strong> profits is <strong>the</strong>Durban community, not just <strong>the</strong> Kennedy Road community. “We were used,” saysZikode. “They even offered us free busses to protest in favour of this project … todamage those who oppose this project … Where was <strong>the</strong> whole Durban communitywhen <strong>the</strong>y made us fight for this dump?”The open confrontation with City authorities, sparked by <strong>the</strong> broken promise onland for settlement, has had major consequences. Abahlali is now organised in shacksettlements across Durban with <strong>the</strong> participation of some 30,000 people. With respectfor all people as its core value, it has insisted on a practice of democracy that recogniseseach person as having an equal right to speak and be heard. The clash marked <strong>the</strong> endof participation as pretence, as a ritual of democratic inclusion, acted out as much byKDRC as by <strong>the</strong> politicians, while <strong>the</strong> City managed <strong>the</strong> real business of economic- 148 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>