Destructive protests will never solve SA’S problem of acute inequality

Amid all the extremely distressing riots and looting spree that followed the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma, it is reassuring and encouraging that so many people are now taking a stand to prevent further destruction.

Besides the antipathy expressed for the opportunistic looting, what these citizens’ statements appear to say is that destructive protest is self-defeating.

This is one of the themes of a “mindset change” feature that is part of a multi-sector collaborative local social transformation process we have been advocating to help regions that are in conflict because of inequality in SA. It is what is needed to move SA forward in ways that recognise the need for the sustainability of businesses and the grievances of communities.

The “trickle down” of economic fortunes to community levels has been very limited in SA and consequently the socioeconomic disparities have taken on severe proportions, despite some progress in the democratic period.

Together with acute socioeconomic inequality, the failure of local government to render required services to local communities has generated frustration and anger, prompting activist leaders of grass-roots organisations to adopt an aggressive strategy, as has been seen in outbreaks of violent protests and xenophobic attacks.

In the Sundays River Valley local municipality, the initial reaction to frustrating inequality in 2014 was to start with the burning down of municipal offices. This did not solve the problem, and the frustration and anger was not removed.

Thus, by 2018, focus shifted to farms and packhouses, the vital economic hubs in the area. Angry protesters allegedly burnt down farm sheds to get their point across in a dispute about wages.

To put the Sundays River Valley story in perspective, one needs to know that the citrusproducing area has experienced a period of exceptional economic success over the last decade or so. This success is surely due to both the exceptional expertise of the farmers and the labour of workers from surrounding communities, as well as a good proportion of seasonal workers who descend on the valley every picking season.

A fragile truce was achieved in 2018, but, again the underlying problem was not solved. In 2019, an externally facilitated process started that soon culminated in the formation of the Sundays River Valley Collaborative.

An initial focus on building the capacity of community leadership morphed into a multi-sector collaborative development process that includes a “mindset change” feature that enabled the activist leaders to come to the realisation that destructive protest does not solve the problem of acute inequality. Instead, they increasingly realised that destroying the municipal buildings and farms does not solve any problems.

The mindset change means, among other things, that for disgruntled farm workers to scare farmers or burn down sheds, packhouses and farms is ultimately self-defeating, because it means destroying one’s own livelihood.

Similarly, for the purposes of what happened in Kwazulunatal and Gauteng recently, destroying the local malls, shops, street stalls, trucks, and so on does not solve any problem, but instead also destroys the livelihoods of local communities.

But let us not misread the context there are serious issues about which to be justifiably upset, frustrated and angry in SA. We are a deeply unequal society and many people have good reason to feel aggrieved about their quality of life.

This is the big problem that we must solve. It is what can be called a structural problem — the unequal patterns by which wealth, assets and opportunities are distributed.

Of course we are not dealing with an isolated and incidental problem; it is a phenomenon that is pervasive throughout SA society. It is part of the structure of the society.

Among the many problems we have, one way of looking at it is to focus on three interrelated problems. The first is the one above.

The second is in the realm of ideas, strategies and plans: In SA we simply do not have a coherent plan about which there is sufficient consensus that it could be effectively implemented to solve the above-mentioned structural problem.

Instead, we have pseudo positions and disagreements on an ideological level that are often a shroud that hides selfinterests and factional contests. We urgently need a development plan that can effectively address the problem of structural inequality.

The third problem is that we do not agree with one another about who should be the primary agency to address the problem above and who should drive the plan to overcome the problem.

At the moment the idea of the developmental state is still being punted by government, but a developmental state must, at least, have the capacity to be the potent agency that is required to resolve the complex problems facing SA.

By now it is no secret that the state cannot do it on its own and therefore we need to do it through collaborative development and within the parameters of the law.

That means that it is imperative that we work together to achieve inclusive wellbeing, because it is in everyone’s interest that all South Africans experience a reasonable quality of life.

Despite the theories and ideologies of revolution, it is time that we wake up to the reality that the problems that face us will not be solved by rioting and destruction; it will only make the problems worse.

The work being done in the Sundays River Valley municipal area is an example of multisector collaborative development.

It is about every sector of society taking co-ownership of development and overcoming the unrealistic notion that the state can be the only agency to make development happen.

It is more than anything else an indication of what can happen when local farmers are willing to invest in the societal system and what can happen if local community leaders are willing to become part of a process that is designed to enable them to become effective agents of local development.

I hope that everyone who is taking a stand now will also take a similar stand when they have a specific issue they want to bring to everyone’s attention or express their grievance some time in the future.

Perhaps the extent of the destruction of the recent riots will enable us to learn, accept and understand that there are other, better, ways of making the world aware of one’s grievances and solving problems.